I don't know about you, but when I think of Christmas parties, I think of warm, toasty get-togethers with family and close friends. A cozy fire complete with sentimental stories. Do we ever really let a year go by without mentioning, "You'll shoot your eye out kid" from a Christmas story?

Or maybe your idea of a Christmas party is a little more like National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation? Well, maybe not quite that eventful- but here are a few ideas to start your holiday season off right!

Christmas parties are thrown for a wide variety of guests, and each should be considered in order to be a success. Christmas parties can be for family, friends, office co-workers, or one big combined party. Here are some ideas for different guests in mind:

Activity Ideas

· Christmas caroling party. Go caroling in the neighborhood and invite the group to your house afterward for hot chocolate and desserts.

· Potluck dinners. Arrange for everyone to bring a dish to share. It not only makes it easier for you, but your guests get to try new dishes and show off their culinary skills.

· Christmas around the world potluck dinner. Have guests bring dishes that reflect their ethnicities and countries of origin.

· Volunteer at a charitable organization. Arrange for your group to gather needed items for a charity, such as a hunger center. Get the real "reason for the season" going and give back to the community. Come back to the hosts home and share your experiences over coffee.

· Holiday lights tour. Caravan through local neighborhoods and enjoy the festive lights and decorations.

· Cookie baking parties. Get a large group together and bake up a storm. Divvy up the desserts to each guest so that each has a variety to have for their own holiday guests.

· Christmas craft creations. Have each guest be responsible for one craft to make, including the purchase of supplies. Each guest will demonstrate how to do the craft, and other guests will try to make their own. If you have 15 guests, each will go home with 15 new Christmas crafts to decorate their homes.

· Kid friendly. Any Christmas party can cater to kids by having a separate area for Christmas videos, crafts, and Shirley Temples.

Games

· Pin the nose on Rudolph

· What's in the bag? Take a bag and put in Christmas items such as a stockings, candy canes, etc. Each guest reaches her hand in the bag and must guess the item. The best guesser wins a prize.

· Christmas trivia. Test your knowledge about popular movies, TV, pop culture, and other trivia.

· Christmas bingo. Create a bingo card with a Christmas-related theme in the middle, such as a snowman.

· Christmas word scramble. Think of words such as reindeer, stocking, etc, and scramble them on a small cardboard page.

· Name that tune. Play a Christmas CD and the first to guess correctly, wins a prize

I hope these Christmas party ideas helped spark some fun ideas for your upcoming celebration!