Holiday Cookie Decorating with Plate & Pattern
By: Southern Hospitality Company
Sugar cookies, festive paper, and a few clever entertaining shortcuts that make Christmas memories without the cleanup.
There’s something about decorating Christmas cookies that brings out the child in everyone. The icing, the sprinkles, the occasional cookie that looks absolutely nothing like what you intended. It’s all part of the fun!
When our friends at Plate & Pattern sent us some of their darling paper entertaining pieces, we knew just what to do with them. A good old-fashioned Christmas cookie decorating party, complete with homemade sugar cookies, personalized holiday touches, and best of all, a cleanup that takes practically no time at all.
Because while I love a beautifully decorated cookie, I don’t particularly love scraping dried royal icing off my table.
Start with a Really Good Sugar Cookie
Before we get to the pretty things, let’s talk cookies.
I’ve been making my foolproof rolled sugar cookie recipe for years, and it’s one of those recipes I return to every Christmas. The dough is easy to work with, the cookies hold their shape beautifully, and they’re just as delicious as they are pretty.
For a decorating party, I recommend baking your cookies a day or two ahead of time. Christmas trees, candy canes, stars, whatever strikes your fancy! Prepare your icing in advance, divide it into piping bags, and you’re ready to go.
We kept things traditional with red, evergreen, and white icing. There’s no need to reinvent Christmas when the classics are this charming.
Entertaining Made Easy with Plate & Pattern
Now for the clever part!
Plate & Pattern makes the most wonderful paper entertaining pieces, including decorative inserts that fit right into their coordinating trays. They give you all the charm of a beautifully styled serving piece without the fuss of washing everything afterward.
For our cookie decorating afternoon, we lined the trays with their festive red-and-white striped paper and filled them with sugar cookies and piping bags of colorful icing.
Everything looked darling, and when the decorating was finished? We simply gathered up the used paper and tossed it away.
No scrubbing icing off serving trays. No complicated cleanup. Just a few crumbs to sweep away and perhaps one more cookie to enjoy.
I also love that you can change the paper inserts to suit the occasion. Christmas today, a birthday party next month, a summer gathering down the road. It’s such a practical way to entertain without sacrificing the pretty details.
We’ve linked the designs we used, along with a few other Plate & Pattern favorites, in our shopping roundup below.
A Few Southern Hospitality Touches
Of course, we couldn’t resist adding a few of our own Christmas favorites to the table.
Our personalized Evergreen Christmas Tree and Magnolia Wreath cocktail napkins were the perfect finishing touches. I love how a personalized napkin can make even the simplest gathering feel a little more special, and Christmas is certainly no exception.
We paired them with our Red Tartan Bow Wreath Frosted Cups, which are in stock and ready to ship. Filled with ice, a festive striped straw, and a little sprig of fresh rosemary, they couldn’t have been cuter.
A few branches of fresh greenery, gold berry accents, and our red pagoda lantern from Beatriz Ball completed the scene.
Nothing particularly fussy or complicated. Just classic Christmas colors, a few thoughtful details, and plenty of cookies.
A Little Less Cleanup, A Lot More Christmas
I think sometimes we make entertaining more complicated than it needs to be. Not every gathering requires an elaborate menu, perfectly set table, or an entire day of preparation.
Sometimes a batch of homemade cookies, a few pretty paper pieces, and an afternoon with people you love are more than enough.
A big thank-you to our friends at Plate & Pattern for helping us make one of our favorite Christmas traditions a little prettier and a whole lot easier.
Now, who’s ready to decorate some cookies?
Cookie Decorating Favorites:
We’d love to hear your thoughts if you try this project!
Tag us @SouthernHospitalityCo if you make them!
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