2 Holiday Decor Tips... Spruce up your Holiday Entertaining...

Christmas is right around the corner and if you are like me, I feel I am already behind. The gifts, the tree, the decorations and outside lights and of course the entertaining. Wheeww - it's quite a bit of work, but I love it all!!

There are a few things I do to spruce up the house for our Holiday party - simple, inexpensive and always noticed by the guests.

1. Simple flower arrangements
I always go to Costco the day before the party and pick out one or two big bundles of flowers. My rule is to keep it under $20.00 and no carnations. I have never been disappointed. This gives me enough flowers to separate them and create smaller arrangements, which I feel are better than 1 big tall one. Smaller arrangements are more versatile and give you color throughout the house, instead of in just one room. Over the years I have collected all sorts of shapes and sizes of vases (whatever I can find on the clearance shelf - TJ Maxx is a great place to look for something different.) You can also find simple vases at the dollar store - remember the flowers are the focal point not the vase.

Where do I place the flowers:

• 1 in the bathroom (guests always comment on this)
• 1 on the main food table
• 1 either in the living room or entry

2. Dinner Presentation - Buffet Style
When I say Buffet Style I always get this icky vision of one of those chain buffet restaurants and that is not what I am talking about here. If you have a group of people over, it is much easier to have a spread of food out for everyone to graze and enjoy.
So how do you arrange the table? Just put it all out and they have at it? Why not try something new this year...

What you will need:

• Cover the Table - Two table clothes or one that is oversized for your table. If you do not have table clothes or the budget to buy them, another inexpensive way is bed sheets. I have done this in the past - found clearance sheets on SmartBargains.com and dyed them green)
• Elevate some of the Dishes - I have used all kinds of things from around the house for this purpose...brinks, large casserole dishes(turned upside down), large plastic bowls(turned upside down) and boxes. They just need to be sturdy and have a large flat surface to place the food dishes on.
• Little extras to set the Mood - Small flower arrangement, Christmas ornaments either positioned individually or gathered in a vase/glass container, Small Votives(position these carefully, so you don't set the table clothes on fire).

I hope to have all my Christmas stuff out and up this weekend - I will set up the table to give you a better idea of how great it looks.