Cosy Christmas Cocktail & Game Party

As it’s getting colder and darker outside, we are nearing Christmas—my favorite time of the year! This year is our first year living in Japan during this season. Although we will be back in Europe for Christmas itself, we wanted to enjoy the Christmas spirit before then. That’s why we invited some friends over for a Christmas cocktail and games night. We ended up being eight adults and two kids, and here is how that went.

Drinks

Since there were both adults and kids, we needed a mixture of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. To make it easier to explain what drinks we had, I created a drinks menu. This menu included cocktails, mocktails, and other non-alcoholic options like sodas. It was a big hit and a fun way for our guests to pick their drinks. Each cocktail and mocktail was given a Christmas-themed name to match the occasion.

I didn’t have any cocktail glasses, so instead, I used our normal glasses, wine glasses, and champagne glasses. To add a festive touch, I tied a red ribbon bow around the stems of the wine and champagne glasses. So cute.

For the signature cocktail, we had the “Winter Wonderland”—a creamy, sweet, and delicious drink.

Recipe:

• 60 ml Baileys

• 30 ml Vodka

• 30 ml Amaretto

• 60 ml Double cream

• 3-5 of drops of vanilla extract

Shake with ice in a cocktail shaker and, using a strainer, pour the drink into your glass without the ice. I added a strand of rosemary for decoration.

Food

We don’t have the space in our apartment to seat so many people at a dining table, so we opted for finger foods. This way, everyone could hold their plate and eat while sitting on the sofa, by the table, or even standing. It worked perfectly.

We made a cheeseboard, which is always a hit when we have guests. For the cheeses, I went with cheddar, brie, camembert, and herb cream cheese. I also included some thinly sliced meats and, of course, a few different types of crackers. On the side, I added grapes, strawberries, and red bell pepper to complement the cheeseboard.

I also made small wraps. One was filled with cream cheese, cucumber, and salmon—my personal favourite. It’s so simple yet so delicious. The other had cream cheese and ham. To make eating easier, I set out a pack of toothpicks for guests to use to grab the cheese or other foods.

For sweets, I put out Danish butter cookies (which I found here in Tokyo) and a large bowl filled half with salted popcorn and half with small chocolate-covered pretzels.

Since we didn’t have enough plates for everyone, I bought Christmas-themed paper plates. These not only looked festive but also made clean up much easier.

Games

When picking games, I had a few things in mind:

• They needed to be suitable for both adults and kids.

• They couldn’t have a language barrier for our diverse group.

• They had to be fun for everyone, even those who are shy.

  
  

While my husband suggested charades, I didn’t feel it would work for everyone. Instead, we chose two other fun games.

Gift Game:

This is a classic and a crowd favourite. Here’s what you need:

• A gift (nothing fragile), wrapped in many layers, with some layers taped extra tightly.

• Large gloves (for example oven gloves or garden gloves).

• A dice.

• Optionally a scarf and hat for added fun (we added the scarf to our game).

  
  

Rules:

• Everyone sits in a circle with the gift and gloves in the middle.

• The youngest person starts by rolling the dice and passing it to the left. This continues quickly.

• When someone rolls a six, they shout “SIX!” and put on the gloves (and scarf/hat if included) before trying to unwrap the gift using only their hands.

• Meanwhile, others continue rolling the dice. When someone else rolls a six, they shout “SIX!” and take over unwrapping.

• The person who unwraps the final layer keeps the gift.

  
  

This game is fast-paced and hilarious, as everyone gets competitive about rolling sixes before too much is unwrapped.

Chopstick Game:

This game is also fun and easy to set up. Here’s what you need:

• A lot of small, wrapped sweets.

• Paper cups.

• Chopsticks for everyone.

  
  

Rules:

• Everyone sits around a table with sweets spread out in the middle and a paper cup in front of them.

• On a countdown, everyone starts picking up sweets using chopsticks and placing them in their cups.

• If a sweet falls on the floor, it goes back to the table. To win it, the sweet must go directly from the table to the cup using chopsticks.

• Players can use their chopsticks to sabotage others by blocking their attempts to pick up a sweet.

• The person with the most sweets in their cup at the end wins. Everyone keeps the sweets they collected.

  
  

Decorations

I had already decorated our apartment for Christmas. I kept it simple but cosy. On two large windows in the living room, I hung light chains with small, warm bulbs—they looked so cute.

To add festive colours, I switched our cushion covers to red and green, matching the green table runner on the coffee table. I also placed three artificial candles on the coffee table for extra cosiness.

On the dining table, I laid out a red tablecloth with gold Christmas symbols. This table held all the food, so I added little light chains between the dishes to keep the festive vibe. Everything on this table followed a red-and-gold theme.

Final Thoughts

Overall, we all had a fantastic time. Everything ran smoothly, and I wouldn’t change a thing. It was the perfect way to celebrate the Christmas spirit with friends before heading back to Europe.

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas filled with fun activities and plenty of holiday cheer.

See you in my next post!