It doesn’t take much time to plan a craft party with friends, and the holidays are a perfect time to host one! What’s more fun to a craft lover than getting creative with good friends and great food!
To make good use of my studio while the kids were at school, I invited some friends over to make DIY decor for Thanksgiving out of candles and mason jars. With a few craft supplies and delicious food such as my favorite , it ended up being a great day!
Everyone got to take home something pretty for their home or to use for gifts.
Never hosted a craft party? Here are a few simple tips to help you get started. I hope you are inspired to invite some friends over after seeing what we did. It was a blast! Be sure to read all of the post, as there is a fabulous giveaway from below to help you plan your own holiday party. Yay!
What will you make?
To host a craft party, first of all you need to decide what craft you would want to make. Pick a date, then invite some friends to join you! To decide on the craft, start with a theme such as a specific holiday or room of your home. Think of supplies you already have that you could repurpose with a little paint, ribbon or paper.
I chose repurposing candles and mason jars because I already had a ton of these around the house. Plus, decorating candles and jars are very easy and a craft project anyone can make in about 10 minutes. Didn’t they turn out gorgeous? I can’t wait to decorate my Thanksgiving table now!
What will you bring?
Ask guests to bring something. Whether it’s craft supplies, food or drinks, it’s always nice to have a little help in each of those areas. Figure out what you need and make sure you have plenty of supplies.
I stocked up on all kinds of ribbon and fake fall leaves for my party. I love the selections of burlap ribbon available now in most craft stores. For candles, most of my friends brought their own, but I found some inexpensive candles just incase.
My friend Terri brought over a few pasta sauce jars that she had removed the label and spray painted the lids. She ended up winning the prize for the most creative! – Yes, I always love to have prizes at my parties:-)
What food will you serve?
I like to serve appetizers and desserts that are fast and easy.
My go to party food is as it tastes just like homemade. For my craft party, I cut the Spinaci pizza into bite sized squares. This unique pizza is layered with savory leaf spinach, sun-ripened tomatoes, cheese and mozzarella and a hearty garlic sauce.
Several guests asked if I made it. I wish I could say yes! If you haven’t tried this brand of pizza yet, head to the frozen section of your grocery store and get some. You can find where at the store locator here.
How cute is this pumpkin cheese ball? My friend Barbara brought it and I couldn’t resist sharing the photo. It was delicious, I’ll see if she will share the recipe with us soon!
What will you do at the party?
Now that your food is planned, make sure crafts are taken care of. Have samples ready to show guests when they arrive. Here are a few of my samples…
For decorating candles, there was a lot of hot glue involved, so I made a separate area just for the glue guns. I’m glad I did, because it was a big mess! If you have a glue gun station, put some newspaper down to save your table.
Make sure to take lots of pictures too. The sillier the better!
What you’ll need to decorate jars or candles:
- Jars & Candles
- Ribbon
- Burlap Twine
- Leaves
- Small Ornaments and Jewels
- Scissors
- Hot glue gun
Trim the ribbon and arrange your design. Hot glue the layers and accessories to the ribbon, then glue the final design to the jar or candle.
Holiday Party Giveaway!
Enter to win this fabulous giveaway from to help you plan a holiday party of your own!
Prizes include…
- Vineyard wine decanter with wood base, Pottery Barn
- Slate wine tag, set of four, Pottery Barn
- Tondo 12” round platter, Crate and Barrel
- 2 Ristorante Pizza coupons
Follow directions on the widget and good luck!
My favorite would be the mason jar craft. Those are so cute, going to have to make a few for my Thanksgiving tables
My girlfriends and I had fun painting on porcelain plates and mugs and then baking them
My favorite party is a painting party. It's where a bunch of friends get together to help each other paint a room or two. It makes a chore go by faster, there's always a good laugh or two, and it's fun helping each other out.
My favorite activity at a party is playing the dice game, Left Right Center!
I love most crafts, especially sewing.
My favorite craft activity is card making with my girl friends!!
I love to make beaded necklaces.
I enjoy making Holiday Cards or Ornaments, although I have never hosted a craft party, I just might!
Gift wrapping!
Paper crafting and no sewing! Still new at it but it’s a lot of fun creating things!!!
Love this! I always host a crafternoon with friends! This year we are also doing a holiday crafternoon brunch! I love seeing everyone’s creative side come out and see all the different projects!
My favorite craft is making cloth banners.
Any new craft is probably my favorite craft, keep moving forward… I love warm tones and colors!
Probably my favorite party theme idea is a little girl's victorian dress tea party with scones and camomile tea and cookies and warm apple cider 🙂
New favorite activity is playing Head's Up as a group, non competitively. Just enjoying louts of laughter and goofiness!
Even my daughter's friends(teens) love the idea of craft parties! Someone always brings a new idea to the gathering!
Love this blog! Too cute!
Baking cookies is my favorite holiday activity!
My favorite party activity for christmas is making tags for the packages.
My favorite party activity is eating. I love trying new thing.
A party featuring wine tasting is a favorite for me.
Favorite party activity is everybody, kids and adults alike all playing games, card games, board games, just having a good time together.
I have never had a party so I don't have any great ideas. I do like the idea of a craft party and would love to make Christmas wreaths.
Traveling to my parents home every year where I also get to see my sisters and their families. We all help with finishing touches to the dinner and then sit to eat. Afterward we gather in the family room to catch up with all the latest news from each other.
We love a White Elephant gift exchange – Always worth a few laughs
We like to do cookie exchanges
My favorite party activity is at Christmas with all of the lady friends where we play a Christmas exchange game.
I love to do all crafts. I find new ones everyday and can’t wait to get started. My favorite is working with nature like leaves and acorns.
My favorite craft for the holidays is the tablescape. I guess that can involve a lot of individual crafts, but it is so much fun.
Mary Beth Elderton
My favorite party activity is always the food, whether it’s cooking together or eating together!
My favorite party activity is games! It reminds me of being a kid again lol
Your pics are great & looks like a fun party y’all had!
Thank you for the chance to win!
Joey J.
I love Christmas cookie exchange parties!
I love to be creative with crafts.
We love to watch 'A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" every year.
My 3 daughters and I like to get together and make Christmas ornaments…I also love to make personalized gift tags.
I’ve had a cookie exchange for the past 15 years and we always make a craft. Last year was the most practical- DIY sugar scrub with options to put orange zest, lemon, or lavender!! Smelled and felt so good!
I like having baking get togethers, as in cookie making parties.
Anything simple, that doesn’t require too many steps
I love scrapbooking and card making with friends. We share so much and learn so much about each other and our families through our photos. It’s such a blessing to be with these ladies.
I love crafting with my kids and making gifts for others.
I love holiday baking parties, where everyone makes what they want, and then share the final products.
My favorite party is my annual liquor exchange, followed by my caramel-making party!
We love crafting parties. We have planned an all day party and each guest brought a craft activity to share for the rest of the guests. It is a great way to expand one’s knowledge with friends’ expertise.
Simple is always best, especially when there are people less enthusiastic about crafting. 😉
Spending time with friends and family is my favorite activity, I don’t do it nearly often enough!
Also, love that tea towel!
I love baking parties or simple craft parties, just like the one you hosted!
love the candles and jars look like alot of fun
I love making chocolates-esp chocolate covered pretzels
My favorite craft is anything that is simple but looks like it took so much effort to make!
My favorite “craft” to make at holiday parties is cookies and gingerbread houses with the kiddos and their friends.
I enjoy making crafts
involving paper!
Carla from Utah
I love making any kind of small craft.
I have recently gotten into sewing. I am currently making christmas gifts!
My favorite craft of finding things I can paint and add a little something to make it feel brand new again!
I love making small gifts (mostly papercrafting) for teachers and co-workers! you don't have to spend a ton of money to show people you care 🙂
Stenciling is my favorite craft activity–on towels, on walls, on paper, on cards…wherever!
Great hope to win
Our family loves to play board games at get-togethers!
my favorite craft right now is crocheting though not a big “party” type craft
My favorite craft is making butterflies
Great party ideas! I think our favorite party activity is Karaoke
My last crafting get together was to create homemade snowglobes – so much fun!
My favorite craft is a craft made with recycled materials.
My favorite craft is a craft made with recycled materials.
This is so fun! My favorite party activity is charades. Might be lame, but it’s always a good time.
i love these ideas ! thanks a lot for sharing !