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Simple Home Tips and Solutions

Tips for How to Throw a Gift Wrapping Party

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If you are looking to start a fun and yearly tradition with your friends, a gift wrapping party is a great idea. Here are some tips to get you started.

Call, email or e-vite a group of friends and invite them to your house for a gift wrapping party. Have each person bring a bottle of wine and an appetizer. More importantly, they should bring the gifts that they want to be wrapped.

Each person should also bring 2-3 rolls of gift paper, ribbons, tape, gift boxes and scissors.

Have everyone put the rolls of paper in an umbrella holder. You may want to have a gift amount cut off. For example, no more than 5 large and 5 small gifts to be wrapped.

Now make space on the living room floor, if you don’t have a large enough dining room table.

Begin wrapping, while laughing and having grown up conversations. Make sure to play awesome holiday music, keep the wine glasses filled and the food flowing. Best of all is that you, the host, will be be spending quality time drinking with your friends and accomplishing the tedious chore of wrapping gifts for the holidays.

Posted by Eve

How to Make an Ugly Christmas Sweater

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Whether you are attending an ugly Christmas sweater party or entering a contest, here are a few tips on how to make your own sweater to fit the event.

I suggest that you first, give your local thrift store a visit. If you can’t find a Christmas themed sweater there, then look for a solid red or green sweater.

In addition to the sweater, you’ll need a glue gun, green or red felt, appliqués, shiny garland, needle and thread, iron, scissors and stick pins.

Instructions:

Lay out all of your supplies including sweater on the kitchen table or on the floor. If you have appliqués, follow the directions and iron them to the front of sweater. If you don’t have appliqués, you can cut the felt into Christmas shapes. For example Christmas trees, snowflakes or stars. Next pin them onto the sweater in various places. Then simply, sew each piece securely to the sweater using a needle and thread. Perfection is hardly important–after all this is an ugly Christmas sweater!

Next, cut pieces of garland and using the glue gun, glue it to the hem of your sweater. Now take smaller pieces of garland and attach them to various spots between your appliqués.

You can make the design as obnoxious and gaudy as you like. For example, maybe some garland around the collar, on the sleeves or even on the seems of the sweater. Just be creative as you like and have fun. You’re sure to get a laugh when wearing your ugly Christmas sweater.

Happy Holidays!!

Posted by Eve

How to Host An Awesome New Year’s Eve Party

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People all around the world celebrate New Year’s Eve by either attending or hosting a party. Some that I have been to in the past were boring, while others were totally awesome. So, last year I decided to put my energy and efforts into entertaining my family and friends by throwing a New Year’s Eve party. I first, realized that I had to organize my party planning into phases.

Phase 1 was to send out E-vites to all perspective guests, early enough, requesting that they respond within a couple of days and to include the number of people they planned to bring with them. Doing this allowed me to figure out how many guests to expect so that I could shop for plenty of food, drinks and party favors. After receiving the RSVP’s from those I had invited, I soon began phase 2.

Phase 2 consisted of planning what I was going to feed my guests. I had to decide, whether to have it catered or do the cooking myself. I will say that if it is within in your budget to cater, by all means do so. It saves you time and energy.

I decided to prepare the food myself. I decided that my food menu would consist of a vast array of ready-made finger foods, that I could heat and serve quickly. Click here for some recipe ideas. I chose finger foods so that utensils and chairs were not needed. It also, made for a quicker cleanup!! All that I needed was napkins and small paper plates.

Phase 3 consisted of preparing my home for New Years Eve guests. I started by rearranging my furniture and removing my area rugs, so that the inadvertent drink or food spill would not ruin them. I wanted to create a big open space for my guests to dance, stand and carry on conversations. The only furniture that I left was a large sofa that I placed against the wall and the serving table.

My most important phase was phase 4. I made a huge playlist that consisted of music from the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and lively dance music from different genres of those same eras. After all, a real great party has never ending music to sing and dance to. You save money compared to hiring a DJ.

Phase 5 was to make sure that I purchased enough drinks for the party, including alcoholic beverages for age-appropriate guests as well as soda and bottled water. Of course I asked my closest friends to bring a bottle of something to the party, as this could turn into being the most expensive part of hosting a party. In being a gracious host, I also prepared my guest bedroom for those close friends who became inebriated and needed to lie down.

I was so happy that my party lasted way after midnight and it cost me under $200. It was awesome! I am thinking about having another New Year’s Eve party this year!!

Happy Holidays & Have A Great New Year!

Posted by Eve

What NOT to Do at an Office Christmas Party

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‘Tis the season to celebrate, eat, drink and be merry. However, when it comes down to a company Christmas party, there are a few things you should never do. Your reputation could be in jeopardy. I have a few suggestions that may help you not become the brunt of office jokes.

First, be careful when choosing your party attire. As for women we all want to dress to impress when we attend the office Christmas party. Yet, we all need to keep in mind, that we may be dancing. With that being said, make sure that you try on your outfit at home and stand in front of the mirror

Next, lift your arms up as if dancing and make sure that no unwanted skin is exposed. Also, do your signature dance move in front of the mirror, if it looks like some body parts are falling out, you may want to rethink wearing that mini skirt or low cut blouse. As for men, stick to casual office attire. Definitely, no ripped jeans, t-shirts or sneakers. It is of course OK to wear khakis, a collared shirt, paired with casual dress shoes.

Secondly, men and women should steer clear from gossiping while at the party. Remember that old saying ” if you can’t say something nice, say nothing at all.” Well, now is definitely the time to put that saying to use. Gossiping at the office Christmas party is dangerous because most likely it will be repeated and get back to the co worker you were gossiping about, with your name attached to the story. Most definitely, do not talk about your supervisor, manager or boss in a negative way. This could only impact you, as an employee, in a negative way.

Thirdly, watch the amount of alcohol that you consume. Limit yourself to three drinks or less. Getting tipsy may loosen your tongue and bring out your wild side. These days most everyone possess the ability to record your actions on their mobile device. The last thing you want is to come to work and see yourself break dancing on the floor. LOL

A Holiday Tip if You’re on a Budget

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Here’s a simple holiday tip that saves me a lot of money every year. It actually benefits my wallet the year after the purchase: buy all of your Christmas stuff in January.

One year, I was browsing in my local pharmacy and found incredible sales on all remaining Christmas items. I mean everything you can think of. For example, holiday lights, wreaths, wrapping paper, figurines, tinsel, stocking stuffers, candy canes etc…. They were all at least 40% to 75% off the original price. You can basically cover 2 to 3 Christmases at once. I quickly filled my cart!

My last purchase was a large storage bin with a lid to keep my items organized and stale free for the next year. It has now become my after the holiday ritual.

Posted by Eve

Holiday Tip: Giving Your Home a Holiday Aroma

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I believe it’s true to say, most people, love the smells and aromas that are accompanied with the holiday season. Whether it be the aroma of pies or food cooking in the kitchen. My problem was that I soon missed the fragrant aromas after the Christmas dinner and dessert was had. The lovely fragrances always makes me think of great past holiday memories.

One year I hosted a party at my home, after Christmas and was only serving appetizers. Therefore, there was no pleasant holiday aroma present. So here is what I did to create a holiday aroma:

I filled a large pot 1/2 way with water and simply added certain spices that I already had in my pantry. Such spices like 1 tablespoon of cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla and 1 tablespoon of nutmeg were added to the water. I stirred the mixture vigorously using a whisk. I then let it simmer on my stove on the lowest possible setting, hours before the party. I made sure to add water as the water evaporates as it steams. As I greeted my guests, all of them gave me compliments at the aroma emanating in my home. Now, I even use that recipe to create a holiday aroma in different combinations anytime during the year, whether I have company or not.

Happy Holidays!!!

Posted by Eve