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I’ve been baking up some of my favorite cookies this past week to get ready for our cookie exchange party! I love a good cookie exchange party because it’s a great way to get (and taste test) a variety of cookies without being in the kitchen for hours. Plus, it’s a great way to connect and have fun with friends during the holiday season.
I’m so excited to share with you our cookie exchange party, including some adorable free cookie exchange invitations that I designed! I also created a fun wrapping station where guests used holiday-themed Rubbermaid TakeAlongs and lots of awesome wrapping supplies to package up treats for themselves, family, and friends.
Cookie Exchange Party Printable Invitations
To get you ready for your cookie exchange party, I’ve created some printable invitations for you. They’re fun, festive, and best of all, free!
Just print using the link below, write in your party details, and pass out to family and friends. It couldn’t be any easier. Aren’t they cute?
Download the FREE cookie exchange invitation printables
Cookie Exchange Party Decorations
To get ready for the cookie exchange party, I first set up a backdrop. This was really easy to do with red and white striped wrapping paper!
I used two long pieces to create a striped wall behind the table, then placed two extra-large white balloons on each end of the table.
Giant glittery red bows were the perfect way to dress up the giant balloons!
In between the balloons hung a cute cookie garland I made. It was really easy using purchased clip art, and added more color and fun to the table.
Pretty poinsettia flowers were festive and bright on each side of the table. Because the main focus is the focus at a cookie exchange party, it doesn’t take many decorations to make your table look party ready!
Cookie Exchange Party Food
To get ready for everyone and their cookies, be sure to set out lots of cake plates, trays, plates, and/or jars to hold all the treats.
I used a combination of the above, all in red and white, for our party. You can also have a blank name card ready for guests if you’d like them to write the name of your cookies and display them next to their treats.
At the center of the table I stacked two cake plates, then placed a tall thin apothecary jar on top to hold candy canes.
Peanut butter butterscotch bars are a favorite I make every year for the holidays, so I served squares of them on the top stand. They are VERY rich and delicious!
On the bottom stand are some easy candy cane Kiss chocolate cookies that were so tasty!
White chocolate and candy cane covered pretzels were a delicious treat and tastes amazing.
Although it’s called a cookie exchange party, not every single treat at the party has to be a cookie. Handmade treats like these, as well as homemade candy, are always welcome!
One of my favorite treats were the giant gingerbread men that I made. These were SO much fun to decorate and get creative with! This cute grandpa gingerbread, complete with a white beard and green fondant scarf, is my absolute favorite.
I placed a giant gingerbread on both sides of each of the jars, then sandwiched in a bunch of small gingerbread cookies in between. Peppermint meringue cookies traced were placed around each large glass jar, which was then placed on a red and white cake plate.
Cinnamon and sugar pie crust cookies look just like cinnamon rolls, but taste like a yummy cinnamon-y crust.
These were so easy to make out of leftover pie crust!
Cookie Exchange Party Wrapping Station
Once everyone gets to your party and the cookies are all placed on the table, it’s time to start collecting cookies! Be sure to specify on your invitations how many cookies each person should bring, because that’s how many cookies each person should be leaving with.
I supplied Rubbermaid TakeAlongs that I bought at Walmart in the limited edition holiday colors of red and green. I LOVE these! The deep rectangle size was the perfect size for filling up with cookies.
I found these on an endcap with the other kitchen supplies in housewares.
Guests can do whatever they like with their cookies (take them home for family or for giving away to others), but they’ll definitely want to dress up their containers at the wrapping station!
My lovely gold bar cart was easily (and quickly) converted into a cookie wrapping station with just a few items. I filled the top shelf with Rubbermaid Holiday TakeAlongs for everyone. That made it really easy for everyone to take their cookies and be able to stack them for easy carrying, which they can’t do with paper plates.
I love the limited edition red, green, and print styles for the holidays! These will be available in store until 12/24, so stock up while you can! These have an awesome Quik Clik Seal™ that keeps food fresh and prevents spills. Their large tab makes it really easy to open too!
The second shelf was filled with cute colorful bows in different sizes that would look great on the TakeAlongs containers. The containers were also perfect for holding the wrapping supplies!
A variety of ribbon was held in place with my fave gold scissors placed through the hole in the middle of the ribbon stack. It made the perfect scissors holder!
On the bottom shelf of the wrapping station cart were three different styles of wrapping paper in case anyone wanted to wrap their treats, as well as some twine and curling ribbon to make it all look pretty.
Guests could top off their treats with a candy cane, then write a card to the lucky recipients of the cookies and treats.
I love this wrapping station bar cart so much, and am tempted to leave it up all month for us to use to wrap presents as needed. It was so convenient to have everything all in one spot, plus it sure made our treats look cute and ready for giving!
I hope I’ve inspired you to throw your own cookie exchange party! It’s such a fun (and delicious!) way to celebrate the season with those you love. It’s also a fun way to get lots of new Christmas cookie ideas and recipes as well!
Be sure to stock up on Rubbermaid TakeAlongs for your party too- they’re the perfect containers for giving! Get inspired for the holidays with this awesome holiday inspiration. You can also find more inspiration on Instagram and Facebook.
Happy holidays!
