This is a sponsored post on behalf of CVS.
The holiday season is full of fun, family, and parties. Yes, parties. They can sneak up on us quickly during this time of year, and every once in a while, we find ourselves planning them very last minute. Am I the only person who finds out that a good friend that you haven’t seen in years just happens to be in town for the holidays, and they want to visit? I know I’m not. But, there’s no reason to avoid them popping over. As a matter of fact, invite them to bring a family member or two, and your plan an awesome holiday party. I’m going to teach you how to create a holiday party in 15 minutes. Yup, you read that right.
Simple Decorations
Within the first 5 minutes, grab the most festive holiday pieces you can find in your home. Whether it’s a plate, a mug, a little Christmas tree, collect them all. Once they are collected, dedicate a foldable table, floating island, or corner of your kitchen counter to the decorations. This will be the area where your guests can grab snacks and fellowship.
Plan Your Spread
The real stress of putting together a party in 15 minutes is the idea of feeding and entertaining these people. Entertainment will be easy during the holidays, because people visit to sit and chat with you. As long as your couch is clear, you’ll be just fine on the entertainment front. Now, about those snacks…
The challenge is to have snacks that everyone will enjoy, and that are healthy enough for them to chow down without that holiday guilt. We serve Gold Emblem Abound snacks when we have guests, since they are a healthy alternative to the regular party faire. Keep it simple with whiter cheddar popcorn, a spicy snack for the daredevils, and a chia chip for those that love a snack with a crunch factor. But, that’s not all. The last step will be what takes your last minute holiday party from OK to Heeeeey!
Cook A Thing
Cook? In 5 minutes? Yes, you can do this. Trust me. A small amount of appetizers will really take this party to the next level, and you can create 2 very easy ones in less than 5 minutes. First, grab your Gold Emblem Abound 8-grain wheat crackers, top them with pitted dates, and drizzle with honey or agave syrup. This will be a salty/sweet appetizer that everyone will drool over. Next, you’re going to make one of my favorite appetizers. Mini Pizza Crackers. This recipe is created in the MICROWAVE. In a minute or so, you’ll have some of the tastiest bites you’ve ever encountered, and you only need 3 ingredients. Here’s the very simple recipe:
Mini Pizza Crackers
Ingredients:
8 8-grain wheat crackers, broken in half
1/2 cup marinara sauce
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions:
Place crackers on a microwave safe plate that can hold all of the crackers. If you don’t have one that large, make these in two batches.
Top each cracker with half a tablespoon of marinara sauce.
Top the sauce with half a tablespoon of shredded mozzarella.
Put plate in the microwave, and cook for 30 second intervals, until all of the cheese is melted.
Serve and enjoy!
See how easy that is?! And you’ll have these appetizers ready to go in less than 15 minutes.
To take this party to yet another level, send your guests a special holiday gift created from the MANY pictures you’ll take during the party. Check out the CVS Photo area of their website, and create a holiday themed photo collage to send to them a few days or so after the party. CVS makes this easy because you can create these right in the CVS app, and even pick them up the same day!
I hope these tips will help you create a holiday party in less than 15 minutes, without getting stressed out, even more so, I hope you’re able to enjoy the time you have with the people you love, and make all kinds of awesome memories.
Disclosure: I’m proud to be working with CVS Pharmacy to help spread the word about #BetterHealthMadeEasy and how to #FindYourHealthy. All opinions expressed are my own, and all product claims or program details shared should be verified at CVS.com or with the appropriate manufacturers.
Oh my gosh, I LOVE dates. This is a delicious sounding treat – just – uh – for me, myself, totally by myself. 😉
Hahahaha! We found out during our last get-together that the baby LOVES dates, too! He doesn’t like anything, so this was pleasant surprise.