Dorm Decor's Holiday Party!

It’s that time of year again! We love getting together and celebrating the holidays with our friends before heading back home for winter break. This year we teamed up with one of our designers and Food by Kara to bring you some holiday decorating tips and yummy treat ideas!

We went to the house of Brighton Ellisor at the University of Alabama to show that any college apartment can look just as fab as your Dorm Decor room freshmen year, especially during the holiday season! As one of the designers of our 2019 Collection, Brighton stresses the importance of decorating your space for the holidays:

“The Christmas spirit is brought to life by the hearts and decor around the home. Taking the time to decorate the tree, the living room, and doors is such a sweet time with your roommates. My house in Tuscaloosa has a very warm color palette with blue accents, so to decorate the home for the holidays, we used white and gold decorations to bring out the natural and sparkly features in our home. The flocked tree brought a new element to our home, accented with gold and glittering ornaments that glisten with the lights of the tree.”

As for dorm rooms and other college spaces, Brighton says that “decorating with lights and colors that accent the already beautiful features of your home or dorm is a way to bring in more of the Christmas spirit. Golds and silvers are always great go-to colors, but don’t be afraid to bring in holly reds, evergreens, and icy blues!”

And of course, when you throw a holiday get together with your friends you can’t forget about all the delicious treats! Kara Jones, the baker behind Food by Kara, loves the simplicity of blondies as “they’re the perfect addition to any holiday party- plus you can dress them up or down with your favorite mix-ins.” Believe us when we say that we wish there could have been more to eat! Don’t forget to check out the recipe below so you too can make this sweet treat at home.  

We hope you have fun decorating and celebrating the holidays with your friends, roommates, and loved ones! Happy Holidays from all of us at Dorm Decor!

Food By Kara Salted Chocolate Chunk Blondies

•    1 c. unsalted butter (2 sticks), melted and slightly cooled
•    1 c. light brown sugar
•    3/4 c. white sugar
•    3 eggs
•    1 tbsp. vanilla
•    2 c. AP flour
•    1 tsp. salt
•    1 tsp. baking powder
•    1 ½ - 2 c. dark chocolate chunks or chocolate chips
•    Flakey salt to finish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and parchment a 9x13 baking pan. In a medium bowl, combine melted butter, light brown sugar, and white sugar. Mix with a rubber spatula until combined. Next, add in the eggs, one at a time until mixture is homogeneous. Continue stirring for about a minute. Add in vanilla, flour, salt and baking powder. Mix until just combined. Next add in the chocolate chunks, reserving about ½ c. to sprinkle on top of batter. Pour batter into prepared pan and using back of spatula, smooth out the top to evenly distribute batter in the pan. Sprinkle remaining chocolate chunks evenly over the top of the batter. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 20-30 minutes. You don’t want to overbake these, so just keep a close eye, bake time will vary per oven. Blondie are finished when toothpick comes out barely clean. Let cool completely before cutting into neat squares and sprinkling flakey salt on top.