Category: Christmas in the Office

Some of Our Favorite Company Christmas Party Ideas

Ugly Sweater Parties. Secret Santa. Grab Bags. Non-Denominational Holiday Brunches. After Hours Eggnog-and-Mulled-Wine Shindigs.

At least one of those things is made-up, but the others are some of my favorite company Christmas party ideas.

Company Christmas Party Ideas

Well, I say favorite but I might be fibbing just a little bit. I’m not a big believer in mandatory gift-giving in one’s place of business, unless the spending limit is hilariously low and people know to have fun with it (i.e., everybody buys a joke gift from the dollar store). Because, hey, we’ve all been in that awkward situation where there’s an office Secret Santa and it’s “To Be Taken Seriously”, but you don’t know the person you got all that well and everybody walks away disappointed.

I feel it’s best to avoid that situation altogether.

My absolute favorite kind of office party is one where there’s decent food (catered or informal pot luck, it doesn’t matter), but not a lot of formal structure. It’s supposed to be a party; let the people unwind and make their own fun. By all means, encourage silly outfits. But don’t go so far as to make anything Mandatory™.

Really, the best Christmas party idea anyone can give you is to not over-plan your company party. Just toss up some decorations, put out some food, and see what happens.

Christmas Party Invitations for Your Office Holiday Party

Our company has had an annual Holiday Party for the past 23 years. We used to spend a bundle on our company’s Christmas party invitations. The last two years we finally wised up and ordered them from The Gallery Collection and we’ve saved money, gotten a terrific reaction and received tons of compliments.

Celebrate the Joy Corporate Party Invitation

There’s a great selection to choose from and it’s so simple to customize them. Twice now, we’ve chosen the flat card format with a matching design on the back. They’ve been excellent quality which is important to us. Another good feature is that you can order as few as 25 invites. We usually need between 40 and 60 and it’s convenient that there are many quantities available to order.

There are over two dozen designs of Holiday Party Invitations to choose from – from simple to fancy – and there’s plenty of room to add all the particulars about the event. I’ve really enjoyed trying out the different fonts and colors that are available on various designs. (The secret is to start early so you have plenty of time to have fun experimenting!)

Ordering online has been a cinch and the website is user friendly – even if you don’t have much experience in this area. When I did have a question, I just called and talked to a rep who was very knowledgeable and most helpful. The turn-around time was quick and we received our invitations in plenty of time to address and send them out.

Like I said – we’ve had rave reviews. The invitation is the beginning of the party – so make it a good one!

Christmas Party Games For Your Office Holiday Party

Office parties can be a lot of fun. Especially if you add Christmas party games. I have been in charge of creating and initializing our holiday parties for a few years. The food, gifts and set up are easy. The party games take some time.

Office Christmas Party Games

I have put together a few fun events. My first year we did “Guess the Holiday Movie.” It could have been a regular movie or an animated film. I put a few items per movie on a table. I had 8 all together. For the first one I had a red nose, a stuffed Santa, and toy. Answer: Rudolf the Red nose reindeer. That was easy. Then I had a picture of a bridge, a movie theater and a bell. That was a little harder, but not too hard. Everyone wrote their answers and turned them in. I checked them and chose my winners.

The next year we did “Decorate a Co-Worker.” That was one of the best. I had ornaments, tinsel, garland, lights (battery operated of course) and several other trinkets set out on tables. Each group had to pick their human tree, and start decorating. What a sight. We had people with so much décor on them, you couldn’t see them. Everyone got into the fun. Pretty soon we had people decorated in paper clips, paper snowflakes. It was a free for all! The employees gave me a gift card that year as a Thank You. They said they never had so much fun decorating before.

I’ve also done gift wrapping contests. I had a bunch of odd shaped gifts and the object was to wrap them and decorate them the best way they could. Just a tip, buy a lot of tape for this one. Needless to say the men used the most tape. There was tape and wrapping paper everywhere. But all the gifts came out nice. Funny, but nice.

This year will be “Build Your Own Snowman with Sports Balls.” There will be tennis balls, soccer balls, baseballs, and even footballs! We’ll have to see how that turns out.

Great Christmas Decorations For The Office

OK, so your office isn’t decorated that great for the Christmas holidays. I’ll tell you what we did in our office. Our Admin department took a look around and noticed that most teams had some little Christmas decorations here and there, but nothing spectacular. So, they decided to have a Christmas Wreath decorating contest.

Office_Christmas_Wreath

This is a great idea to bring in some fun, competition with each other, and some great Christmas decorations. Our company supplied all the bare artificial green wreaths, 30” in width, and $25.00 to each department in the company who wanted to participate in the contest. That money was to go towards the decorations on the wreath. They told us that the 1st place winning department would receive a nice luncheon. There were other 2nd and 3rd place prizes given also.

We could do any type of theme or design we wanted. There could be a Christmas idea wreath, a Christmas sports wreath, a wreath that had something to do with what you do in your department, just to give you examples. We either worked on the wreath together as a department or chose someone in the department to do the whole wreath! It really was a lot of fun and we had a great little competition going with each other.

When the due date came for the wreaths to be finished, we were all so surprised how great they all looked. They were all so different. They were put up on the walls in each department that competed, and they all competed by the way! We all got into this contest and the competition was pretty tough too, but everyone had a fun time with it and when it was all finished we couldn’t get over how great our office looked for Christmas!

Hope you have a little competition in your office, you will be nicely decorated!

Appropriate Christmas Party Themes For Your Office

Having a Christmas party at work can be strenuous. First, you have to come up with a Christmas party theme for the office. Then, the planning begins. The planning is the easy part. One of the hardest part seems to be a theme. Since I have been in charge of this project we have had four themes. The first year we did “Christmas Around the World”. We had the words Merry Christmas and Santa Claus in different languages from many countries. We had dishes from different countries on the table, and we even had people tell short stories of their Christmas traditions. That year was one of my favorites. The next year we worked with Toys for Tots. Our theme was Santa’s Christmas List. The idea was to buy a gift that you would have wanted as a child and donate it. Everyone who brought in a gift for a child received a ticket to our Christmas Buffet. It was a great year for the kids. My associates were very generous, some giving several gifts each. The third year, our theme was “Generosity and Kindness”. The idea was to be generous and giving for the month before Christmas. Every time you did something nice or charitable, you received a ticket for our tricky tray. The nicer and more generous you were, the more tickets you got to put into the bucket. Everyone seemed so much nicer that year!

Holiday Cheer Corporate Party Invitation

This year, I’m working on something really special. We are actually having a Christmas mini carnival. We are inviting the staff’s families so they can enjoy some carnival games, popcorn, cotton candy, ice cream, and of course, a visit from the big man himself, Santa Claus. Then we will have a sit down style dinner. I know family is the most important thing in life, so why not include them in the fun? I’ve already called The Gallery Collection to order my holiday party invitations, and as soon as they arrive I’ll add my own personal touch to each one. Everyone is so excited. My boss can’t wait to dress up as you know who! While everyone is ready to enjoy this years fun, I’m already working on next years theme.

What Should I Bring To An Office Holiday Party?

That time of the year is approaching once again, office holiday parties! A time where as a company we can all celebrate the year of hard work and commence with a great year ahead. I’m sure when the time starts rolling around many also start thinking “What can I contribute?” and “What should I bring to office holiday party?” I know for me it’s always daunting to try to please everyone with a dish. I want to be sure it’s something easy but at the same time appetizing for my co-workers. As we all know some people begin to receive a reputation for their dishes. Mark in our IT Dept. is known for the best guacamole and Debra in the Art Dept. is known for her delicious spinach dip!

Office Holiday Party Food

So what are good things to bring to an office holiday party? I think dips and salads are the best go to foods for office parties. Egg salad, pasta salad & chips with dips are great appetizers. Shrimp with cocktail sauce, cucumber sandwiches & chicken wraps are also quick, easy meals to make. Of course we can’t forget the desserts! There will be brownies, cakes, muffins, and cookies, oh my! This season really is the most wonderful time of the year!

Our Go To Christmas Gifts For Coworkers

During the Holidays, I always get stressed out with buying Christmas gifts for my loved ones. And I happen to know my friends and family very well! It adds a degree of difficulty when you are buying Christmas gifts for coworkers. Especially if you are doing a Secret Santa and you get someone you don’t know!

Office Christmas Gifts

Whether you know the person well or not, you can still give them a great gift that everyone will love and appreciate. Some of our go to Christmas gifts for coworkers are listed below!

Scarves – Scarves are a great gift for both men & women. Getting a coworker a nice scarf for the winter season is perfect especially if you live in a very cold area.

Flameless Candles – Flameless Candles are the new popular household gift to give during the holiday season. Unlike regular candles, flameless candles are much safer and kid friendly for those coworkers who have young children. They also have many great scents to choose from!

Restaurant Gift Card – Who doesn’t like to go out to eat every once in a while?! Getting your coworker a restaurant gift card to a popular local chain is a wonderful gift to give around the holidays. It’s always nice to get out of the house during the winter and enjoy a nice family meal together, without having to cook yourself!

Home Made Cookies – My personal favorite gift to give a coworker around the holiday is home-made cookies! Nothing is better than receiving chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin cookies to bring home. It really shows your fellow co-worker that you took the time out to make something from the heart!

Bottle of Wine – For those who enjoy relaxing with a nice glass of wine after work or the weekends, what better gift to give then a bottle of their favorite wine! If you don’t know their favorite, perhaps you can get them your favorite to try!

Gift giving around the office is such a fun way to celebrate the holidays in the office with your fellow coworkers and employees. It’s also a great way to learn more about each other and rejoice during the holiday season.

Christmas Party Ideas For Your Office – Card Writing and Envelope Stuffing

I had the best time last year while getting our Christmas cards ready for mailing. We decided to do them all together! It ended up being the most fun office Christmas party ever! We prepared the office conference room with enough chairs so that all 14 of us could sit. We had pens enough for everyone to sign their names and pass them to the next person to the right, one at a time we all signed in just about the same areas so there was enough room for everyone. When that task was complete we then divided up the mailing list of 375 clients, so that everyone had a similar number of cards to address, it turned out to be a page each of about 25 names.

Office Christmas Party

Once that was all done, which is the serious part when we didn’t want any mistakes occurring, we then moved onto the stuffing and licking. After just a few envelopes, your tongue gets dry and sticky, so you need to wet your whistle! The owners are a really great couple and they made sure we all had a red solo cup with fruit filled sangria. Then began the sipping and laughing! By the time we were done with all that work we were enjoying each other’s company, discussing everything and anything except work. Once the work was complete the snacks came out, not to mention the owners had ordered a few pizza’s for all of us. It only took about an hour for the whole process. This was a Christmas party idea we will definitely do again, I suggest you try it!