----- Original Message ----- From: "Spring" <[email protected] ~*~ Make it Easy For Yourself **Choose a non-Saturday night for your entertaining: cocktails on a weeknight right after work, a weeknight dessert party, a weekend brunch or lunch, or a tea. **Entertain cooperatively with on or more of your friends. Each invites an equal number of guests and shares all work and expense. **Don't make your menu too elaborate. Dazzle 'em with dessert, since it will be the last impression. **Do as much as you can in advance. Bake and freeze in microwaveable containers. **When guests ask to bring something, let them. Assign specific items, though, to avoid duplication. **Organize a "you help me, I help you" club to share entertaining. **Prioritize your cleaning by spiffing up only what's visible and saving your deep cleaning for after the holidays. **Cut back on shopping by giving "whole family" holiday gifts and giving the individual gifts on birthdays. **One smart lady divided her "keep in touch" list into major holidays: Valentine's Day, Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas, color coded the names then sent annual greetings, throughout the year. **Save some get-togethers for after the holidays when things are much less hectic. This will extend the pleasure without adding to the stress. ~*~ Add Pizzazz to Refreshments With Simple Touches **Fill a sparkling stemmed glass with a deli-delite or easy-fix dessert (spoonable), tie a festive ribbon around stem. **A festive dessert feast: Fresh fruit in a big bowl, nuts for cracking, chocolate nibbles and sweet champagne or dessert wine. **Accessorize your simple menu with some beautiful breads and gourmet condiments from the "fancy food" section of your grocery store. **Serve prepared foods on elegant plates or platters, add interesting herbs. **Sprinkle desserts with a dusting of powdered sugar. For larger dry surfaces sprinkle on top of a paper doily for a snowflake design. **Add cinnamon-stick stirrers to hot chocolate, apple cider or mulled wine. **Bake stuffing or vegetables in a hollowed out pumpkin. **Season popcorn with garlic powder, olive oil and Parmesan cheese ~*~ Decoration Without Frustration **Nestle fresh apples, pears, oranges, lemons in with greens; add candles for an easy, elegant arrangement. **Tie tiny bunches of fresh herb sprigs with green garden twine or raffia and attach them to napkins. **Hang those lovely greeting cards to frame a doorway, mantle, stairway or pass- through. **Trim a pine bough garland with family snapshot cutouts and brightly colored ribbons. **Festive holiday lights called luminarias are simply paper bags ( tops cuffed down) with a votive candle (in glass is best) placed in the sand that fills the bottom. Decorate bags with paints and glitter, cut out shapes for light to shine through. **Add festive bows to everything--easy and economical. **The glow of candles will tie it all together when placed everywhere, even in the bathroom. ~*~ Don't Just Dream of a Green Holiday **Cut down holiday waste * Don't use anything disposable when you can use the real thing * Don't buy or use what you can manage without * Reuse or recycle what you can. **Christmas trees in pots can be replanted and cut trees can be mulched. **Send cards of recycled paper, use white paper if you are crafting your own. Save cards for craft projects **Use real plates and cloth napkins at dinner parties. Mix and match patterns can be very festive. **Save beautiful wrappings, cartons and mailers for future gift giving. Even the smallest scraps of paper and ribbon will prove valuable. **Wrap gifts in the Sunday funny papers, brown bags, natural-fibre fabric, trimmed or decorated boxes; omit paper, skip the box and "wrap" gifts in reusable containers such as tins, plastic storage boxes, baskets and bags. **Save and reuse any bubble wrap or foam peanuts. Popcorn is ideal for packing short distance packages but not any that will be in transit a long time. **Avoid foils, velvet-flocked, aluminum foil, stickers, shiny/crinkly/metallic ribbon. ~*~ Take Your Party On the Road **Organize a group to take a tour of the holiday "light show" either in limo, bus or auto caravan. Wind up the evening at a casual spot for coffee and dessert and/or after-dinner drinks. Take photos of the most spectacular lights and send a copy to each guest as an after-party favor. **Gather your guests at the bowling alley, roller rink, mini-golf or driving range for some out-of-the-ordinary entertainment, complete with fun and fast foods from the concession stand. **Tail gate at the shopping mall. After your guests have shopped 'til they dropped, let them fuel up with delicious food and drink from one or more host vehicles. This "picnic in the parking lot" will be a creative and delightful change for your guests. ~*~ Just a Few Holiday Hazards & Helpers **Plug no more than three sets of lights into one extension cord **Don't burn wrapping paper in the fireplace as it often contains metallic materials that can be toxic if burned. **Turn off tree lights at night to prevent drying it out. **Mist evergreens with water regularly to keep them fresh. **For added safety, anchor your tree by tying fishing line to the top of the tree and attaching it to a cup hook in the ceiling. ~*~ The Greatest Gift is You **Add a personal touch like to a bottle of wine, a handwritten card suggesting foods to eat with it. **Fill small decorative covered bottles or jars with spices, candy or colored paper clips. **Wrap samples of a delicious cookie or candy along with its recipe on a card. **Give an object of yours that someone has admired; attach card with its history. **Present a gift certificate for your time; an errand, a task, an outing or a visit. **Frame an especially lovely or personal holiday card and present it to the original sender. **One thoughtful host gift-wrapped empty boxes, made a small slit in the top and labeled one for each guest. She supplied the guests with small slips of paper on which to write positive comments, one for every guest. As the boxes were passed from guest to guest the messages were inserted in the appropriate boxes. The delighted guests would enjoy these boxes and the meaningful messages for years to come. ~*~ Make It Easy For Next Year **Keep good records of gifts you've given to avoid duplication. **When you take down your decorations put each string of lights in a plastic bag and label them with their location such as "Mantle", etc. **Pick up bargains (especially right after the holidays) whenever you see them to lighten next year's holiday shopping chores. **Wrap just the covers of family gift boxes, elaborately, in your home decor colors, to be reused again and again.