Although some companies have endless amounts of money to spend on holiday parties, some do not. However, don’t fret and make sure you don’t forget the booze. Details, Darlings has a few tricks up their sleeve on how to save big & not disappoint some of your favorite or ridiculously obnoxious coworkers. 

1. Hit up your local hot-spots before you go running to Party City, Target, etc. We found all of our large glass vases for under $10 from Goodwill and all our metallic ornaments from The Dollar Store. Add some flair to the jar, mix the ornaments with silver/gold spray painted pinecones. 

2. For the homemade Hot Chocolate Bar, our Crockpot came quite handy. If you don’t have a crockpot, you need to get one of these life changing devices. For the toppings, grab your handy-dandy mason jars, wrap the top with jute twine  and print/cut out signs. Toppings include: mini marshmallows, espresso candy, caramel bites, and hazelnut pirouettes.  

• 5 cups Milk
• 1/2 cup Hershey’s Cocoa
• 1/2 cup White Sugar
• 1 cup Hot Water

 

 

 

 

Find full instructions here: http://thefrugalgirls.com/2013/10/crockpot-hot-chocolate.html

3. Everybody has that 1 employee who has to be the holiday party-pooper. “Oh… I don’t eat sweets. Oh… I don’t drink alcohol.” Well have no fear, the Grinch Kabobs are here. These kabobs include 5 simple ingredients: toothpicks, mini marshmallows, green grapes, banana slices & strawberries. Although Trader Joes could be considered heaven on earth, head to Costco to save big by buying fruit in bulk. 

4. Don’t have the funds or time to hire a professional photographer? The Santa Selfie Station is your perfect solution. Simply find a blank wall at your venue, grab some wrapping paper from the Dollar Store and start taping. Go online to find cut-out holiday signs, tape them to cardboard, and hot-glue-gun a skewer stick to the back. Drive to Party City to purchase colored boas, big glasses, goofy hats, and BOOM… You have yourself a nice backdrop and affordable props that can be reused for your next event. Be sure to put out a frame encouraging guests to use your company’s “hashtag” (#), so you are able to gather the photos following the event. 

5. Reindeer Punch is destined to be a crowd pleaser. Between the champagne, orange juice & fresh cranberries, you won’t disappoint your guests with this fruity concoction. Also, using a play off of words, such as  “Reindeer Punch”, makes ordinary drinks like “punch” sound much more festive & tasty! Let’s just hope Rudolph doesn’t get too drunk. 

And there you have it. All the tips & tools necessary to throw one hell of a Holiday extravaganza!