A Sweet Nutcracker-Inspired Party For Little Ballerinas

Are visions of sugarplum fairies dancing in your head? For many of us, it wouldn't be the holidays without a visit to a local production of The Nutcracker. George Balanchine's ballet masterpiece is as much a part of the holiday season as the smell of pine and the sound of wrapping paper falling to the floor.

For Darcy Miller, editorial director for Martha Stewart Weddings and a mother of three young daughters, the New York City Ballet's George Balanchine's The Nutcracker is a holiday tradition. Darcy remembers seeing the ballet as a little girl and loves taking her daughters each year. They've watched the video and listened to the soundtrack hundreds of times, and the ballet inspired Darcy to create a Winter wonderland party filled with ballerinas, snowflakes, nutcrackers, and angels to usher in the season. Keep reading for a look at this dreamy party.

A Repurposed Centerpiece

A Repurposed Centerpiece

This past Thanksgiving, Darcy used branches as a centerpiece; they make great decor as they last for weeks. She transformed the "thankful tree" for the Winter by adding some paper and doily snowflakes and glitter leaves made from Martha Stewart Crafts punches. Using glue dots, she adhered the assortment to the branches. The paper angels were made out of doilies and also glitter paper cut with the Martha Stewart circle edge punch. The snowy scene was on cotton batting embellished with Crate and Barrel glitter stars and Lindt chocolate reindeer.

An Angel Dessert Table Filled With Nutcracker Sweets

An Angel Dessert Table Filled With Nutcracker Sweets

The dessert table, with an angel centerpiece, was a Winter wonderland filled with One Girl Cookiescupcakes and cakes, and cake pops all with a Nutcracker theme.

A Sweet Angel Centerpiece

A Sweet Angel Centerpiece

A tiered cake stand and little bowls with candy, topped with a paper angel, make a great centerpiece. To create the angel, simply use a doily for the body, a circle edge punch to edge the wings, and a doily punch to edge the angel's body.

An Adorable Nutcracker Cookie Cake

An Adorable Nutcracker Cookie Cake

A simple white One Girl Cookies buttercream cake is made special by embellishing it with cookies. Darcy used Eleni's nut-free nutcracker cookies, but you can use any cookies that you like! The cake stand was embellished with a strip of glitter paper cut with Martha Stewart Crafts' doily edge punch.

Angel Sweet Cake Pops

Angel Sweet Cake Pops

Darcy collaborated with NY Cakepops for these sweet angel pops — she sent an image of her paper angels to inspire their creation. For displaying cake pops, Darcy suggests using styrofoam edged with a strip of white paper that can be punched with a doily edge punch.

A Snowflake Cake

A Snowflake Cake

"This quick and easy project makes a big statement on the dessert table or even displayed alone." A simple white One Girl Cookies cake can be made into a Winter wonderland by placing three snowflake lollipops as a cake topper. Darcy crushed up some extra lollipops to make a sparkly border on the bottom of the cake. "Edible gold sparkledust from NY Cake and Bake (they have almost every color!) is sprinkled on the top."

Ballerina Cupcakes

Ballerina Cupcakes

What would a Nutcracker party be without the ballerinas? Darcy loves these nostalgic ballerinas placed in One Girl Cookies mini cupcakes. "The lace cups and ballerinas remind me of the 'snowflake' ballerinas dancing in The Nutcracker."

Cups of Sugary Sweet Hot Chocolate

Cups of Sugary Sweet Hot Chocolate

Inspired by the Hot Chocolate dancers in George Balanchine's The Nutcracker, marshmallow stars were served with mini cups of hot chocolate.

A Sugary-Sweet Gumdrop Necklaces

A Sugary-Sweet Gumdrop Necklaces

Strung gumdrops can be used in many ways — as a necklace or garlands to hang. Darcy used a sewing needle and monofilament to string gumdrops to make this playful garland.

A Fun Gingerbread House

A Fun Gingerbread House

"Last week my daughter and I visited Make Meaning (one of our favorite DIY craft shops) and made this Nutcracker-inspired gingerbread house. We strung gumdrops onto monofilament with a sewing needle for a colorful backdrop."

A Twinkling Garland With Hand-Drawn Sketches

A Twinkling Garland With Hand-Drawn Sketches

Darcy's sketches made an appearance on a garland enhanced with a strand of twinkle lights. She drew nutcrackers, ballerinas, and soldiers and hung them on gold glitter eyelash yarn with paper stars, candy canes, and peppermints.

A Nutcracker-Inspired Holiday Scene

A Nutcracker-Inspired Holiday Scene

Darcy used the Martha Stewart Circle Edge Punch and glitter paper to make angels for this snowy scene, including from big to little nutcrackers, and snow houses and trees topped with homemade stars. She then lit the scene with tiny white lights. Silver and gold touches made an elegant, sparkly nutcracker display.