Winter break is right around the corner, and this means all of your hometown friends are coming back home, some you haven’t seen since the summer. What better way to celebrate reuniting with your friends again and getting in the Christmas spirit than celebrating “Friendsmas.” There was Friendsgiving, now there’s Friendsmas, where you get together with your friends and indulge in some Christmas-themed activities to get into the holiday season together. Here are some things you can do during your Friendsmas hangout to start your winter break off right.
pj party or ugly sweater
Having a little themed Christmas party at home is so fun, especially when all of your friends participate in the theme. The holiday season is one of the best times of the year because you can get comfortable in some sweaters or cute themed pajama sets. For your Friendsmas, having all of your guests show up in either ugly sweaters (so you can have an ugly sweater contest) is really fun and can get really creative, seeing whose sweaters are the ugliest, or having them show up in some cute, themed PJs, so there’s a slumber party theme happening is also a really cute idea. Now, if your friends are really committed to the bit, it would be even better to coordinate matching PJs, or at least matching colors. Either way, setting up a little dress code like this makes things more fun and will guarantee cute group pictures you can put on your group chat’s Christmas card.
crafts
Getting crafty with your friends is a good way to get started feeling the Christmas spirit. I have seen many different crafts done with friends at Friendsmas parties, but I will share the cutest ones and the most creative. First, I think a cute little paint and sip activity is not only so cute, but throw on some Christmas music and sit with each other just painting some canvases, ornaments, glasses, or even doormats. Painting on some canvases is a really cute idea because you can purchase a pack of some relatively small canvases and paint whatever your heart desires (trying to stick to the Christmas theme), and then hang them up in your dorm or bedroom, creating your very own home decor. Painting ornaments for the Christmas tree is also a really cute idea. Stores sell blank ornaments made to be painted and filled with glitter at craft stores and such, and for a really affordable price. When you’re done, you can add it to your Christmas tree at home or in your dorm. I think painting doormats is really cute, and I had just discovered it recently. I’ve seen the cute little doormats that are painted to look like gingerbread houses in stores, but I didn’t think to buy the blank doormats and have you and your friends paint them and customize them with their own creative designs. The doormat blanks are everywhere this time of year and only cost a couple of bucks each. Paint them with some acrylic paint, which you can get for pretty cheap at some craft stores, and boom, you have your own doormat you can set up at home, or take with you back to campus. There are so many more craft ideas, I wish I could cover them all, but there’s things like snow globes, felt art, custom claw clips, keychain making, and even making clay magnets for your fridge, so pick something you think everyone at your Friendsmas would enjoy.
gingerbread houses
Decorating gingerbread houses is a classic Christmas activity to do with family and friends, and thankfully, companies have started to create mini gingerbread houses, so you and all of your friends can decorate your very own and make it a little competition. You’ll have houses slipping and crumbling, candy not sticking, but I think that’s the art of decorating a gingerbread house. You can get really fancy with making your own gingerbread or your own icing to cement your walls together, but I think the classic store-bought works just fine. Have your friends bring over some extra candy to share and you can really get creative and see everyone’s different taste in home decor and architecture. Growing up, my family didn’t really like gingerbread, but my siblings and I wanted to be able to eat our houses after creating them, so my mom found an alternative that became a tradition for the past 10 years, graham cracker houses. My mom found articles and videos online showcasing how to cut up some graham crackers into the gingerbread house wall dimensions, she made her own icing, and bought candy, so we all had our own mini gingerbread houses that we could eat after. Now, I know we’re not kids anymore and probably don’t want to eat your gingerbread house, but I think this is a great alternative if you have friends with allergies, can’t get your hands on the mini gingerbread houses, or want to find a more affordable and creative option. To make the decorating experience a little more intense, funny, and interesting, I’d place a timer, some suspenseful music, and have your friends try to decorate gingerbread houses under a certain amount of time like an episode of Chopped.
cookie exchange
As someone who loves to bake, the holiday season is my peak time to bake and try new recipes that I like to share with my friends and family. A cookie exchange is almost like a potluck with different baked goods, and you and all of your friends can pick up a cardboard to-go box and create your own little cookie box, trying all of your friends’ creations. Now, I think this only works right if you have friends who are ready to commit to the idea of homemade baked goods, because bringing frosted sugar cookies from the bakery section of a grocery store takes away some of the magic of baking something yourself. Cookie exchanges, though it’s in the name, I have seen people bring other holiday goods they specialize in to share with friends, things like puppy chow, chocolate holiday pretzels, brownies, cinnamon rolls, etc., just to change it up. There are so many different cookie recipes online, and I think this would be the perfect activity to really test them at. The New York Times comes out with cookie recipes every holiday season that are complex in flavor and really creative so I would definitely recommend trying those out. I also think you can get really good recipes from people like Claire Saffitz (her brown butter chocolate chip recipe is my personal favorite), The Pancake Princess as she tests out recipes for different bakes goods and tells you her honest thoughts on them, and honestly a lot of creators on TikTok and YouTube. Take this time to try out a new recipe and share with friends if you are into baking as much as I am.
gift exchange
Giving gifts and shopping for friends and family is one of my love languages; this time of year, especially, is when I really like to show all of my friends and family how much I love them with a little gift. However, if you’re in a larger group setting like Friendsmas, it may be a little harder and more expensive to get everyone a little gift. A small gift exchange like White Elephant or Secret Santa is a really fun way to have everyone leave with a little gift of their own. White Elephant is definitely really fun and can get intense with the whole stealing aspect of the game, but nonetheless, it’s some more entertainment for the night. Setting up Secret Santa these days has gotten so much easier with websites like Draw Names or Elfster, so you can set it up in advance. A gift exchange like this is a really fun way to get into the holiday spirit, and you can make it affordable for your entire group by setting budgets and limits. If you are hosting a smaller group of friends, having a “favorite things” exchange is perfect and sets up for some wonderful and intimate gift giving. How this works is you have your friends bring X amount (however many people are involved) of something they love, like a specific beauty product, stuffed animal, blind box, scent, candle, or even some jewelry; it can really be anything. And when the time comes, you and your friends each show what you brought and explain why it is your favorite item, now you can carry a little bit of your friends with you, and you can try a new product or thing they love. I think this is a really cute gift exchange idea, and by the end, depending on how many people are involved, you’ll have a mini collection of things your friends cherish.
decor
Decorating the space where you’re hosting Friendsmas is going to be crucial to getting everyone in the Christmas spirit, getting good pictures, and setting the tone. One of the many ways you can decorate the space is with a painted paper banner with some cute Christmas drawings and a cute punch line. I have seen so many different cute Christmas-themed banners with different color schemes and drawings, so if you are creative and good at painting, this is your time to shine. This banner doubles as a cute backdrop to take some really cute group photos with your friends, especially if you haven’t seen them in forever. Another way to decorate the space would be a paper chain that you can hang across the ceiling. Now, it depends on how you want your space to look, but adding paper chains and streamers adds another level of whimsy to your hangout. Make sure all of your best Christmas decor is displayed and the Christmas tree is on to bring the overall vibes up to a 10. If you’re planning to use a dinner table, I’d set it up nicely with some tablecloth, candles, winter florals, and themed plates and napkins just to add some ambiance.
food
Now, if you’re thinking about providing food and how you’ll feed the crowd, the best way to go about providing food at Friendsmas is to have your friends each bring something, potluck style! Making it potluck style makes it fun as everyone is able to bring a different dish for everyone to try, affordable for you as the host, and saves time so you’re not overwhelmed cooking all day, and can focus on spending quality time with your friends. You can have your friends each bring a dish, or have one friend bring a drink or dessert, so you don’t have to worry about spending too much on food, or spend the whole day cooking and stressed out.
I have also seen people making Friendsmas a “bring-your-own” board night, where everyone brings a board of things in the same category, like a charcuterie board. I’ve seen cookie boards, fruit boards, “insert name restaurant” board, tacos board, dip board, ice cream board, sushi board; the list goes on. Just think about any category of food, on a board, and everyone throughout the night gets to pick and eat from it. If you are someone who does plan on cooking something for your friends, I would recommend something low-maintenance, easy, yet able to feed a large crowd. Things like lasagna, soup, a pasta dish, tacos, sliders, chicken, and sides, etc. Having just mentioned lasagna and soup, I want to talk about lasagna soup, which is exactly what it sounds like: it’s lasagna deconstructed and made into soup. Lasagna soup is simple, delicious, filling, warm, and could feed a large crowd for a pretty affordable price. That is an example of something low-maintenance, affordable, and good at feeding a large crowd.
If you are hosting a holiday party, I think providing hot cocoa is an absolute must. Whether you like making your own homemade recipe or use store-bought, providing some cocoa is going to be game-changing, especially if you’re planning on watching a classic holiday movie with your friends. A hot cocoa bar is incredibly easy to set up. Get some cocoa ready and kept warm in a pot on the stove on low, some sides like candy canes, chocolate sauce, whipped cream, marshmallows (of course), etc., and lastly some paper cups and lids (which you can find at a craft store or online). Cozying up with your friends while you’re all in your PJs, drinking some cocoa, and watching a classic holiday movie is the ideal night to spend with your friends.
Another way you can spice up Friendsmas is with some cookie or brownie skillets, a perfect way to end the night by making your own cookie skillets and topping them with all the delicious toppings like caramel, ice cream, sprinkles, etc. This is a really easy dessert option if you plan on providing a sweet treat for your friends, and it doesn’t take that much effort to make and prepare. Taking some premade cookie dough or brownie batter (Ghirardelli is a favorite) and cooking it up in a cast iron skillet and put in the oven is the perfect treat to share with friends as well, a guaranteed hit.
conclusion
We discussed an overwhelming number of different things to do, to eat, and ways to have fun during Friendsmas, but take this article as a guide showing different options and ideas to give you inspiration when it comes time to host your own. I don’t want you to think that every option and idea I shared today is a definite must in order to have fun with your friends this holiday season, but to take note of all the different activities and ideas to make the night more interesting in case you find yourself stuck when planning. Pick and choose things that work for you and your friends, because what may work for some groups online may not cater to everybody who shows up to your Friendsmas, so customize it to your friends and their interests. All of these ideas I have shared today but the most important thing that matters is the friends you invite, bring all of your closest friends together and really focus on spending the moment together. Happy Friendsmas!