INVITATIONS

If you want to give the guests a sneak preview of the wonderful delectables that will be available at your open house, send out one of our Holiday Printed Invitations to whet their appetites! Attach a small candy cane to the invitation for a special treat that they don't have to wait for!

Some people prefer to send out unique, homemade invitations. If you are one of those creative people, use a black felt-tip marker to print the details of the party on a bright red Glass Christmas ornament. These will need to be packaged in a small box and sent or hand delivered to make sure nothing gets broken!

Another adorable idea is to send a pair of woolly mittens out as an invitation. Attach a note with ribbon stating that guests should come and warm up with friends during this special season.

Include a little fun into whatever invitation you choose by adding some Confetti in the envelope.

DECORATIONS

The great thing about entertaining in your home around the holidays is that you can show off all of your seasonal decorating that you have already done! Almost everyone does some form of decorating in their homes for the holidays, so just a few special touches can add big impact to the already festive atmosphere! Be prepared to give tours of your home. Be sure that if you are the one giving the tours that you have someone else on duty to greet guests. Your home will be festive for your party if you have all your Christmas decorations out, and your tree trimmed. Add a few other touches, and you'll be set! Light lots of candles (use both votives, and varying sizes of tapers) to give a romantic glow to all your rooms. Light scented candles in the bathrooms. Simmer pot pourri, so the whole house smells as inviting as it looks. Fresh Flowers and Winter Plants also are among my favorite decorating tools, because they add color and bring good, fresh scents, as well as positive feng shui, by bringing the energy of life into a living space. If you are decorating a large or high ceilinged area, or want to make any area look more intimate and festive, drape and swag some gossamer across ceilings, walls, and the edges of table skirting. Twist two colors together for a stunning look. The gossamer drapes so beautifully, that if your room is softly lit, it will have an ethereal glow…just the right look for a night of dreams and hopes for a happy future!

The most traditional and popular colors for the Christmas season are, of course, red and green. We suggest that with these colors, you choose a specific theme to center all of your party decorations around. Some of these themes would be:
• North Pole Enchantment
• Old Fashioned Christmas
• Arctic Fun
• Peppermint and Candy Canes
• Gingerbread Men
• Snowmen

Although it is not absolutely necessary, the most effective decorating would be done around one of these themes or a blended combination of two of them. We recommend that you try not to get carried away by using one or two items from each theme, even though it is tempting! You will have the biggest impact on your guests by keeping it simple and coordinated!

HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE PARTY ACTIVITIES

The whole purpose of an open house is to let your busy guests come and go as they wish from a relaxed atmosphere within your home. Because of this, you probably will not want to have any planned activities that require a certain number of guests or demand a lengthy stay to complete. Instead we suggest that you let the natural conversations and mingling occur as much as possible throughout the evening.

You will definitely want to provide great food, a comfortable atmosphere, and some festive background music to add to the ambiance of the affair. Other than that, if you wish to provide a few extra memories to your evening, you may want to consider one or more of the following activities:
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Purchase several small Gifts as favors and beautifully wrap them up in your best wrapping paper. Place them in a basket and display them in a prominent spot in your home. Determine a "code" word that each guest must say during their conversations in order to receive one of the gifts. Choose something seasonal but tricky so it isn't obvious to everyone and then, as the host, keep your listening ears open to hand deliver a present to any guest that speaks the word!
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Have a few Christmas word puzzles laying around for your guests to pick up and test their clever minds! You can find many of these types of puzzles online.
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Set up a place in your home for picture taking. Either use of our great Photo Standees or simply place a few poinsettias near the fireplace, or place a chair next to the Christmas Tree for you to take some family pictures of your guests. People are always wanting just the right picture to send out in cards, or for gifts to give to family members - so be ready to provide just the right location for that unforgettable shot!
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Place a large jar of Christmas candy on a table near the front door and have each guest write down how many pieces they think are in the jar. At the end of the party, whoever is still around and guessed the closest wins and gets to take home the jar of candy.

FOOD & DRINK

The sky is the limit when it comes to what is appropriate food to serve for your holiday open house. But with an open house format, guests WILL come at different times, and there are a couple of things you can do to avoid having them stay for the entire party (if you are expecting a large crowd-and have limited space). You can save money, and shorten the time that guests will stay if you limit food to serving only light hors d'oeuvres or desserts. If you are serving a full meal (even heavy hors d'oeuvres), they will stay and linger! In addition, keep your beverage/bar choices very simple. Serving hard liquor or beer will again encourage guests to stay and linger. Instead, consider serving only soft drinks, a simple wine, and possibly a punch or wassail. Scatter food throughout the house. Set up food stations in different locations so that you don't have guests jamming the dining room or the kitchen. Desserts on the deck, hors d'oeuvres in the great room, beverages in the kitchen, etc.

The easiest and most simple way to entertain guests is with a buffet line. A general rule is that everyone will not eat everything. People normally will eat more starches and meats than vegetables and anything fried will be the first to go! Going through a buffet line can make people feel the pressure of others behind them, so they move along quickly and won't take huge quantities the first time through. Remember that you will much rather have leftovers than a sparse spread at your buffet line, but here is a guide for you when you are estimating your food quantities for your buffet.

For individual meats, fish, poultry:
• 5 - 6 ounces per person
• If the cuts of meat have bones in them, consider adding more weight per person.

For multiple meat meals and buffets:
• 4 - 6 ounces per person

For pasta dishes:
• A pound will serve 8-10 people.

For vegetables:
• With a premixed salad, estimate one handful per person.
• One head of lettuce will feed approximately 5 people, 4 medium heads will serve 15-20.

For appetizers:
• Estimate about 10-12 items total per person.
• Make 3-4 of each item per person, keeping in mind that everyone may not take all of the items.

For desserts:
• Calculate one full portion of dessert per person.
• For multiple desserts, people will taste smaller portions of each item.
• A normal cake will serve approximately 10, but 15 will be fed if you are also serving pie.

Remember that doubling and tripling recipes is something of an art, so it is best to work small and work your way up. You will have a much better success rate with most recipes if you make multiple batches of a single recipe rather than trying to multiply the quantities by 3, 4, or more.

Beverages

Consider having a couple of the following seasonal beverages to fit the festive occasion:
• Eggnog (got so many varieties to choose from, on links not enough!)
• Wassail
• Cranberry-Tangerine Cooler
• White Hot Chocolate
• Coffee Bar - set out a few flavored liqueurs, brandy, whipped cream, and grated chocolate. Garnish drinks with decorative ice cubes. Try using shaped ice-cube trays, adding a little food coloring into the water, or add mint leaves or raspberries to the water before freezing.

If you plan on setting up a basic bar, plan to have the following on hand for every 10 adult guests:
• 1 case of beer
• 2 liters of seltzer
• 3 liters of soft drinks (diet and regular)
• 2 quarts of fruit juice
• Plenty of chilled bottled mineral water (sparkling and flat)
• 4 bottles of wine - two red, two white
• Hard liquor - a fifth makes aprox. 14 drinks
• Lemon and lime wedges and twists, olives and other garnish
• Lots of ice - plan on 1 lb. per adult guest for the evening.

Serve up drinks in some of our fantastic Holiday Glassware or Unique Barware.

Throwing a successful holiday party with a buffet does not have to throw you into a cardiac arrest! Just have fun, relax, and enjoy the time with your many guests - they will remember the fun and fellowship much longer than they will remember the menu!