No holiday party is complete without something sweet for guests to nibble on after the big meal is over, and this special occasion requires a dessert that’s a bit more elegant than your usual cake or cookies. Here are a few festive dessert recipes that will make the perfect ending to any seasonal soiree.

Cream Puff Tower
While cookie tables are fairly casual, an artistic cream puff tower makes a much more decorative way to display self-serve desserts. This recipe shows you how to create light, fluffy cream puffs covered in a flaky pastry crust, and it also offers inspiration for artfully arranging them on a tiered stand.

Dark Chocolate Peppermint Brownies
Everyone loves a warm, chewy brownie, and this recipe adds festive red and white peppermints on top to make the old favorite more appropriate for the holiday season. Best of all, this recipe is best served the day after baking for a fudgier consistency, so you can even make them ahead of time.

Holiday Biscotti
If you plan on serving hot coffee after dinner at your holiday party, this holiday biscotti is the perfect accompaniment. Traditional cranberry pistachio biscotti cookies are dipped in white chocolate and covered in red and green sprinkles for a decorative look that’s also delicious.

CC-BY-SA-2.0/Flickr/Migle

With vibrant painted murals, a gleaming curved wooden bar, and walls stacked with wine bottles, Grotto Ristorante is a lively setting for a flavorful dinner.

Settle in by the fireplace indoors or out on the patio and get your party started with a glass or bottle of wine and an antipasto, like mussels marechiaro with white wine and fresh tomatoes, the scampi grotto with mushrooms, or the mozzarella in padella with tomatoes, garlic, and basil. Pizza and pasta are featured on the menu, along with entrees like shrimp paillard with jumbo lump crab, roasted bell peppers, and lemon sauce, and snapper Siciliano with Roma tomatoes, garlic, shrimp sauce, and lump crab.

Grotto Ristorante is open every day, and it serves brunch on the weekends.

Grotto Ristorante
9595 Six Pines Drive
The Woodlands, TX 77380
(281) 419-4252
www.grottorestaurants.com
www.yelp.com/biz/grotto-ristorante-the-woodlands-2

CC-BY-SA-2.0/Flickr/becre8tive

Clothing swaps are becoming increasingly popular ways to recycle your old clothes and gain some new-to-you favorites in return. By simply inviting a few friends to bring a few items each, you can organize a clothing swap in no time. Here are a few tips for pulling it off.

1. Get the word out. It’s best to invite 10 to 15 people for maximum swapping possibilities. Send out email invitations about one month in advance describing how to event works so that guests have ample time to start cleaning out their closets.
2. Choose the perfect space. If you live in a studio apartment, it may be best to host the swap at a friend’s house with a larger common space. Choose a living room or even a covered area in the backyard if it’s warm outside.
3. Get organized. Even among close friends, things can get a bit crazy if you simply dump the clothes into a pile and have at it. Create a type of system where each guest gets a certain number of items, or have the previous owners “auction” their pieces off by telling a background story about each item.
4. Settle fights efficiently. If more than one person wants a particular item, develop a system for deciding who should get it. Choose a name out of a hat, or if your friends feel comfortable, let the group decide who wears it best.

13 Rules for a Successful Clothing Swap [Oprah]
10 Tips for Hosting a Successful Clothing Swap [Women’s Day]
Swap 'Til You Drop: Throwing a Clothing-Swap Party is On-Trend [Bethenny]

CC-BY-2.0/Flickr/2Tales