Christmas markets all over Germany and in many cities around the world have been canceled for this year. For everyone who was looking forward to the Christmas season and the hot mulled wine outside, that doesn’t have to mean that you have to completely forego the Christmas market feeling: Why not just design your own Christmas market at home?
How exactly your own Christmas market can look like at home is, of course, entirely up to your creativity. Nevertheless, we have collected a few private Christmas market party theme ideas for you to know step-by-step how to start a Christmas market.
Your own Christmas Market at home – Creative step-by-step ideas
To plan our Christmas market, we first have to ask ourselves a few questions: What belongs on a Christmas market, and which aspects can be done at home? For this purpose, we have divided the structure of our Christmas market into four important categories:
- Location
- Construction and decoration
- Popular food on the Christmas market
- execution
The Location
First of all, we have to think about where our Christmas market should occur in our home. There are basically two options for this: inside and outside.
Christmas market in the garden/outside
Probably the most authentic version of your personal Christmas market is an outdoor market. This can be your own garden, courtyard, or terrace. Another option would be the balcony.
Advantage Christmas market outside
- more authentic than the Christmas market inside
- often more space available
Drawbacks Christmas market outside
- uncomfortable in bad weather
- not everyone has access to a suitable outdoor space
Christmas market in the living room
Another possibility is to choose the living room as the location. Maybe you also have a party room, a garden shed, a guest or dining room, or something similar.
Advantage Christmas market inside
- not weather dependent
- warm
Drawbacks of the Christmas market inside
- usually less space available
- “Risk of the spill”
- Social-Distance rules may not be followed
Construction and decoration
After choosing a location for your Christmas market, you should think about how to set up and decorate your stands. Festive decorations are definitely a must for every Christmas market.
Christmas market stands
What would a real Christmas market be without its stalls? For such a typical small wooden stand, as we know it from regular Christmas markets, there is a lot of work and quite some money involved. If you weren’t planning on building a wooden cabin in the garden anyway, you should probably do without a conventional wooden stand.
Another possibility would be to build a stand yourself from scraps of wood. But this, too, involves a lot of work that is probably beyond the scope of a private Christmas party.
Therefore, the best solution is to set up Christmas treats on a table, folding table, or bar. Regular pasting tables can also serve as your Christmas stand, which can later be folded up and placed in the basement or attic.
Your table should, of course, be decorated with a beautiful festive tablecloth to make it fit into the Christmas theme of your party.
Christmas Decoration
The festive decoration is typical of a Christmas market. Therefore, some Christmas decorations elements are also a crucial part of your Christmas market party. In the following, you will find some decoration inspirations.
Decoration DIY
The probably most natural and creative way to decorate your Christmas-themed party is to create your own decoration elements. You can find some Pine cones and branches in the woods, in the park, or your garden, or look for them online.
Pine garland
With a pine garland, you can easily bring the “outside feeling” inside and give your Christmas market stand the finishing touches.
Mulled wine cups
The typical mulled wine mugs are part of every common visit to a German Christmas market. You can use your own Christmas mugs or matching mulled wine mugs for this. These can also be a great souvenir of your Christmas market.
Christmas Market sign
Candy Canes
Candy canes are a typical decoration for Christmas occasions and a great snack for anyone with a sweet tooth. You can find them during the Christmas season in almost all conventional supermarkets or, of course, online.
Other great decorative items could be
- Christmas elves
- Bells
- Stars
- Christmas ornaments
- Christmas pyramid
Chain of lights
Another great way to decorate your Christmas market is fairy lights and luminous decorative elements. These come into their own when your Christmas market party takes place in the evening.
LED bottle lights
These LED bottle lights are original Christmas decorations. And after the Christmas market celebration, they will also look great in your living room.
Festive LED Light chain
Colorful Lights
While some prefer soft, warm light, others cannot get it colorful enough. In this case, a colorful chain of lights is just the thing for your Christmas market. This way, you also bring a little more color to your celebration.
Christmas Market accessories
Besides decorative items, other accessories can bring that Christmas market feeling directly into your living room.
Christmas Music
Create your personal Christmas playlist or Spotify, Youtube, or other providers and put on a Christmas CD.
Bluetooth Speaker
In the best-case scenario, you already have your own speakers at home. Otherwise, a dear guest or neighbor is sure to be willing to lend you theirs. Another great tip is to put your smartphone in a bowl to amplify your tone naturally. On the other hand, it can also be practical to invest in a little Bluetooth speaker as it can always come in handy.
Mulled Wine dispenser
While a large pot with a ladle is certainly sufficient for mulled wine for a smaller party, it may be more practical to use a mulled wine dispenser for when you are more people. Even if several cups of mulled wine are drunk in the course of the celebration, a mulled wine kettle is useful as it keeps your mulled wine warm.
By the way, this dispenser also works for coffee and other hot drinks.
The best German Christmas Market snacks to do at home
Of course, your guests’ physical well-being should also be taken care of at your Christmas market party – because the yummy snacks that await us at the Christmas market are one of the main reasons for many to visit a Christmas market in the first place.
Mulled wine (Glühwein)
For many, it is the most important Christmas market specialty: mulled wine. During the Christmas season, some supermarkets offer mulled wine. In addition to the conventional mulled wine, there are also different flavors, such as mulled apple wine. Others, who like it a little sweeter, prefer to drink fruit punch with amaretto.
Another option is to make your own mulled wine. This way, it tastes particularly good, and you can adapt it to your preferences.
Basic Recipe for German Glühwein
Ingredients
- A bottle of your favorite red wine (dry)
- One orange (organic) sliced
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 2-3 tbsp sugar (or honey)
- 3 cloves
- Option: star anise
- Option: lemon
- Option: cardamom pods
Preparation
- Put all the ingredients together in a saucepan and heat everything (do not let it boil!)
- After heating, you can let it steep for 1-2 hours
- Reheat before serving.
- Prost!
Fruit punch
Another option for those who don’t drink alcohol is a typical German fruit punch. You might be able to find in the supermarket during the Christmas season or in a shop for German cuisine.
To prepare fruit punch yourself, you can simply follow the mulled wine recipe above and use fruit tea and juices (grape juice and orange juice) instead of red wine.
Roasted almonds (Gebrannte Mandeln)
What would a visit to a German Christmas market be without a portion of roasted almonds? So, of course, these should not be missing on your Christmas market. You can find them at Christmas time in many supermarkets and candy stores.
However, this winter snack tastes the best when it’s homemade. Especially when the almonds are still warm. Luckily, this German Christmas treat is quite easy to make.
Basic Recipe for German roasted almonds
Ingredients
- 1,8 lbs almonds (800 g)
- 1,8 lbs of sugar (800 g)
- 1 ½ cups of water (400 ml)
- 4 packs of vanilla sugar
- 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
Preparation
- Put all ingredients except the almonds in a non-stick pan and bring to a boil.
- Add the almonds and continue to cook, stirring constantly.
- Continue frying on medium speed until the almonds have reached their usual gloss.
- Tip: You can also try the recipe with other kinds of nuts, such as Walnuts or sunflower seeds.
Hot Chocolate
Another popular drink at every German Christmas market is cocoa or hot chocolate. There are no limits to your creativity, whether you want to serve it with rum and cream, with Christmas spices such as cinnamon and vanilla, or perhaps with liqueur 43. Anything that tastes good is allowed.
Crêpes
Another popular Christmas snack is crêpes. The big advantage of these thin pancakes is that they can be enjoyed with all kinds of side dishes. Whether with Nutella, chocolate, jam, powdered sugar, or maybe even with hearty ingredients, it’s up to you and the preferences of your guests.
You can prepare the crepes at home in a conventional pan. However, they can be made even thinner and more authentic with a special crêpes maker. You can find such a crêpes maker in many kitchen shops. There are also some great crepe maker deals out there on Amazon.
More snack ideas for your German-themed Christmas Party
- German bite-size doughnuts
- Garlic bread
- roasted chestnuts
- Liqueur 43 with milk or orange juice
- Fried mushrooms with garlic
By the way, you can find more delicious European Christmas market snack ideas here
Implementation
Let’s come to the last and most important point of your celebration, the implementation. It would be best if you thought about the following points.
- How many people do you want to invite? (Note the applicable corona regulations)
- When should the celebration take place?
- Do you pay for the costs alone, or should the costs be shared between the guests?
- Who takes care of the construction?
- Who will take care of the catering?
- How long should the party go?
- Should you notify your neighbors in case, it will be a little bit louder?
Now we have clarified all the important points so that your personal Christmas market can be a complete success. The more creative you get, the better! Do you have some great ideas or photos from your own Christmas market party? Make sure to share it with us!
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