Every street has one family that decorates first and invites everyone over. This year it can be you. The picture shows a whole lane of gingerbread houses with icing roofs, candy cane posts and a little bridge over a frozen stream, and it reads as friendly from a mile away.
Use it for a block party, a cul-de-sac cocoa night, an HOA holiday gathering or a walk to look at everyone’s lights. Keep it short: the name of the party, the day, the time and the spot where people meet. Neighbors do not need more than that to show up.
A few easy ideas: ask each house to bring one kind of cookie, set up a hot cocoa table with a big thermos and paper cups, hand out candy canes to the kids, and vote on the best decorated porch. Print a few copies for the mailboxes of neighbors who are not in the group chat.
