Polar Express Party

The Polar Express holds very special memories for so many people. I remember checking the Caldecott-winning book by Chris Van Allsburg out of the library at Elsmere Elementary over and over again, wishing I would wake one Christmas Eve to the sound of the steam engine outside my own window. Since the movie's release in 2004, it has become a tradition for us to watch it at least twice during the Christmas season. When Nora was about a year and a half, she asked to watch "Choo choo moonie" almost every day in December and when Connor was around two, he wanted to watch "Po-fress" every day. All year long.


When it came time to plan his third birthday, he asked to have a Polar Express party. I thought it would be fun to do a pajama party since the kids in the story were all in their jammies. I found these "believe" cards in Target's Christmas section, printed and adhered a photo of the famous train with the details of the party to the inside, making sure to add a note at the bottom asking guests to remember to bring their ticket. I printed out these Polar Express tickets on gold scrapbook paper and tucked them inside the card.

I decided to have a hot chocolate station, since the hot chocolate scene is a favorite with our kids in both the book and the movie. I also set some warm apple cider out for anyone who didn't like hot chocolate. I covered plain white paper coffee cups with blue glitter scrapbook paper. While this looked really cute, I don't necessarily recommend it unless you like glitter in your beverages. It. Was. Everywhere. 

I covered the buffet table in white linens with a couple strands of white lights underneath. I added silver and blue ornaments, star garland and jingle bells around the table. I hung some white glitter snowflakes from the ceiling and chandelier along with a train birthday banner my sister Kate made for his first birthday party.

I set out a jar with assorted flavored hot chocolates next to a kettle of hot water and white chocolate stirring spoons.We had several different toppings and mix-ins for the hot chocolate set up in these cute water goblets I picked up from Pottery Barn for a steal (and I later discovered the reason: they all perished shortly after, along with the rest of our Pottery Barn glassware...not very sturdy. Get it together, Pottery Barn!)


 

We had candy canes, cinnamon sticks, caramels, marshmallows, chocolate sprinkles, mini chocolate chips and whipped cream to add to the hot chocolate and cider. I found some printable labels and tent cards online and customized them with a picture of the Polar Express bell. I attached the labels to wooden paddles to stick down into the goblets of toppings.

As for the food, I stuck to simple sweets. "Snowball doughnuts," as Connor calls them, stacked on a tiered stand, fudge brownies, white chocolate covered pretzels and little s'mores bites. These were a fun addition and a hit with everyone. I used a small round cookie cutter to carefully cut each graham cracker, then added a large marshmallow and Hershey Kiss to each. They went under the broiler for a couple minutes and that was it!



The cake was just 8" rounds with a 6" layer on top. I carved out of the side to make it look like a mountain, iced it in grey buttercream and added some white icing on the top and edges to look like snow. Then I added black licorice for train tracks, a couple bottle brush trees and our wooden Polar Express train climbing the "mountain."

As the guests arrived, our little conductor/guest of honor was ready with his ticket punch. He punched each ticket and directed everyone to the hot chocolate station. We had the movie on in the background, but no planned activities for this party as it was mostly family and a couple close friends. Connor and Nora each wore their Polar Express jammies from their Mugga and Papa. They took turns receiving "the first gift of Christmas"- the silver bell from Santa's sleigh - while drinking their heavily-topped hot chocolates.

The birthday boy spent the rest of the evening in his blue robe with the bell in the pocket, engineering his very own Polar Express!

The Polar Express has become a big part of our Christmas traditions. They have Polar Express Day at school, where the kids parade around the school wearing a box they have decorated to look like a train car, they drink hot chocolate and watch the movie. We have ridden the "Santa Express" on Blue Ridge Scenic Railway, an hour-long train ride which includes hot chocolate, Christmas carols, stories and activity books, elves delivering candy canes, Mrs. Claus delivering a bell and, of course, Santa himself posing for photos.

We read the book and watch the movie several times each season. The magic of the Polar Express will forever stay part of our family's tradition. "The bell still rings for all who truly believe."

xoxo