Hot Hosting & Entertaining Posts
How To: Fold an origami napkin swan for a lavish dinner presentation
Nothing decorates a dinner table better than a napkin swan. It's cute and it makes dinnertime feel like a celebratory event. So, if you want to learn how to make a napkin swan, just follow the folding instructions in the video. Follow along and see what your napkin swan looks like!
How To: Enjoy New Year's Eve Fireworks Anywhere & Anyway Possible
For most people, New Year's Eve means watching the ball drop in Times Square. It means celebrating the New Year with friends and family. Countdown parties, clocks, confetti... passing out before the clock strikes midnight because you drank too much. But there's one more thing, and it's something we usually only see one other time each year— fireworks.
How To: Make a Star of David with popsicle sticks
Celebrate your Jewish heritage this holiday season by creating a Star of David with this easy instructional video. Make a Star of David by following along with this easy instructional video. Materials needed to complete this project include blue paint, a paint brush, ribbon, popsicle sticks and a glue gun.
How To: Celebrate 2011 with These Fun New Year's Eve Party Ideas
Want to celebrate New Year's Eve, but haven't a clue how to do so? Maybe some of these New Year's Eve pa
News: Would You Shell Out $15,000 For a Gingerbread House?
For a few select princesses across the nation: Neiman Marcus is selling a $15,000 gingerbread house made of 381 pounds of gourmet gingerbread and 517 pounds of royal icing. Cooked up by Dylan Lauren, the famed Ralph Lauren's daughter and owner of Dylan's Candy Bar.
News: Holiday Greetings from Zero Gravity
The crew from NASA's International Space Station wish planet Earth a heartwarming Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. (Check out flight engineer Cady Coleman's hair. Zero gravity is awesome.) For the nostalgic, the legendary Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the Moon, wishes the world Merry Christmas in s live television broadcast from lunar orbit, December 1968:
How To: Celebrate Festivus 2010 - The Seinfeld Anti-Christmas Holiday
Forget Christmas, it's all about Festivus these days. But what is Festivus? When is Festivus?
How To: Play several different variations of the White Elephant party game
The White Elephant gift exchange is a popular game to play at holiday parties, and there are several variations to the rules. This vidoe gives you a quick description of each, so you can decide which version is the best for your own party.
How To: Make a Napkin Swan (Or Napkin Peacock)
Need a lavish way to present your napkins at your next big dinner feast? May we suggest napkin swans? Folding a dinner napkin into a beautiful swan (or peacock) can take you just minutes and completes a dinner table. The idea behind the fold is to shape it so that one end looks like the long, languorous tail feathers of a peacock, but it could look like a swan, too.
How To: Create a retro mod tablescape for the holiday season
Whether you're going for a Mad Men theme this holiday season, or just like the retro mod look, this tutorial is for you. Create a tablescape that looks like it came straight out of the Sixties using these tips and hints.
HowTo: Make a Mini Mug-Perching Gingerbread House
If you're looking for a last minute holiday project, try Not Martha's widely popular mini mug-perching gingerbread houses. Super cute, the project came out last holiday season, and this year Howcast offers alternative instructions for those who prefer to learn by video.
News: Inventing the Universe With Cookie Dough
Christoph Niemann kneads up some whimsical holiday cheer for his New York Times feature Abstract City.
How To: Decorate your table top like an interior designer for the holidays
With Christmas coming up in a little more than a week, it's prime time to start thinking about how you'll be adorning your holiday table. While we know you're probably focused on getting together the perfect menu, what good is sumptuous turkey and beautiful sugar cookies if they're arranged messily on the table?
How To: Host a holiday party in a small house or apartment
Living in a small space doesn't mean you have to forego hosting a holiday get together! This tutorial gives you some great tips on how you can not only host a party in a small house or apartment, but how you can do it on a budget, too.
How To: Make a dreidel to celebrate Hanukkah
This season, teach your kids all about the fun side of Hanukkah with a homemade dreidel. In this video, you'll be shown how to make a dreidel with some simple art supplies. All you need is polymer clay, glue, scissors and some posterboard.
News: When to Ship Your Holiday Packages: Deadline Cheat Sheet
Alleviate your holiday shopping stress with this handy shipping deadline cheat sheet. It's all about organization (or the willingness to shell out extra for speedy delivery rates).
How To: Create a festive green and silver holiday table centerpiece
One of our favorite parts about the holidays is the decorating. There's nothing that makes you feel moer Christmasy than waking up on Christmas morning to the fresh scent of pine from your glittering Christmas tree and garland swags adorning every doorway.
How To: Shop for fun and meaningful Hanukkah presents
If you're looking for some good ideas on what to get your friends, family and loved ones this Hanukkah season, check out this video that lists several creative and inexpensive ideas, such as a personalized dreidel platter or personalized menorah labels.
How To: Set up outdoor Christmas lights on your roof using C9s
You can create a really beautiful set up on your home using C9 bulbs. Line your roof line or accentuate your gables, and you can customize the lights as you wish. Use multicolored bulbs, and always be careful when splicing your wire. Set up outdoor Christmas lights on your roof using C9s.
How To: Make a snowy DIY centerpiece using artificial snow
By using fake snow, you can create a lovely and festive snowy centerpiece. In addition to the snow, you will also need some candles, pine cones and nuts to round out the decoration. Best of all, the artificial snow is biodegradable!
How To: Make festive votives out of ice, leaves, and fruit
This is a very simple technique you can use to light your walkway. You will need several used soda container with the tops cut off, a few poinsettia leaves or frozen cranberries, distilled water, plastic cups, rocks and small votive candles.
How To: Wrap an oddly-shaped present
If you've ever experienced the frustration that comes with wrapping a gift that doesn't fit neatly into a box, then this video is for you. You won't need much else besides the usual - scissors, wrapping paper, tape, and some ribbon.
How To: Make a layered cookie recipe jar as a holiday gift
This is a wonderful gift to give away for the holidays! Find a clear glass jar and the ingredients for your favorite cookie. Gently layer all your ingredients in the jar, and then attach a recipe tag to the neck.
How To: Make a monogrammed gourd as a fall or winter craft decoration
By adding a little paint and a monogram to a gourd, you can create a unique and personalized gift! Aside from the gourd, you will need some acrylic paint in several colors and some rub on monograms or lettering stencils.
How To: Make glittery glass ornaments out of floor cleaner and glitter
Floor cleaner? Really? Indeed! All you need are some clear glass ornaments, some Pledge Future Clean floor cleaner and your favorite fine glitter. Mix the floor cleaner and glitter together in the ornament, then let it dry and you have your own collection of glittery glass Christmas tree ornaments!
How To: Decorate your home for the holidays with these cheap tips
Who better to get holiday décor tips from than a professional event designer? Andrea Correale from Elegant Affairs gives you some cheap holiday tips fro decorating your homes just in time for Christmas. Make it a stylish holiday this year— on a shoestring budget!
How To: Create a Thanksgiving Themed Wreath for Your Door or Decoration
This is an easy and seasonal craft you can do anytime--make a lovely Thanksgiving wreath! All you will need is the basic wreath form you can find at a craft store, plus artificial flowers, vegetables, and a hot glue gun.
How To: Host a Small and Intimate Celebration for Thanksgiving
With the economy still rocky, many people can't afford to travel or host large, lavish Thanksgiving dinners. Even if you're planning on just having a small family gathering, here's how you can tweak some traditions to still have a memorable, intimate Thanksgiving.
How To: Fold a napkin into a beautiful fan for parties
Napkins can either be dull sheets of fabric or paper that you wipe your extraneous pot roast red sauce on or fantastical works of art that put the finishing touch on your table decor.
How To: Make simple and cute Thanksgiving turkey treat bags
We know that your Thanksgiving dinner guests will be inundated with food during your feast, but it's an awful nice gesture to send them home with something sweet as well. Rather than packing up a huge take out box with turkey leftovers or a piece of pie, why not hand out a small bag full of candies?
How To: Decorate on a budget for a farmhouse brunch
The wonderful thing about a "farmhouse brunch" theme is that most of the materials you'll need to decorate are natural and quite affordable. From sprigs of flowers to brown string to burlap, you probably already have most of the things you need lying around the house.
How To: Make a seaside inspired floral centerpiece with flowers
It doesn't have to be the middle of summer for you to craft a seaside-inspired centerpiece. Whether you live on the coast or closer to the Grand Canyon and lots of cactii than anything else, you can bring a piece of the sea home by making this craft.
How To: Create a beautiful holiday centerpiece with candles and ornaments
The holidays are upon us, guys and gals, which means it's time to start thinking about how you'll set your table to look inviting and beautiful for the festive season. While you can always go out and purchase a wilting pre-made floral centerpiece at your nearest supermarket, you yourself can often make a much better looking centerpiece at home.
How To: Decorate With Party Entertainment in Mind
Decorating With Entertainment in Mind Sure, when you're throwing a party it's easy to put up balloons and streamers, but it's easy to forget one of the most important things: memories. You know all that money you spent on entertainment? The clown? The magician? You're naturally going to want to snap some photos, but if you don't decorate properly, the photos will be bland. And that's just one of the potential problems.
How To: Add Some Turkey & Pilgrim Fun to Thanksgiving with Kid-Friendly Decorative Crafts
It's not too late to start crafting some great Thanksgiving decorations with the kids. Make this year's celebration one to remember with these decorative craft ideas from Mahalo's Jaala Pickering. Your children are sure to have fun making these, and so will you!
How To: Create custom Yoshi loot bags
In this video, we learn how to create custom Yoshi loot bags. First, take some lime green paper bags and cut the top of them so they resemble the shape of Yoshi's eyes. After this, print out lots of Yoshi's eyes on a white piece of paper. Cut out the eyes from the paper and then put glue on the back of them. After this, glue the eyes onto the paper where they belong. When finished, let this dry and you will have a cute Yoshi bag to put little treats in! You can follow the template as well if ...
How To: Create super hero cape party favors
In this tutorial, we learn how to create super hero cape party favors. First, take a plastic red table cover and remove it from the package. Next, open it up and fold it in half twice, so you end up with a rectangle. Then, take scissors and cut a large triangle shape out of the material. When finished, open up the cover and it will be in the shape of a cape! Then, cut out some "s" for Superman signs and tape it on the back of the cape. Then, tie string around the top so it can be worn and you...
How To: Craft a bountiful turkey cornucopia for Thanksgiving
A cornucopia is perhaps one of the best symbols of what Thanksgiving's all about. Usually filled with fresh fruits, vegetables, and flowers, a cornucopia represents a good harvest and a cause for celebration of plenty.
How To: Make a patchwork or crazy quilt pumpkins
Here is a unique and fun idea you can use to decorate pumpkins for the autumn holidays. You can use crazy quilt shapes and techniques to create a patchwork pumpkin. Since you have to cut into the pumpkins, this decor tip will only last a few days.
How To: Figure out what to do after Thanksgiving dinner
It's nice to have the family together for Thanksgiving dinner, but having so many people together can make it tricky to figure out what you can do after dinner. Here are a few good ideas you can use for family friendly activities.