Christmas party planning requires a lot of details, such as preparing food, creating a guest list, mailing party invitations, decorating your house and possibly setting up a spare room for overnight guests.
The great thing is that you can make your home look very festive without spending a lot of time or money on it, so that you can spend more time visiting with your guests and catching up with many people that you may not have spent much time with since your party last year.
Christmas crackers, cookies, and some simple foods will make feeding your guests quite simple.
If you want to have more filling foods, you might want to consider having the party catered or purchasing pre-cooked foods so that you do not have to worry about cooking great food for you and all of your guests to eat at your party.
If you really want to have homemade food at your Christmas party, you may want to have some friends or family members come over and help you prepare the food and make a tradition out of that as well.
Potlucks are always a great option.
Not only is the responsibilities shared amongst the group, but there is usually a lot of variety and everyone gets to share their favorite recipes.
If you are focused on meal planning and decorating, it might be hard to find the time to also clean the house.
A great time and stress saver is to hire your kids or neighbor to help get the house in order quickly.
An extra pair of hands for a few hours can really help get tasks accomplished in a lot less time.
Another great idea is to create a checklist for yourself that will help you keep organized so you can get a few things done each day before your Christmas party so that you do not have stress about trying to get a lot of last minute things wrapped up the day of your party.
If you want Christmas table decorations as well as other decorations for your party, the Internet and craft stores offer many great ideas for Christmas crafts which will make your home look even more festive.
Something as simple as hanging a stand of garland or lights around the front door is an easy and inexpensive was to dress your home up for your Christmas party.
During a party, many people often gather in the kitchen, so adding a few holiday touches such as Christmas themed towels and over mitts add a festive touch.
Inexpensive kitchenware, such as bowls or plastic cups, is a fun option.
Of course there is also Christmas themed table clothes and napkins.
In decorating, many times less is more, so just a few special touches add a great deal to creating a beautiful holiday atmosphere.
A touch of nature, such as holly, pine cones or a wreath along with scented candles create an inexpensive yet elegant Christmas piece for the table.
Again, holiday decorating is really about adding small touches to your house to bring in the warmth of the season.
Holiday party planning can be a bit of work, but it should also be a lot of fun.
One way to really enjoy planning a party is to keep the big picture in mind and not to stress over the little things.
Remember, Christmas is a time to enjoy time spent with friends and family, so if things start to become a bit overwhelming, take a deep breath and focus on having fun.
So focus on enjoying friends, family, and fun at your next Christmas party!