For those of you who love Christmas!

Here are some great ideas to celebrate Christmas early in July. Any excuse for a get together with family or friends is a good one. We have some great tips, where everyone chips in, to make the event special.

Here are some good ideas:

¥ Pick a group of family and/or friends, and ask them all to bring a plate of food, and a mystery present from each person who attends.
¥ Everyone can dress up in something that is from Christmas if you are feeling adventurous: tinsel, Santa Clause, Elf, Santa Hats, The Grinch, funny Christmas T-Shirts, etc.
¥ Make sure you have Christmas Decorations and party music.
¥ Xmas punch is always a hit.
¥ We have a great recipe for Candy Cane and Smartie Ice Cream and it only takes 10 minutes to prepare. If you are a lover of ice cream, this is fantastic and easy to make.

The present is for the Last Elf Standing Game. If this game isn't for you, try a Secret Santa and pick names out of a hat and you buy a present for that person. You can make it a $10 limit, so it doesn't get too expensive.

Party Game: Last Elf Standing!

Here's a fun game to play with family and friends and how to make your Christmas event an easy one to organise. We like to call this game, Last Elf Standing! It's fun, interactive and mischievous.
The Mystery Present is to be placed in a Santa Bag as your guests arrive. Everyone is to keep their present a secret and anonymous.

Now, what do you do with the mystery present?

1. Place all the presents in the middle of the room.

2. Write a number for each person on a separate piece of paper and place them in a hat (or container). Ask everyone to pick a number.

3. If you are number 1, you get to choose a present from the middle. You might think it's good going first, but in many cases, it's not. The reason being is that Number 2 gets to pick a present from the middle or steal yours!

4. The next person can steal someone's present or take an unopened present from the middle. Make sure if you have a present that you don't want, make it look attractive so someone else picks it. You can wave it around if it's a mug, talk about the beautiful hot chocolates you can have.

When you get to the last person, they can pick their favourite present from anyone, or take the last present in the middle. I always choose to take another present as I like to keep the game going. If there is a child in the room who really doesn't like their present, I take it off them to make it exciting. The joy of watching their face light up is a gift. It's totally up to you.

Candy Cane and Smartie Ice Cream

Ingredients
¥ 2 Litres of your favourite supermarket Vanilla Ice Cream.
¥ 300g Smarties- crushed into smaller pieces
¥ 8 Candy Canes- crushed

Tip: Put the candy canes and smarties into separate bags and crush them a rolling pin.

Method
1. Place a 2-litre baking tin in the freezer. Make sure it is freezing cold and leave it in there until ready to use.
2. In a bowl, beat the ice cream 1-2 minutes or until softened. Now pour the Smarties and two-thirds of the Candy Canes into the ice cream and fold.
3. Spoon mixture into the tin and sprinkle the ice-cream with the remaining crushed candy cane for approximately 4 hours or until set.
Whatever your plans are, we hope you have a special event that everyone enjoys.