Christmas Appetizers & Dessert Board for an Ornament Exchange

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, which means I may earn a small commission if you buy through my links at no extra cost to you.

An ornament exchange is one of the easiest holiday parties to host, because the gifts are small, the rules are simple, and everyone goes home with something for their tree. The part that tends to keep a host up at night is the food. You want the table to look festive and generous, you want something for the kids and something for the grown ups, and you would also like to sit down and enjoy the swap instead of running back and forth to the oven all evening.

That is where a big appetizer board and a dessert board come in. Two boards can feed a full room, most of the work happens before anyone rings the doorbell, and guests can graze between rounds of the exchange without you plating a single thing. If you are still planning the party itself, my post on Christmas ornament exchange ideas walks through guest lists, themes, price limits, and swap rules. This post picks up where that one leaves off and focuses on what to set out on the table.

Why Boards Work So Well for an Ornament Exchange

An ornament exchange has a natural rhythm, with guests arriving, mingling, drawing numbers, opening ornaments, and sometimes stealing them back. A sit down meal interrupts that rhythm, while a board lets people eat whenever they have a free hand. Boards also scale easily, so you can add another sleeve of crackers or a second bowl of fruit if more people show up than you planned for.

They are forgiving as well. Almost everything on a good board comes straight from the grocery store, and the arranging is what makes it look special. If you can open a package and fill a small bowl, you can build a board your guests will remember.

Christmas Appetizer Board Ideas

Start with a large wooden board as your base, since a long board gives you room to make a winding path of food and looks beautiful in photos. A 36 inch acacia serving board with handles holds enough for a big group, and if you would rather start smaller, an acacia board with a handle works well for a smaller crowd or as a second board for the kids table.

Here is a simple formula that keeps an appetizer board balanced. Choose three cheeses with different textures, such as a sharp white cheddar, a soft brie, and a herbed goat cheese log. Add two or three sliced meats, like salami, prosciutto, and pepperoni, and fold or roll them so they are easy to pick up. Fill in with crackers and a sliced baguette, then add color with red grapes, sliced pears, cherry tomatoes, cucumber rounds, and snap peas.

A few small bowls keep the wet and sticky things from running into everything else. Two ounce sauce cups are the right size for honey, fig jam, pepper jelly, olives, and a little hummus or ranch for the vegetables. A small set of cheese knives lets guests cut and spread without reaching for your kitchen knives.

To make the board feel like Christmas, lean on red and green. Sprigs of fresh rosemary tucked between the cheeses look like little evergreen branches, pomegranate seeds scattered over the brie add bright red, and a wedge of cheese cut into a triangle with a rosemary trunk makes a sweet little tree. If you want one warm appetizer to go alongside the board, a tray of baked brie, pigs in a blanket, or meatballs in a slow cooker can sit nearby and stay warm on their own.

Kids usually head straight for the familiar things, so it helps to build one corner of the board just for them with cheese cubes, pepperoni, pretzels, apple slices, and a few crackers. When they can find their favorites quickly, they spend less time hovering at the board and more time watching the exchange.

Christmas Dessert Board and Sweet Table Ideas

A dessert board follows the same idea as the appetizer board, only sweeter. You can build it on a second wooden board, or you can give it some height with a three tier serving tray, which takes up less space on a crowded table and makes cookies look like they came from a bakery case. An acacia cake stand with a dome lid is handy for a cake, a stack of brownies, or anything you want to keep covered until the party starts.

Sugar cookies are the anchor of most Christmas dessert boards, and you can bake and decorate them a day or two ahead. A set of large Christmas cookie cutters gives you trees, stars, snowmen, and gingerbread shapes, and store bought dough works just fine if baking from scratch is not happening this year. Fill in around the cookies with chocolate covered pretzels, peppermint bark, mini cupcakes, chocolate dipped strawberries, and a small bowl of red and green candy.

Hot cocoa fits naturally beside the dessert board. A slow cooker of cocoa with a few small bowls of mini marshmallows, crushed candy canes, and whipped cream turns into its own little station, and it keeps guests warm while they wait for their turn to pick an ornament.

A Simple Kids Craft Add-On: The Ornament Painting Station

Since the whole party revolves around ornaments, it is fun to give the kids a way to make one of their own. Set up a small table with a pack of unfinished wooden ornaments and a set of acrylic paint markers, which are much less messy than paint cups and brushes. Lay down a plastic tablecloth or some kraft paper, add a tray where finished ornaments can dry, and set out a pen so each child can write their name on the back.

The kids can bring their ornament home, hang it on your tree for the night, or add it to a kids only exchange at the end of the party. Older kids tend to draw careful snowflakes and patterns, while little ones are happy to scribble every color they can find, and both look sweet on a tree. Keep an adult or an older child nearby, since paint markers can stain clothes. If you would like more ideas for little hands, my list of easy Christmas crafts for kids and preschoolers has plenty of options, including salt dough ornaments you could make ahead of time.

How to Set Up Your Boards Step by Step

Setting up a board goes much faster when you follow the same order every time, so here is the sequence I recommend.

1. Wash and slice the fruit and vegetables the night before, then store them in containers so they are ready to go.
2. Take the cheese out of the refrigerator about 30 minutes before guests arrive, since it tastes better and slices more easily when it is not ice cold.
3. Place your small bowls on the board first and fill them with dips, jams, and olives, because they are the hardest pieces to move later.
4. Add the cheeses next, spacing them out across the board so guests can reach each one from different sides.
5. Fold or roll the meats and tuck them in a winding line between the cheeses.
6. Fan the crackers and baguette slices along the edges and near the cheeses they go with.
7. Fill every remaining gap with fruit, vegetables, nuts, and pretzels until very little of the wood shows.
8. Finish with rosemary sprigs and pomegranate seeds for color, then set the cheese knives on the board.
9. Build the dessert board the same way, starting with the largest items like cookies and cupcakes and filling in with candy last.

Little signs help guests know what they are eating, which is especially helpful for anyone with allergies. A pack of mini chalkboard food labels lets you mark the cheeses, the dips, and anything that contains nuts. Keep a stack of Christmas ornament cocktail napkins at each end of the table, and the theme carries right through to the smallest detail.

Shop the Ornament Exchange Board

Everything below is linked on Amazon, and prices change often, so check the listing before you order.

• A 36 inch acacia serving board works as the main appetizer board.
• An acacia board with a handle is a good smaller board for a kids corner or the desserts.
• These cheese knives come as a set of four.
• The 2 ounce sauce cups hold dips, jams, and olives.
• A three tier serving tray gives the dessert table height.
• This cake stand with a dome lid keeps a cake or brownies covered.
• The large Christmas cookie cutters make trees, stars, and gingerbread shapes.
• The unfinished wooden ornaments and acrylic paint markers cover the kids ornament station.
• The mini chalkboard labels mark each food on the table.
• These Christmas ornament cocktail napkins match the theme.

Keep the Fun Going All December

If your family enjoys the ornament station, my printable Christmas Countdown Cards give you one small thing to do together every night from December 1 to 24, like hot cocoa in pajamas or driving around to look at the neighborhood lights. They print at home, and most of the activities use things you already have in the house.

Final Thoughts

A full appetizer board, a sweet table with a little height, and a small craft corner for the kids are enough to make an ornament exchange feel warm and festive. Most of it can be prepped the day before, which leaves you free to pour a cup of cocoa and watch everyone fight over the best ornament. Pick one board to start with this year, and you can add the other once you see how easy it is to put together.