Hot Hosting & Entertaining Posts
How To: Get Free Food and Discounted Deals on Veterans Day 2011
This coming Friday, November 11th, 2011 is Veterans Day and everybody's celebrating! But only veterans and active military personnel can get the great deals being offered at restaurants and retail outlets across the country. If you need help locating some of those deals, below are all of the nationwide and local deals found across the Web. If you know of any more, share the spots in the comments below!
How To: Light a hard-to-reach wick on holiday centerpieces
Around the holidays we use pretty lights and candles for everything: We hang shiny white lights on our Christmas tree, dangle them outside along our windowsill, and add candles to floral centerpieces.
How To: Create easy last minute Thanksgiving fruit centerpieces
Is it the midnight hour before Thanksgiving and you've suddenly realized you've spent so much time worrying about the food that you have no table decorations? Don't fret; simply check out this video to learn how to prepare simple last-minute centerpieces using a vase, fruit, and candles.
Friday Fresh: Weird and Wacky November Holidays
We all know that November 1 marks the beginning of the madness that is known as the holiday season, but did you know that November is also host to a whole bunch of quirky celebrations as well? If you're not into turkey, there's lots of other, more unique offerings to partake in.
How To: Make a Give Thanks Votive Array for Thanksgiving with Cricut Vinyl
This is a lovely and elegant craft idea to add a little candle flair to your Thanksgiving dinner. Make a votive array which reads 'Give Thanks' by using cricut vinyl. This can be made for less than ten dollars, too, so it won't break the bank!
How To: Make a pumpkin pie decoration out of polymer clay
These little clay pies will make a great addition to any Thanksgiving table spread or fall decoration. They can also be given as cute little gifts! All you will need is some polymer clay (like Sculpey) in light browh, orange and white.
How To: Put together an elegent, leaf-themed table setting for Thanksgiving
Looking for ideas to create a unique table setting for your upcoming Thanksgiving meal? This video shows you how to create a lovely table with a leaf theme and done up in autumn colors. The best thing is that you can create this setting without breaking your budget!
How To: Make an adorable scarecrow jar for a fall decoration or craft
This is a great and inexpensive Thanksgiving craft idea you can do easily - turn a glass jar into a scarecrow! You can create this clever fall home decoration with the jar, some scrap fabric, straw batting and a few sewing tools!
How To: Make wine glass charms to put out for Thanksgiving
Wine charms go around the stem of your wine glass to mark which glass belongs to whom - great for parties. Even for a Thanksgiving dinner, you can make some cute themed charms for an extra holiday flair. You can even have your children help you make the charms, too!
How To: Make a Thanksgiving Themed Gift Box Out of a Recycled Egg Container
This is great for those who are into green living, or just looking for an economical way to express gratitude for their Thanksgiving host. Take an old, clean cardboard egg carton, and decorate it to turn it into a gift box!
How To: Make a quick and easy Thanksgiving centerpiece for your table
You don't have to stress out about hosting the perfect family Thanksgiving dinner! You can make a fun and engaging centerpiece just from things you can find around your house, and this video shows you how to make a fun turkey centerpiece, or flowers on a gourd.
How To: Make some easy Thanksgiving decorations at home
You can create some lovely and cute cloth pumpkins to decorate your house for Thanksgiving! All you need is some scrap material in fall or pumpkin colors, and a few rolls of toilet paper. Wrap the fabric around the toilet paper, tuck and secure!
How To: Set a beautiful tabletop for Thanksgiving dinner
If you're hosting Thanksgiving dinner, you'll want to make sure that your table setting is memorable and truly conveys the spirit of the holiday. This video shows you a few good ideas on how you set an al fresco Thanksgiving table.
How To: Transform a plain white table into a fab table for entertaining
An all-white tabletop is timelessly elegant, but sometimes the safe choice becomes the dull one. If you want to entertain with style, why not consider adding some fun color to your table decor?
How To: Personalize a birthday party with Evette Rios
Make sure your guests feel special and included the next time they visit your home for a dinner party or a birthday party by checking out this entertaining video. From icebreakers to fun mini games to mood lighting, you'll learn everything you need to set a party perfect mood.
How To: Make upcycled table settings and set the table for entertaining
Love entertaining but don't want to shell out a fortune to throw a good party? Then you're in luck. Check out this video to learn how to make a variety of cheap and chic table settings, from colorful wine glasses to monogrammed napkins, quickly and easily.
How To: Make upcycled monogrammed napkins with Evette Rios
The holiday season is now in full swing, which means you should be prepared for serving large crowds and dressing your house to the nines for the occasion. While you may think this would cost you a lot of money, it actually doesn't take much to throw a fun party.
How To: Create a fall wreath with acorns and leaves
Fall means an abundant supply of beautifully colored autumnal leaves, acorns, walnuts, and other nuts. Harness the natural beauty of this season and also preserve it for years to come by crafting this beautiful fall wreath.
How To: Carve a smiling or scary Jack-O'-Lantern for Halloween
Carving a pumpkin is an American Halloween tradition. It may seem intimidating, but it's really quite simple. If you need help to create the perfect Jack O Lantern, read on! This page will show you how to carve a pumpkin, step by step. If you want your Halloween guests greeted at the door by a smiling or scary Jack O Lantern, you'll follow the steps below. Select your pumpkin, assemble a few basic tools, and get ready to have some creative fun.
How To: Make DIY face paint for kid's parties and gameday
Face paint is great fun for kids most of the time and for sports fans on gameday, but who wants to buy so esoteric a product? You don't have to. Watch this video to learn how to make homemade face paint for you kid's next party or your superfan's next gameday.
How To: Arrange a flower wedding corsage
In this video, we learn how to arrange a flower wedding corsage. First, grab a white flower and cut the stem off of it, then wrap floral tape around it. From here, grab a pink flower and do the same process. Next, grab baby's breath and other small leaves and add them to the pink flower and the rose. Use floral tape to wrap these all together until they are all stuck together. When finished, cut off any excess stems to the flowers and you can wear as a corsage! Use pins inside the stems and o...
News: Watch a 1,169-Pound Pumpkin Flatten a Pontiac Sedan
The place: Hee Haw Farms, Pleasant Grove, Utah. The players: A record-holding 1,169-pound pumpkin, a four-door Pontiac 6000, and a 175-foot crane. The cause: Just 'cause. The result: Something you'll want to see for yourself.
How To: Carve a Jack-o'-lantern with a Dremel rotary tool
In this Halloween-time how-to from the people at Home Depot, we learn how to carve a pumpkin using a Dremel rotary tool. It's easy! So easy, in fact, that this DIY guide can present a complete overview of the process in just over a minute. For all of the details, and to get started creating your own pumpkin carvings with a Dremel rotary tool, take a look.
HowTo: Make a Mac-o'-Lantern
Outfitted with a glowing MacBook sleep indicator, this Mac-o'-Lantern gives new meaning to the phrase "sleepy hollow." Interested in making your own? The folks at Evil Mad Science Laboratories offer a complete write-up of the build process on their blog. Be forewarned, however, that, unless you use a smaller-sized pumpkin, people may just assume that you've stuffed a Mac Mini in there!
HowTo: Pac-Man Pumpkins
David Adams' Pac Man themed pumpkins are so cute, you're definitely going to want to preserve them as long as you can!
HowTo: Ghoulishly Gruesome Organ Platter
Finally, just in time for Halloween, a HowTo that gets you closer to the God of disgustingly amazing, edible body parts, Thai artist-baker Kittiwat Unarrom. Unfortunately, Claire at Poopscape's dough organs aren't edible like Kittiwat's, but they do make a wonderfully dark centerpiece for your Halloween festivities this year.
News: Trick or Treat! DIY Faux Owl Pellets (Spitballs Made of Hair and Bones)
Ew, yes, you read right. Owl Pellets: masses of bone, teeth, hair, feathers and exoskeletons of various animals preyed upon by raptors, or birds of prey (re: spitballs of nastiness). For the lighter stomachs out there, have no fear, this Halloween party favor tutorial is from yuppie central, Martha Stewart's craft department, so all bones and other indigestible matter are completely faux.
HowTo: Top 10 Avatar Halloween Costumes
Below, 10 step-by-step instructional videos for transforming yourself into a Na'vi being this Halloween. Step 1: Choose your favorite Avatar look from the list below. Step 2: Apply your chosen look. Step 3: For the dedicated fans with (more than a little) time on their hands, learn the Na'vi language and your transformation is complete!
HowTo: This Ain't No Twilight Vampire Makeup
Soft and sexy vampires are a dime a dozen these days. If you're tired of the soft, romanticized Twilight look, go for hardcore, traditional blood and gore. Max Sparber's nasty, blood-caked DIY vampire makeup is a relatively simple process and calls for few supplies.
Friday Fresh: Recreate the Lady Gaga Meat Dress & More
Every day of the week, WonderHowTo curators are hard at work, scouring the web for the greatest and most inspiring how-to videos. Every Friday, we'll highlight our favorite finds.
HowTo: Gore Galore! Spike-Through-the-Gut Halloween Costume
Blood, guts, gore- it's precisely what Halloween's good for (plus Halloween candy… especially deep-fried Halloween candy). If your running out of time to behead yourself, then try Instructables member gnatquill's "nice effective quicky if you've left it too late for Halloween".
HowTo: BP Oil Spill Clean Up Halloween Costume
Sometimes tragedy inspires comedy. Point fingers at those responsible for the oil spill catastrophe this Halloween with Instrutables member frenzy's easy instructions for making your very own (and very sardonic) BP Oil Spill Clean Up Costume.
HowTo: Top 15 Alice in Wonderland Halloween Costumes
Alice in Wonderland's colorful cast of characters offers a whole slew of options for Halloween! Lucky for us, WonderHowTo's tenebrism has compiled a thorough, Tim Burton-inspired guide for transforming into Alice, the Queen of Hearts, the White Queen, the Cheshire Cat, or the Mad Hatter. Below, a few of tenebrism's selected videos; be sure to click through for all top 15 make-up and costume looks.
How To: Make a sexy Star Trek mini dress for Halloween or another costume party
Do you have a big, old red long-sleeved shirt from an ex-boyfriend or family member that you wouldn't mind appropriating? Watch this video to learn how you can make a sexy Star Trek mini dress out of that old shirt and geek out properly this Halloween.
How To: Make a hidden blade from Assassin's Creed with a metal bearing rail
The hidden blade that Altair uses to murder his victims in Assassin's Creed is a great costume piece, and if you don't mind working with metal then you should be able to use the instructions in this video to make a really cool one.
How To: Make a working Ezio from Assassin's Creed hidden blade out of Knex
The hidden blade from Assassin' Creed is a super fun weapon to use, and Ezio a very distinctive and cool idea for a Halloween costume. IF you've come to the same conclusions, watch this video to learn how to make a DIY working hidden blade out of Knex that will not get you arrested, hopefully.
How To: Celebrate National Boss's Day to Get What You Want by "Managing Your Boss"
Boss's Day is on October 16th, and this year it falls on a Saturday— what better of a day to celebrate Boss's Day? More than likely, you won't be working in the office this weekend, and if you are, you probably don't feel like celebrating and thanking your boss for being so kind and fair. So, forget the cake and ice cream and instead, take the chance to develop a good relationship with your boss, because hating or kissing up to your boss just isn't the way to go.
Halloween HowTo: Behead Yourself Marie Antoinette Style
Nothing like a a little blood and gore to get in the Halloween spirit. Nicole Magne of Craftzine demonstrates how to make a convincingly grisly headless Marie Antoinette costume. Brush up on your basic sewing and sculpting skills before you get started.
How To: Make a DIY elf costume for Halloween
Dressing as an elf for Christmas is a great way for thin people to get into the holiday spirit. Watch this video to learn how you can make a DIY elf costume out of some old clothes, felt, and a little sewing skill.
How To: Carve a Halloween pumpkin that looks like a Cylon from Battlestar Galactica
For anyone who's seen Battlestar Galactica, the Cylons are a terrifying force indeed, capable of enslaving humanity. If you like pumpkin carving and want to scare your sci-fi loving neighbors this Halloween try making this awesome Cylon Jack-o'-Lantern and letting the machines win.