We have around 15 women and they bring 10 dozen. We have festive type music drinks appetizers and all bring a wrapped ornament worth 10-15 dollars and every gets to go home with a ball for there tree...its great fun. My hubby goes down the road with the kids every year and eats with my father and I get the house to just me and my pals! I make sure y house is completely decorated so everyone gets into the spirit of the holiday season...it keeps growing every year,already I have 2 extras from my sister Corinne's work place..The more the merrier. I just ordered the invitations last night which Im happy with. The picture is a BRATZ DOLL dressed in a Santa outfit and it reads "Hey You Christmas Cookie Diva's are you ready for Eileen's 3rd Annual Cookie Exchange.....

One thing I did once, was included in the Cookie Exchange Invitation: I assigned one ingredient to each guest-things you'd add to a cookie batter etc.-and they had to bring a small description/history of that ingredient, and other uses for it. Not only was it interesting to hear about & helpful-each guest read her info during the 'refreshments' part of the exchamge. Another time-we made the faux dough and every guest had to roll out & paint & decorate a cookie ornament & date it on the back-a nice remembrance of the party. The ornaments baked while the rest of the cookie exchange was in full swing.

Thanks everyone for the kind words. I totally get why a frosted cookie is $2.95 at the local bakery :) happytime, thanks for the MMF suggestion. I will try that next time. and the link to cakecentral - wow so much info, I could spend days browsing there Annie/shellm it was a TEEN cookie class I took, I was the oldest student by a good 30 yrs LOL. One of the kids works with sculpy and she showed me how to make a monkey in about 20 seconds. Mine took at least a couple of minutes :) Sooz, I SAW your cookies. They are AMAZING!!!! You did a great job and I bet, if nothing else, they tatse good ;-) But believe me thay are so cute. Please post back with the comments from the party. cookie8, try Michaels or joann's for the cookie class. I did it a local Viking cookie school but I think I've seen Wilton classes as the hobby stores. They're addictive. I ordered some cookie cutters (including the ice cream cone so I can try my inspiration cookies) and some food coloring. If it all comes in time, I hope to make some for teacher's gifts

Thanks for the encouraging words, loves2cook4six! I did kinda wonder if this is how ya make marshmallow creme! I actually have minimarshmallows for the Rice Krispie treats. Here's the recipe: Aunty Doe's Shortbread ⨠From SharonÂs (Canarybird) Aunt Doe 1/2 lb soft butterâ¨(2 sticks), salted is recommended 1/2 cup sifted icing sugar (confectioner's sugar) ⨠2 cups flour ⨠Mix butter and icing sugar, then add flour, mixing by hand. ⨠Form into a brick shape...if necessary put in fridge to cool, then slice into thick rectangles. ⨠(Slice thickly from the end of the "brick" and then slice each one again so the pieces come out at around 1" x 2" (2.5 cm x 5 cm) and about 3/4 inch thick. She liked to put a small dot of either red or green glace cherry in the middle of each.) Bake on parchment lined cookie sheet at 275F for one hour. Ta-daaaahhh! Done! Well, I did a bit of chilling, then rolling, then using a heart-shaped cookie cutter and they came out fine! The royal icing outlines hardened, and I thought I'd add a few more doodads before I did the flooding (see pix below)! Thanks for the tips on flooding and royal icing--I had wondered how long it would keep and if I could put it in the fridge! I have my squeeze bottles ready, but probably won't get to it until tomorrow afternoon.