A New Years Celebration Countdown

Who doesn't love Rachel Ray? You can imagine how thrilled I was when I was asked to contribute to the Rachel Ray Everyday New Year's Countdown story called "Happy Hour." It is featured in the December/January Issue on page 138. Here are a few of the highlights! You can read the entire story here: www.rachaelraymag.com.

11:00 - One Hour to Go: Greet your guests at the door and leave a little goodie for them on the coat rack or hanger. As they take off their coat they can get in the New Years spirit by wearing the hat or feather boa you left for them. Place a stack of cards, pens, and a small box on the table and ask each guest to write out their wishes for 2010. Take turns reading them out loud (anonymously of course!) over cocktails later in the night.

11:15 - 45 Minutes to Go: Set out savory appetizers and snap photos and videos of your guests that you can email them the next day.

11:30 - 30 Minutes to Go: Refill the appetizer platters and check on the drinks and punch. Make a round thru your party and pick up empty plates, glasses and napkins. Remember to use small serving trays and buffett trays and refresh the food more often so that it always looks fresh and stays warm.

11:45 - 15 Minutes to Go: Cue the celebration and send subtle hints that it is time to gather for the countdown. Dimming the lights or blowing out candles in the rooms they should move from should do the trick. Get help from a friend to assemble some trays of sweets that you can put out after the countdown. Assembling them now will save you time later. Unwrap a few bottles of Champagne so they are ready to pop!

12 - Celebrate!

One of the hardest parts of a coctail party is figuring out how many drinks will be needed! Below is my cheat sheet to help you figure out your numbers.

# of People	10	25	50	100
Bottles of Wine per 2 hours	5	13	25	50
Bottles of Champagne per 2 hours	3	10	20	40
Bottles of Beer per hour	20	50	100	200
Bottles of Liqour per hour	1 1/2	3	6	12
Mixers for Liqour drinks per hour (1L)	4	9	17	33
Lemons and Limes	3	7	13	25
Ice (lbs)	5	13	25	50
Paper Cocktail Napkins per hour	40	100	200	400
Linen Cocktail Napkins per hour	20	50	100	200

Gift Wrap at Santa's Workshop!

If you are looking for a clever new take on gift wrapping this holiday season, I have a few ideas for you! When we are spending, on average, 60% less on gifts this year, it is important that they are wrapped beautifully!

• Make it personal by adding your logo, monogram, or even photo on to wrapping paper at www.picturepaper.com. It is $16.95 per roll and it is so unique! You don't even need a gift tag!
• Wrap up a few gifts for the same person with brown craft paper and tie them together with string. Attach a note saying "Brown paper packages tied up with string...These are a few of your favorite things!"
• For a small token or trinket, place your gift in a cool box that can always be displayed. I like these from West Elm. Tie them closed with a red or green ribbon and attach a simple tag. At $12.00 you can add a unique and everlasting wrapping to the gift.
• Help your friends go green by wrapping their gift in a re-usable grocery tote. I like these Chico Bags because they are avaliable in a lot of colors and can be wrapped up and carried with you later. The are $4.95 and, stuffed with tissue and tied with a ribbon, make a great wrap!

Another tip for family celebrations: Assign each member of the family a color and wrap each family member's gifts in that color. It makes sorting the gifts a lot more fun!

Bag ideas from the Bag Snob!

Check out the Bag Snob's suggestions for Holiday Gifts! There is something in every price point. She has great ideas and even shows you how you could wrap a gift in a bag!

Just in the St. Nick of Time - Affordable Gifts with a Theme!

I love Movies...especially around Christmas! Whenever I am asked about my favorite movie I always reply "Elf!" even if it is the middle of July! Will Ferrell's happy elf has the perfect attitude towards life. He enjoys everything, gets excited about anything sparkly and says "I love smiling! Smiling is my favorite!" When I think about some of my favorite Christmas gifts, I remember a "movie night package" that my aunt gave Justin and I just after we were married. She put together a basket of two new release DVD's, microwave popcorn, and movie candy like twizzlers and M&M's. If you are looking for a way to dazzle your friends this holiday season, think about a quick trip to Blockbusters where you can put together a package with my suggestions:

-The nice thing about giving movies to friends and family is that there is one for everyone! For my brother, "The Hangover" (out yesterday!) will be perfect! My sisters love romantic comedies so I will give them "Four Christmases" and "The Proposal." I always get my mother a classic like "Breakfast at Tiffanys" and my father always wants something educational like "Planet Earth." Blockbuster also offers gift cards and gift subscriptions.

-Mix the movies with a few other treats like a Collectible Popcorn Tin (two for $18!), Candy, and a Snuggie Blanket....you know the one...the blanket with Sleeves ($14.99 to $24.99) or a film version of the board game "Scene It?" (29.99).

-If you really want to add a bit of fun then wrap up the Yoostar Interactive Home Entertainment System ($169.99) which makes you the star of famous movie and television scenes and lets you share your performances. You can insert yourself into your favorite scenes and replace Tom Hanks in "Forest Gump" or Elmo and Grover in "Sesame Street!" The system comes with a web-cam, green screen and stand, remote control, 12 movie scenes and two bonus scenes. You can download hundreds of additional scenes. That sounds like so much fun!

I also love to give a gift that gives back and TOMS shoes are perfect! Watch this fantastic YouTube Video to learn more about my friend Blake Mycoskie and his amazing philanthropic business. If you don't know the shoe size of the people on your list you can give a Gift Card or a Gift Pack that includes a cool DVD about the company and their One for One mission.

Feather Your Nest with me on January 11th!

Please join me and my co-hosts, Ashlee Hunt Kleinert and Colleen Rickenbacher, for the first Feather Your Nest Luncheon and Speaker on the 11th January at the Ritz-Carlton. We are so excited to partner with the Ritz Carlton, Dallas to bring renounded designer and author Hutton Wilkenson to Dallas. His lectures are always amazing and his books are so beautiful. I can't wait to hear what he has to teach us, dine on a delicious Ritz-Carlton lunch, and have fellowship with my friends. I hope that you will be there! You can sign up by clicking here!

Eye Masks on Daily Candy Gift Guide!

Thank you to Brittany Edwards for featuring my new Silk Eye Masks on the Daily Candy Gift Guide! They eye masks are made from vintage silk scarves that I have collected on my travels. I hope you like them! They are sold at Elements on Lover's Lane which is stocked with loads of fantastic holiday finds.

Christmas Entertaining on a Budget

I know you want to continue to entertain through out the holidays even though we are all on tight budgets so here are a few tips to help you shine this Christmas season with out breaking the bank. Here are a few of my tips:

1. Create a simply stunning centerpiece: Fill any glass bowl or open top vase with a favorite festive item such as simple solid ornaments or candy canes. They will last all season long. For a special occasion, top your cylinder vases that are filled with goodies with a sphere of flowers. Solid red carnations from the floral department at Tom Thumb are an affordable way to make a dramatic statement with your flowers (I can get you a photo of this if you like it).

2. Set the tone with tea lights: Candles are a great way to evoke nostalgic memories during the holidays. Purchase a bag of little tea lights. Wrap 1/2 wide ribbon that will match your decor (I like the warmth of velvet ribbons during the holiday season) around the edge of the tea lights and secure with double stick tape. Scatter them around your table top for or across your mantles for maximum impact at minimum expense.

3. Cook in Batches: Make a few breakfast or lunch casseroles that you can freeze and serve when needed. It will take the stress out of feeding out of town guests in the morning. Plus, buying in bulk can really stretch a budget. Tom Thumb offers value packs on all their O Organic products etc. Imagine how easy it will be to pull out your casserole, heat it up; add coffee and juice to your table and you have a breakfast feast in three steps! Be sure you let your casseroles cool completely before putting them in the freezer.

4. Be unique with your guest book: Set a bowl or basket of simple and inexpensive solid ornaments and a few paint pens out by the door. Ask your guests to decorate and sign an ornament and then hang it on your tree. It will give them something fun to do, get them in to your home to mingle and you will have a lasting memory of their visit to hang on your tree every year.

5. Make shopping a family affair: Include your kids on your trips to the store. Tom Thumb has thousands of new everyday low prices and great weekly Reward Card specials on items across the store! Their new yellow shelf tags show the old price crossed out and the new everyday low price. It is a great feeling to see your savings right before your eyes! If your kids are along, you can turn the tags into a fun math game.

6. Save Time and Money Shopping: One Stop shopping not only saves you time and money but also your sanity during the holidays. Tom Thumb not only has every thing you need but has reduced prices all across the store- it will save you both time and money. I love the peace of mind that comes along with knowing that I am getting the best price when I see what I am saving on their yellow price tags.

7. Stock up on your shopping trip: Every busy mom needs to make the most of their shopping trip. Stock up on all the everyday items you may need. For quick on the go meals, Tom Thumb has great O Organics products and an Eating Right line. Buying private label brands at Tom Thumb is a great way to save but not skip out on quality.

8. Host a Dessert Party: Hosting a Dessert Party is a great way to keep on your budget during the holidays. Start your party at 8:30 or 9, after your guest list has already been to the office Christmas party or had a family dinner, and you can host them for dessert. One quick trip to the bakery at Tom Thumb and all of your food is taken care of! A variety of the sweet treats in the bakery, a pre-cake, cookie trays, and pastries, are tasty and easy. Serve the treats on your best trays and cake plates. Tom Thumb has all of this in a one stop shop, including wine to pair with your pastries!

9. Decorate with Rosemary: Purchase two small Rosemary trees at Tom Thumb and cover their containers in a row of Candy Canes by using a glue stick and tying a green ribbon around them. Place them on each side of the mantle for a festive look and the aroma is amazing! Sprigs or rosemary and candy canes are also great accents on a serving tray, attached to the bow on a gift or at someone's place setting.

10. Gift wrap with ease: Wrap a few gifts every day instead of waiting until the last minute. Leave the ribbons off of the packages until you are ready to deliver or ship them. That you can stack up your gifts without messing up the bow! I love to keep the Christmas Cards that people send me. When I do my gift wrapping I use last year’s cards as gift tags by cutting out either a lovely message from the inside of the card or a pretty image from the front of the card. I punch a whole into it and tie it to my package. It is a great way to recycle last year’s cards!

Christmas Tablescapes

I had such a great time setting a table for a Tablescaping fundraiser yesterday. I loved all of the inspiration I found in each of the ideas.

Our table was based on the peppermint party that I featured in my first book, The Pleasure of Your Company. We used only red and white in the book for the fundraiser we added green elements in as well.

A red undercloth from POSH Couture Rentals was topped with a lovely white quilted one. I used straight pins to "swag" the white cloth so that you could see the red underneath. Each of the swags were followed by a candy garland that I purchased at Michael's.

On top of the table I layered an adorable candy cane bordered dinner plate from Pier One Imports with the Bernadeaud Grenadiers salad plates and then topped them off with miniature gingerbread houses also from Pier One.

Our centerpieces were simple glass jars filled with red, white and green candy. M & Ms, Hershey's kisses and peppermints filled them to the brim when we started out but by the time the table was set many people had "snacked" from our table! Between the glass containers we stuck a few of my vintage Santa's from my collection and piled up marshmallows. We added fake snow to the marshmallow pile and it looked like a fairy tale candy snowstorm! It was so sweet!

Send me photos of your Christmas Tabletops and the winner will get a copy of The Pleasure of Your Company!

Dry Chapped Hands! Let's help Julie!

This entry is for Julie who wants to know what she can do to get rid of her dry chapped hands this time of year. And she is not alone! She said that all of her friends are complaining too! I am happy to share my tips on this because I love trying hand cremes! I am a bona fide hand creme connoisseur!

There are so many factors that can contribute to our dry and chapped hands. Our dry cold weather is one factor but frequent hand washing can contribute too. I know that we are all washing our hands more frequently now to stay healthy! Long hot baths and showers can make it worse as well.

My favorite hand creme in the whole entire world is amazing! It is Natura Bisse's Hand Silk and I hope you will go the counter at Neiman Marcus or Barneys to give it a test run. It is pricey at $32 for 2.5 oz but it is water resistant so it does last a long time. It never gets greasy and it also protects from the sun with SPF 15.

Julie heard from a NICU Nurse that Neutrogena Hand Cream will do the trick. I tried it and I really like it! It is a bit heavy and I put it on right before I was about to drive and the steering wheel kept slipping thru my hands! I noticed that after a while it soaked in and it made my hands feel soft after the first use. Purchase it thru ULTA.com and save 15% making it only $3.64 from $4.29!

Take advantage of your sleeping time and slather your hands in Vaseline right before you go to sleep and then slip on some cotton gloves (available at drug stores).

If you are more keen on at home remedies you can try these from womenfitness.net. I tried the sugar and lime and it was great! They recommend taking one tablespoon lemon juice, one tablespoon sugar, one tablespoon water. Lightly mix all ingredients and rub all over the hands. Keep rubbing in until it starts to dry. Rinse with water and your coarse hands will be so soft!

Rumor has it that Plain Crisco Shortening works like lotion! Just rub it in and let it go to work! Olive oil rubbed in to hands will help but it certainly isn't easy to cart around in your hand bag!

Stress Free Holiday Tips

December is my favorite month of the year but it is also my busiest! I have few tips to help you manage your way thru the Holidays without a lot of stress!

1. Wrap a few gifts every day. Go ahead and label them but don't put the bows and ribbons on yet. This way you can stack them up and keep them organized. In addition, they will be easier to transport. Embellish them the week of Christmas.
2. Make it festive and tackle your to-do list with friends. Host a few friends for a baking party, Christmas card addressing party, or gift wrapping party. Make it fun! Provide them with a lot of the supplies they will need and a few snacks and you can chat away about your favorite holiday traditions over a cup of peppermint hot chocolate!
3. Always keep a few extra gifts in your closet for those people who accidently got looked over or for those who show up at your door with a gift in hand!
4. When shopping for Christmas, keep a list and budget. Be sure to find a way to designate which gifts have been purchased in a color or fashion that will keep you on track.

Navigating Sticky Holiday Situations

We all have those awkward moments when faced with sticky situations during Holiday get-togethers. Check out my tips in the December issue of Women's Day Magazine to gracefully handle 10 common social dilemmas.

The Dallas Flea

Most of you know that treasure hunting at a flea market is one of my favorite things to do. You can not imagine my excitement when I learned that my friend and the editor of Daily Candy Dallas Edition, Brittany Edwards, has started a chic new flea market called Dallas Flea. There will be more than 45 vendors packing South Side on Lamar with unique fashion, furniture, food and artwork. The first flea will be this Saturday, December 5th from 9am to 4pm. It is a great place to pick up gifts for those on your list! See you there!

A Homegrown and Handmade Holiday

The Dallas Farms Market is offering activities for the entire family.

Saturday, Dec 5 9:00a to 3:00p at Dallas Farmers Market, Dallas, TX

The Dallas Farmers Market offers two new programs through the end of the year. The Busker Program will bring musicians, artists, mimes, minstrels, clowns, actors and other entertainers to the market. The Handcrafter Market will feature merchants with handmade and creative items for sale.

Winner of Tablescapes Thanksgiving Table contest!

Congratulations to Amy Wood who is the winner of Tablescapes! I got a lot of photos of incredibly beautiful tablescapes but this one was so clever and I just had to select it as the winner! I love the mini-feast being re-enacted by playmobile charachters but I also love that she still added her crystal place card holders and beautiful linens. I don't think that the "First Thanksgiving" has ever looked so good!

I must give honorable mention to Allday Cakes who sent me an image of this fantastic Turkey Cake! Isn't it amazing!!?!!

I had so much fun seeing all of your photos so I want to do this again for the holidays! Snap images of your favorite Christmas decorations and this time you will win a copy of The Pleasure of Your Company! I can't wait to see your wonderful entertaining ideas!

Trinkets, Tokens and Treasures - Personalized Novels!

If you are looking for a way to commemorate your family's history this Christmas, I have found the perfect gift for you! Why not have a book personalized for those on your gift list!

Trinkets: Children are delighted when they open a book but imagine the thrill when they see their name inside the book! I love the personalized holiday books from Personally Yours Books. The are $15.95 and a great treat for the kids on your guest list. I am ordering mine today!

Tokens: Books By You is a unique way to give a novel that is personalized for you recipient! You select from one of their pre-written options in categories that range from Romance Novels to Westerns to Mysteries and they will send it back filled with the names of your friends and families. You simply fill out a questionnaire and they send you the completed book. At only $39.95 this is a fun gift that will surely surprise and delight the friends on your list. You can order for Christmas delivery thru the 22nd of December.

Treasures: Legacy Novels will spend time personally interviewing family and friends, talking about life's fondest memories, funniest stories, significant life events and relationships and their team of writers will compile the stories, adding visual elements such as beloved photos and letters, into a custom-designed and titled, hard bound, professionally published novel that reflects each of our client's unique personalities and life experiences. Upon completion, you will have a book that looks like it is right off the shelf of your favorite book store. It will be hard bound with a custom color dust jacket. There is no specific formula for the novel so you can include anything you like from family recipes or reproductions of historical documents. You can also choose an audio CD or personalized DVD including video snips from the interviews!

Although it is a certainly and "investment" (prices start at $3500), it is well worth it! The basic package includes 10 copies of the book and a book signing party for up to 20 guests. The also provide a discount to families with a military service background. Although the books could not be ready for Christmas, the do offer a beautifully boxed gift certificate that you can present to each member of your family.