Spiced Pear-Pumpkin Whisky Fizz + Ideas for Hosting a Gift Wrapping Party

Soon the floor will be littered with brightly colored paper, torn hastily from boxes. Trash and recycling bins will be stuffed to the brim. Sounds of new gadgets and devices will be filling every room in the house. As you walk the room, offering a trash bag to anybody who will add to it, you'll remember the care you took putting on all that pretty paper, those shredded bows. Hours to wrap, minutes to destroy. But that's half the fun, don't you think?

Today I'm here to offer some last minute ideas for holding a gift wrapping party! If you can carve out an afternoon or evening with some of your friends the week before Christmas, one of these parties can be a much-needed break from the madness. These are just a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing.

Ideas for Hosting a Gift Wrapping Party

PICK A THEME: You can go as basic or specific as you like. Change it up each year!
Some ideas are snowflakes, Santa Claus, Natural (think raffia and jute, pine cones and sprigs, holly and pointsettias, etc), Snowmen, Christmas Trees, Birds, Jingle Bells, Musical, Nativity, ugly sweater, cartoon. The possibilities are endless!

PICK A COLOR SCHEME: Something that matches the theme. I've included a few ideas to get the juices flowing.

• Snowflakes = blue, silver, and white
• Santa Claus = red, green, and white
• Natural = browns, pine greens, other colors found outdoors
• Birds = golds, reds, yellows

Again, endless possibilities. I'd stick with about 3 colors at the most for most themes.

Cardamom Pear Butter + Castello Aged Havarti Cheese Pairing

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Castello® in conjunction with Honest Cooking. All opinions are my own.

I've often waxed poetic on the subject of cheese, otherwise known as  my ultimate weakness. I could live on cheese plates alone. You know, because they're always accompanied by other good things like bread or crackers, fruits and nuts, slices of charcuterie, perfect little condiments, and of course, alcohol. Nibbles and tastes, turn into swoons and flutters, turn into claiming a cheese tray as my dinner plate. Really, what more does a person need?

I could blabber on and on about the virtues of a well thought out cheese plate, the kind that includes several cheeses and an array of complementary food and drink. Today I'm partnering with Castello® as part of their #CastelloArt campaign, so I'm going to do something a little different and feature a single cheese—Castello® Aged Havarti.

"Castello® Aged Havarti is based on the authentic Danish recipe for Havarti dating back to 1952. Made from traditional cheese methods with the addition of a special culture, the Castello® Aged Havarti is then matured for 12 months.