This shop, Woodland Themed Holiday Party, is compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #InspireWithCheese #CollectiveBias
My favorite foods are appetizers and desserts. All parties should consist of befores and afters. Let’s just skip the middle, OK?
During the holidays, I actually get tired of the huge meals that we only seem to eat at this time of the year. Just get me a few appetizers and dessert and I’m good to go.
I love to put together a rustic/glam Woodland Themed Holiday Party for adults. My 12 Days of Appetizers party is the perfect way to showcase all my rustic decor.
This party is the easiest one you’ll host during the holiday season. Why? When you send out invites, ask each couple to bring their favorite appetizer. You will only need to put together a few appetizers and a couple of desserts and you are done.
Thankfully, shopping at Kroger for Kaukauna® Cheese helps me put together delicious appetizers that are easy to make. Don’t tell my guests, but my carrot cake came from Kroger also. I’ll just let them all think it’s homemade.
Woodland Themed Holiday Party
For this party, all the fancy china stays in the china cabinet and I pull out all my rustic platters and my slab-of-wood cake plate. I’m not really a collector of things until it comes to cake plates. I can’t get enough of them.
To set up my party table, I grab a glam tablecloth from my linen closet. I need something dark and woodsy for this party. I love how the little circles remind me of leaves blowing in the wind.
Battery operated tealights inside frosted jars add a festive touch. Cover the jars with glue and dip them in Epsom Salt. After they dry, add a tag or two – instant winter decor.
A Woodland Themed Holiday Party must have a herd of deer and a snowman as the centerpiece. Oh, and a couple of rustic trees for a backdrop.
Helpful Hint: I arrange all the serving platters on the table before I fill them with food. That way, if it looks off, I can rearrange the platters without being concerned about food items shifting or falling off the platters.
My favorite DIY decor for this party is the place cards. I used tiny terra cotta pots (you could use peat pots as well) and filled the top with moss. The little “12 Days of Appetizers” tags are attached to twigs and fresh Rosemary sprigs using a hot glue gun and I think they’re adorable.
Here’s a free download to make your own tags:Â 12-days-of-appetizers-tags
I’ve also got a free printable table sign:Â party-table-sign
Spinach and Pepper Jack Cheese Tarts
My Pepper Jack Cheese and Spinach Filled Phyllo Tarts will be the star of your holiday party. They’re so easy to make.
I use frozen phyllo tarts. They’re fully cooked and all I do is fill them with the creamed spinach mixture and top them with slices of Kaukauna® Pepper Jack Cheese Balls.
Pepper Jack Cheese and Spinach Filled Phyllo Tarts
Ingredients
- 1 Kaukauna® Pepper Jack Cheese Ball
- 1 package (10 oz) frozen spinach, defrosted and drained
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 package frozen mini phyllo tarts
Instructions
- Sauté spinach, garlic, salt and pepper in a skillet on medium-high heat.
- Add heavy cream and stir until thick, about 5 minutes.
- Spoon spinach into phyllo cups.
- Top each tart with a slice of Kaukauna® Pepper Jack Cheese Ball.
Every appetizer party needs a little chocolate!
After my party, my 20-something-year-old daughter sent me a text asking me if the cheese balls were homemade. When she found out they were not homemade, she wanted all the details. I told her that she could find Kaukauna® Cheese Balls, Logs and Spreadable Cheese Cups at Kroger.
They are in the cheese section of the deli and they’re made with 100% real cheese. No wonder they taste so good.
The Kaukauna® Port Wine Cheese Ball is featured on my fruit tray. Grapes and/or pears and crackers are all great options to serve alongside the cheese ball.
My Woodland Themed Holiday Party is a hit with my family and friends and it’s so easy to set up and the cleanup is a breeze. Of course, my husband cleans up after our parties while I relax. I cook. He cleans. It’s a total do!
Are you planning a holiday party? Follow Kaukauna® on Facebook and Pinterest for more holiday party ideas!
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26 comments
What a fun Christmas party. I love all the Woodland touches especially the Snowman and Reindeer. Kroger does indeed have good cakes, we may have tasted a few and how could it be a party without those delicious cheese balls!!
Loved the reindeer!!! And the food looks sooo good!!! Yum
I love this theme and I just printed out the appetizers sign! {yay} What a great party spread, thanks for all of the great tips! {client}
This is a wonderful idea. I love how you have them all set up. I know it took some time.
I need to find a way to get myself invited to your party! This looks so good and I love the reindeer! So cute!!
OMG, I love all of this. So darn pretty! Thanks for the inspiration. 🙂
What a fun holiday theme!! I love cheese balls, they are perfect for holiday get togethers and party spreads.
I am totally loving this idea. It’s so trendy for the holidays too. Great party post!
I absolutely love your party theme. I am actually incorporating a woodland theme into my Christmas tree decor this year: acorns, pinecones, snowflakes, owls, and more. I love all the cute party details you incorporated into your post.
I am a sucker for anything woodland themed. This looks like such a cute holiday party. I love all the decorations.
What an awesome looking party – I love the fact that the woodland is so big this year, some amazing bits to buy.
Oh my gosh, you did it perfectly! This is way too cute and the recipes look absolutely delicious.
I’m with you, a big fan of appetizers and desserts, probably more skewed towards the desserts… Love the table pieces, totally adorable. Makes me want to throw a party.
Everything looks to cute and tasty! I would love to have a nice set-up like this for the holidays. Also, I love cheese balls! They are one my my holiday favorites!
Ooh, I love your woodland decor! So cute. And those Fillo appetizers look and sound amazing. Kaukauna Cheese Balls are always a favorite for the holidays around here. 🙂
~Lorelai
Life With Lorelai
I love all things woodland! I love the wooden deer all the different versions of cake platters!! How fun is this party and everything looks so delicious. The tags and printables in the planters are the best!! I don’t know that I have tried cheese balls but I recently saw one and wanted to try it out. Now I’ll have to go to a Kroger branch.
I totally agree with you that appetizers and desserts are the best part of a meal. I don’t eat meat so the main course is usually much smaller for me than others. Your spinach and cheese appetizer looks amazing!
I am loving this woodland theme! This is soo cute and it something that can be easily done with the tree limbs I have around my house. The printable are awesome and they give it that extra touch.
These are awesome woodland themed holiday party ideas. I love the little deer and the printables are indeed awesome. They stick out and look great. The recipe for the tarts I am going to have to try. My family loves pepper jack cheese on my things. Thanks for sharing the ideas and printables.
This Is so stinking cute. The plum textured table cloth was an excellent choice. All of the food looks good, but the Spinach and Pepper Jack Cheese Tarts were my favorite.
Love these ideas! I am all about a woodland theme and hope to incorporate some of these ideas! So cute!
I just love those reindeers! They look so fun and festive for this time of year! I too prefer the appetizers over the main course!
What a great selection of appetizers! I always admire your creative ideas for every holiday and special occasions.
This is a super fun way to theme your holiday party. I love all these ideas and will be saving these for future inspiration.
I just love this so much! I love woodland animals AND appetizers 🙂 We have that cheese every year at Christmas, and honestly, I have been buying it to snack on lately lol.
These are all really cute. I think I’m going to use a theme for my christmas dinner this year