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We have some of our family that lives a few hours away. We began having a gluten-free Thanksgiving at home a few years ago to make it less stressful and safer due to my children having Celiac Disease and allergies. It’s become normal now for some of our family to join us at home for Thanksgiving! I love having them here with us, so it’s a wonderful treat.

Once Thanksgiving is over, I am all ready for Christmas! To kick off our Christmas season, we love having a little get-together while our family is in town for Thanksgiving. So, we have a sock party!

The concept is really simple: snack foods, dinner if desired, some Christmas music, hot cocoa, and socks! It all sounds like a normal party, but what do we do with those socks?

Sock Game

The socks are for a fun game! We ask that everyone who comes and wants to participate brings one pair of socks wrapped up in wrapping paper. When it’s time for the game, we have oven mitts and a pair of dice. One person wears the oven mitts and another rolls the dice. The person with the oven mitts has a wrapped pair of socks that they are trying to open. Their attempt lasts as long as it takes the person with the dice to roll doubles. As soon as they roll doubles, the person trying to unwrap the socks has to stop. If they can get the socks completely out, then they keep those socks. If they do not get them out, they pass the oven mitts and the pair of socks they were working on unwrapping to the next person. The dice are also passed along to the next person.

Once someone has their socks unwrapped, they are no longer in the game. They do not try to unwrap any socks nor roll the dice. Once everyone has a pair unwrapped, the game is done! For us, we make trades if all parties involved wish to trade. For example, if an adult get a pair of children’s socks, and a child gets a pair of adult socks, then it makes sense to switch. People also switch if they have a color or style they wish to trade for. The idea is for everyone to leave with a pair of socks that they did not bring. That’s it!

Supplies

Supplies do not need to be expensive. You can find socks for $1 at stores. They can be everyday socks or holiday themed. Oven mitts and dice are usually available at many dollar stores as well. So for just a few dollars, you have a great game with take-home prizes and lots of laughs!

Besides the socks, you can keep it simple with snacks. We had a box of Simple Mills Pumpkin Muffins and made a batch of brownies from Simple Mills Chocolate Cake mix. I make gluten-free, dairy-free hot chocolate using a recipe from Tastes Lovely. (Do make sure that all of the ingredients you use are safe for your family.) I also put together a veggie tray and had roasted pumpkin seeds out for everyone to enjoy we roasted from the pumpkins we cooked for Thanksgiving. You could do whatever was safe and enjoyable for your family, but maybe this can give you some ideas.

What types of gatherings do you enjoy around Christmas? Do you have any traditions for parties together to celebrate? I’d love to hear them if so!