Get Help with your Holiday Decorating by Hosting a Tree Trimming Party

Sometimes it can be hard to find time to get together with friends and family during the holidays when you’re so busy with all the other things you’re trying to get done. Between shopping, baking, wrapping, and chauffeuring the kids around, there just doesn’t seem to be much time left. But you can have a great time decorating your tree by inviting friends and family over to help. It’s a wonderful way to celebrate the lighter side of the holiday. And since there’s no such thing as a perfect Christmas tree, there’s no worry about having your decorating finished since the guests are there to help accomplish that.

Of course, the first thing you need to do is make sure your tree is set in the stand correctly and skirted. Find some of your favorite Christmas music and if you have a fireplace, light a fire to help set the mood. Candles and votives provide a soft glow and sense of warmth if you don’t have a fireplace. Set up a buffet with foods that are easy to eat while being active, such as trimming the tree or helping the kids.

Tree trimming parties work great in the afternoon or evenings, just be sure to indicate on your invitations what you intend to serve so guests can plan accordingly. The holidays are famous for sweet treats, so cookies and other goodies are a good choice. Be sure to serve plenty of hot drinks and egg nog, and provide juices for the kids. Appetizers work alongside cookies and other goodies nicely, and offer guests an alternative once they’ve filled up on sweets. If you choose to do it on a weekend, a brunch with bagels, muffins, fresh fruit and a breakfast casserole or two would work great. An afternoon chili and stew buffet would also be easy to prepare and quick to clean up.

You can choose to have guests hang ornaments you already have, or you can provide materials for guests to make their own ornaments. If there’s small children in attendance, be sure to provide age-appropriate materials for them to construct their own decorations. Add a festive touch and protect the craft area at the same time by covering the surfaces in holiday wrapping paper. In either case, be sure you provide enough material so your guests can also make an ornament to take home with them as a souvenir. Have your guests sign and date the ornaments that are hung on your tree so you can appreciate them for years to come. Whether or not there will be children present, you can set up a table for guests to make their own ornaments to take home as a party favor. Simply choose the craft based on the age and craftiness of your participants. In another area, you might also provide beads or popcorn and cranberries for guests to string.

It’s a wonderful way to trim your tree and remember the reason for the season. Enjoy your company, the great food, and your beautifully decorated tree. Happy Holidays!

Plan Ahead and Make your Overnight Guests Feel Right at Home

Without some planning and forethought, having company during the holidays can be a very stressful and difficult time for all involved. But if you think ahead and plan accordingly, your guests will feel welcome and comfortable in your home, and you’ll provide a stress-free environment so you can enjoy their company.

Be sure that you decorate your home and tree for the people who will enjoy it. Antique Christmas ornaments are likely to get broken if small children are admiring them. And the likelihood of your best tablecloth getting a marinara stain on it is pretty high if you’re serving guests of all ages. You are happy your guests are in your home, so take it upon yourself to ensure they feel welcome, comfortable and wanted.

Start the process in the guest room your company will be staying in, and make it special. If they’ll be with you for more than just a couple of days, provide drawers they can put things away in so they can easily find things and get ready each day. Make sure your guest bathroom has plenty of clean towels and that you are stocked up on the necessities like toilet paper, shampoo, soap, and toothpaste.

Also, be sure you have plenty available to entertain your younger guests. Board games, crayons, coloring books, and movies help pass the time while the adults visit. Encourage the little ones to draw a pretty Christmas picture that you can display in your home for the holidays, or provide them with enough craft material such as glitter, yarn, glue, tape, and construction paper to make fun Christmas gifts of their own. An outing to a Christmas pageant or a night out caroling or watching the local Christmas parade provides fun for all ages as well.

Try to find out ahead of time if any of your guests require special accommodations, attention, or have special diets they must adhere to or have any food allergies. The last thing you want to have happen is for one of your guests to have an allergic reaction to your oyster stuffing. It might feel awkward to ask, but your guest will appreciate you thinking ahead on their behalf.

Most importantly, try to keep the environment calm and relaxing. After all, it is the holidays and both you and your guests have taken time off work during the holidays, so make sure you take the time to sit back and take it easy with your company. Keep the days entertaining, but not crammed full of activity. Be sure to schedule in activities they enjoy. Perhaps there’s a special exhibit at your local art gallery or museum they’d like to see while they’re in town. If so, offer to watch the kids while they go, and then take the kids to see a movie or ice skating. If these options are a bit too energetic for you, they might also enjoy playing a board game or watching a movie or television program at home. The gift of your time will be fondly remembered long after your guests have returned home.

Curb your Spending by Giving the Gift of Your Time

Shopping at the last minute can not only rob you of your energy and Christmas spirit, but it can zap your bank account in the process. If these are two Christmas holiday traditions you’d like to learn to live without, there’s good news. With some creative thought and planning, you can give thoughtful gifts that will not only be appreciated your recipients and won’t empty your wallet at the same time.

The greatest gift you have that you can give anyone is the gift of your time. With that in mind, the first thing you should do is talk with your friends and family and reach a mutual agreement not to exchange gifts. When you don’t have to worry about what to run out and get for one another, you can focus on spending quality time together, which is a big part of what the holiday season is all about.

For those that are on your gift list, think about what you can do to help them, such as a service you can provide to make their life a little simpler. You can print coupons out for everything from free babysitting for a family member or friend with a new baby, lawn mowing services for an elderly neighbor, or errand running for a homebound person. Keep each person in mind when you do this and take special care to make sure you’re not stepping on any toes and that your service won’t be seen as an intrusion or inconvenience.

For the smaller children on your list, consider making a gift for them. Children love stories, so why not write a story about that child for them? You can either type it up and illustrate it using your computer, or write it in big block letters and illustrate it with pictures you’ve clipped out or drawn yourself. You can also make things such as modeling clay or bubble blowing liquid. Check your local library or internet for more great ideas for children. The best part of these gifts is the time you spend with the youngster playing with the clay or reading the story time and again.

And though it may seem a bit more difficult to think of a gift for older children and teenagers, they also cherish the gift of your time. If you have a special skill, such as cooking, baking, or painting, why not take the time to pass it along. Purchase a canvas and some paints and show your favorite young person how to paint landscapes or pass along a favorite family recipe by teaching him or her how to prepare it.

Consider donating some of your time to places that really need additional hands around the holidays. Your local soup kitchen, homeless shelter or neighborhood nursing home might need someone to help serve food and clean, or just simply to spend time with their residents. Your time and help will be greatly appreciated by the staff and the people they serve.

The holidays shouldn’t be a time of stress and worry over how much money you’ve spent on gifts, but about togetherness and generosity. Giving the gift of your time is probably the most generous gift any of us have to give, and the one that most people are most appreciative of and enjoy receiving.

Affordable Christmas Treats and Decorations

When you ask people what their favorite part of the holiday season is, often they answer enthusiastically it’s all the great food and the decorations. Cookies, candies, pies, and other special sweet treats are at the top of most everyone’s list, and everyone loves a festively decorated home to make Christmas even merrier. But you don’t have to be a Christmas grinch worrying about how much all these special treats and decorations will take from your holiday budget. With some creativity and a quick inventory of what you already have on hand it can really be quite simple.

One of most affordable treats you can make is yummy cookies made with homemade dough. Generally speaking, it’s usually pretty simple for even the most challenged bakers to make. And if you’re pressed for time and choose to use the ready-made cookie dough from the grocery store, that doesn’t mean you have to do without fun holiday-shaped cookies. It’s very simple to choose a design or two that you like, trace it onto wax paper or aluminum foil, cut it out and use as a pattern to trim your cookie dough around.

If you’re serving these cookies at a party or open house with coffee or hot tea, try getting creative with some sugar cubes as a sweet decoration nearby. Take the sugar cubes, stack in a pyramid-fashion, and perhaps place some small colored marshmallows on toothpicks and place carefully in the cubes, and you’ll have a festive looking, snow-covered decorated outdoor Christmas tree. Then the cubes can be used for the tea and coffee, and the marshmallows can be used for the hot cocoa.

Focus your decorating around colors and themes you already have in your decorations collection. Red and green are both bold colors that really pop once you add a golden or silvery accent to it. If you don’t own vast amounts of decorations, focus on decorating one particular area of a room, such as the corner the tree stands in, or the fireplace mantelpiece. To complement your decorating, don’t overlook anything in your possession as something you can use. Maybe you have a Christmas sweater that you wouldn’t wear. Put it on one of your children’s large teddy bears and set him in a corner chair, and he may become a hot topic of conversation at your holiday open house.

Votive candles are a quick, affordable decoration. Place a cluster of three of them on holiday plates, light them, and scatter them on coffee and end tables to add a nice, soft glow. Floating votives in a fishbowl or other festive serving bowl made from clear or colored glass is an easy addition to your decorating scheme. Bouquets of candy canes tied with Christmas ribbon and placed in red- or green-colored drinking glasses add just a touch of Christmas cheer, and make a sweet treat to send home with your guests once your open house or party is over.

But the most important ingredient at your holiday table or gathering is the Christmas spirit. Remember the reason for the season. Your guests will surely feel the same Christmas cheer once they arrive at your home.