If you are looking for the Holiday entertaining and shopping tips, experts Dawn Sandomeno and Elizabeth Mascali are here to help! Their best tip above all: shop for gifts and products for your holiday parties on Black Friday.Dawn Sandomeno and Elizabeth Mascali are entertaining experts, authors of Plan To Party, and the founders of The Party Bluprints Blog. They have appeared as featured experts on TV, radio, and in national publications, namely, the Today Show, Martha Stewart Radio, Good Housekeeping, Redbook and Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazines.This Holiday season, the Party Bluprints experts teamed up with CheapSally.com to find the best deals on Holiday gifts, and they are judges in the Holiday Giftee Awards by Gifts.com. You can find their gift recommendations in the Best Holiday Gift Ideas for 2011 at Party Bluprints Blog, and then click to CheapSally.com to find the gifts from the gift guide on the lowest prices. Many deals sell out quickly, so you need to locate and act on the information fast. You will save time and money by visiting CheapSally.com’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday pages. They aggregate all the best deals across the internet for you, offering a one-stop resource for saving.
But before you shop, read these Holiday Entertaining tips from Dawn and Elizabeth. Their approach to gifting and party planning is simple: keep it easy but elegant, and save money and time where you can.
Tips for Holiday Entertaining
Hosting at the holidays is a rewarding experience and can be lots of fun, so plan properly and make sure YOU get to partake in it. Making memories for your family, friends and especially the children in your life is a gift you give each guest as a hostess, but you don’t need to sacrifice your own enjoyment to give it.Here are 7 super tips that not only save you time time, but allow you to enjoy your own party! Remember these tips and product recommendations when you shop for Black Friday deals this Holiday season and get the cheapest prices for them at Cheap Sally.
1. One less thing to do on the day of the party means more time for you. Set your table and bar area the day before your party. Make it easy by letting your guests make their own hot drinks by using a single serve coffee maker, like Keurig, in the bar area.
2. Make ahead meals like casseroles are great for holiday entertaining and can be served in one dish. That means fewer pots to clean and you won’t need to cook during the party. Save money by creating more decadent looking dessert cupcakes with a nonstick mini cupcake maker instead of a fancy dessert.
3. Or skip the dinner entirely and focus on desserts only. Cocktail and Dessert parties are the NEW way to entertain for those with limited time and money. Dessert flights will be all the rage at holiday parties this year.
4. Serve a cocktail punch instead of making each guest an individual cocktail. Punch gets you out from behind the bar and allows you to toast the holidays with your guests.
5. When hosting a crowd for a holiday meal, bring in extra tables and chairs so everyone can sit together, but save space by setting up a buffet in another room so everyone can help themselves and then gather to enjoy a meal together.
6. Buy simple white plates that match with any decorating theme, they come cheaper in the long run than paper plates and are much more elegant. Clear dishes, rinse and load in dishwasher after each course of a holiday meal. Work as you go so they don’t pile up. When everyone leaves you won’t be left with a big mess to clean up.
7. Graciously accept guests’ offer to help, this makes many people feel good. Invite them to bring a side dish or dessert or help serve or clear dishes. Enlist the help of teens at the party to watch the little ones for a while so you can join in conversation and eat a hot meal! And don’t forget the entertainment for the kids, like setting up a Wii party with the new Just Dance 3 game.
