Happy December everyone! After a whirlwind November that included a trip to Montreal and a week of hosting family for Thanksgiving, we turn the calendar page to the last month of the year.

Stocking Advent Calendar 2008

To kick off this festive month, I wanted to showcase the advent calendar I made last year for our house. Unlike the advent calendar I created for my brother this year that I made with beautiful Heather Bailey felt, I used only materials on hand at the time to create ours.

Despite the fact that Steve and I are in our twenties, this fun decoration makes the whole month of December a little more fun. It’s exciting to have a little present every other day to open.

Other distractions:

• Yesterday, in an attempt to find some holiday wear without spending money, I scavenged my jewelry boxes and couldn’t believe it when I found the Tiffany heart necklace Steve gave me for our first anniversary together. I thought I had lost it several years ago and am absolutely delighted it reappeared.
• I joined a new gym yesterday. It’s time to reign in the eating and start working up a sweat a few times a week. My current gym membership has not been motivating me, so hopefully this new place will do the trick!
• Steve and I have some busy weekends this month. We just planned a last-minute trip to DC in two weeks and will be going to Boise and New York City at the end of December. What a busy time of year.

Felt Stocking Advent Calendar, Days 1 through 6

I am pleased to be able to (finally!) post this project. It was my first seasonal gift of the year and I have been working on it like crazy for the last few months. This Christmas stocking advent calendar was a gift to my brother Jordan, who recently celebrated his twenty-fifth birthday. Considering the close proximity of his birthday to the start of December and the fact that he is beginning to “nest” in his apartment, I thought it was a good time to give him a fun handmade decoration.

Felt Stocking Advent Calendar, Days 7 through 12

I made the garland-style advent calendar using Heather Bailey’s new designer felt line, which was a real treat. I absolutely adore the colors in her line and had fun creating a more pop-art inspired advent calendar for my brother, who enjoys collecting all things kitsch.

Felt Stocking Advent Calendar, Days 13 through 18

Before I gave him this gift I loaded him down with little presents inside every stocking that he can share with his girlfriend throughout December.

Felt Stocking Advent Calendar, Days 19 through 24

To read more about this project, click on the jump.

In other news, I have added a festive holiday banner to Nat’s Distractions and begun the holiday craziness at home. We’re almost finished purchasing gifts for the holidays and I am working like the devil to finish handmade gifts in time for present opening. Check back often to see the happenings going on at my home!

What a great week. We had trips to the city, laughs galore, and amazing eating binges. It was just what Thanksgiving should be.

Today is the first day we are not hosting company, although I scheduled a craft day with work buddies to help the holidays wind down a little easier. It’s hard to spend time with my favorite people one day and have them be gone the next!

I’ll post more about Thanksgiving and the upcoming Christmas happenings soon. In the meantime, I am going to reassemble my house for guests arriving in a few hours!

I know this may sound impossible, but this is the most important part of entertaining. If you aren’t relaxed, don’t plan on others feeling that way.

With Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow, I feel very relaxed at the moment. Though I still have to prepare most of the food, I am confident that my pre-festivity planning will get me through the next few days. I am participating in fun plans today but excusing myself early to get started on some cooking.

We’re celebrating the biggest bar night of the year by staying in, eating pizza, and playing games tonight. It should be a fun precursor to the big turkey day!

I plan to cook nearly half of my Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow (Wednesday). It’s important to me that I enjoy the holiday by relaxing a bit and participating in wine drinking and football watching. So to do that, I need to run through some of the prep-ahead dishes.

I am going to send my family out of the house tomorrow afternoon and make the mushroom gravy, cranberries, and a few other dishes. Steve already has the turkey prepped in the refrigerator brining in a salt crust.

We’re counting down to the delicious meal ahead!

Last night, Steve and I continued our tradition of grocery shopping the Friday before Thanksgiving. Not only is this outing fun for us since we incorporate dinner before shopping, we also beat the giant crowds that will be flocking to the grocery stores for the next week.

This year’s trip didn’t disappoint. Our first stop was Total Wine in New Jersey, where we picked up alcoholic beverages for the week. Our strategy at Total Wine was simple: buy decent wine and beer without going overboard. Considering this year’s festivities are for all over 21 (well, there’s one minor), we also needed to have some filler beer that guests could drink after consuming one or two nice microbrews.

Here’s what we came away with at the end of the shopping trip:

Holiday Drinking, Beer and Wine Style

We bought a variety of local and cheap beers, bottled and boxed wines, and a case of Natural Light (my dad’s favorite) that, to me, goes in the undrinkable category. While it would be wonderful to treat our guests with only local or notable microbrews and mid-shelf wines, our alcohol choices came down to staying within our budget. Plus, we have a stocked liquor cabinet at home and can break into several hard liquor choices at any time.

I wasn’t able to use Martha’s “Party Calculator” that I enjoyed reading in the November issue of Living since I have guests for an entire week, but I thought her rule-of-thumb alcohol guidelines for parties was fantastic:

Wine: One bottle per two people per hour

Beer: Two beers per person per hour

Spirits: One bottle per five people per hour

Mixers: Three bottles for each bottle of alcohol

Ice: At least one pound per person per hour

I can’t wait to get the libations flowing at this house. I won’t have to wait long since my first guests arrive tonight!

While it’s fun to host overnight guests, it can be an expensive endeavor. If you are like me, you want to roll out the red carpet for your guests without breaking the bank.

Recently, I have come up with some budget-friendly recipes that are standouts when entertaining:

• The first is a good dinner entrée. It’s Dave Liberman’s Pink Vodka Sauce and Penne. This is an easy dish to prepare with company sitting in the kitchen, since it requires minimal ingredients and is only a few steps. In my opinion, vodka sauce is a huge treat (with the heavy cream it’s not an everyday meal) and a memorable dish (the vodka adds a zing to the ubiquitous tomato sauce). As a bonus, pasta is a cheap food and satisfying to the masses. I usually pair this dish with a nice green salad and wine. I recommend making enough for eight servings so you can enjoy it again as leftovers. I have eaten this well into the week after a weekend of entertaining.
• My other “go-to” meal is challah french toast for breakfast. Again, this is not low in calories, but it is an indulgence worthy of good company. I buy challah at our local bakery and prepare it as I would regular french toast. Then I set out fun condiments like Nutella and cinnamon sugar to dress it up. It’s rich and satisfying, yet easy and affordable. Serve with a side of fruit and no one will be complaining!

No matter who you are entertaining, these easy and affordable recipes are a must-try. They will satisfy your guests and you will still have money in your pocket at the end of the visit. Plus, they are easy enough to execute, which will leave you with more time to socialize with your visitors!

Holiday Cheer via Snail Mail

Call me old fashioned, but I get excited when it’s time to buy holiday-themed postage for my Christmas cards. While running errands today, I bought this year’s winter stamps.

Although writing Christmas cards can be a tedious task, it is one that I enjoy during the holidays and hope that it continues through the ages despite the surge of the Internet and other technology. To me, it’s not the holidays without some colorful envelopes in the mailbox every day in December.

For the next week, I am going to share tips for entertaining crowds during the holidays. As a twentysomething who works full time, entertaining can be a daunting task, particuarly because I have a small house and am a perfectionist, thanks to studying Martha Stewart Living for the last fifteen years.

I hope I can bestow some advice for both type-A personalities like myself and those who aren’t so anal retentive so all hostesses and hosts can have an enjoyable, and nearly perfect, holiday celebration!

Make Lists to Keep You Organized When Hosting Family and Friends

I am conducting my third large holiday gathering as an adult. Prior to this Thanksgiving, I hosted my family for a week during Christmas four years ago and last year’s Thanksgiving dinner, though I didn’t have the large number of out-of-town guests.

While I don’t claim to be an expert at hosting holidays, I do enjoy entertaining and think that, in the past, my guests have enjoyed themselves. I credit my list-making abilities with past hosting successes and recommend that hosts and hostesses get into this habit. Lists help one consider the many elements of entertaining. After all, it’s not just a grocery list that one needs to write. I recommend creating the following lists when entertaining family and friends from out of town over the holidays:

• An itinerary that details the visit. Use this list to document arrivals and departures, activities for each day of the visit, and meals to be prepared. Send this list out to guests a few weeks prior to their arrival. That way, everyone has a chance to chime in on what they would like to do and plans can be modified to meet specific needs.
• A to-do list specifically for the hosts. Make this list a week or two before the visit that considers all of the errands and tasks that need to be completed before guests arrive. Need to run to Home Goods to find a new table cloth? Realized that you don’t have serving spoons for the buffet? Observed that you haven’t dusted the house for six months? This list will help you organize all tasks that need to take place prior to guests arriving. Include items like “find recipes for dinner,” “wash guest room sheets,” and “make grocery list” on this big-picture list. As you cross items off, you’ll feel better about the approaching event.
• A grocery list. Finally, the most obvious list. When writing this one up, include measurements for each item on your list. Multiple recipes may call for the same item, so make sure you buy enough butter for pies, mashed potatoes, and the stuffing. Also, create separate lists for specialty stores you may be visiting, such as the wine store, the cheese shop, or the bakery.

List making is the first step to hosting during the holidays. If you find yourself feeling stressed, you have lists to review that will walk you though the steps involved in managing a flock of family and friends. Plus, if you keep the lists from year to year, you can refer back to them and not have to reinvent the wheel.

Happy hosting!

. . . I’ll be hosting the whole family! That’s right, I convinced my entire West-Coast-based immediate family to get themselves over here to celebrate Thanksgiving. I couldn’t be more excited for the week to come.

In preparation for the big visit, I began working on my Thanksgiving menu this weekend. My approach this year is to do simple, classic dishes really well. There will be no chutneys, crazy mashed potatoes, or homemade breads. Instead, I will focus my time on enjoying everyone and fix food that will satisfy. I plan to do a nice main veggie dish for myself, my brother, and his girlfriend, as we are all vegetarians, but I won’t be putting a Tofurkey on the table.

My table decor will complement my simple approach to the meal. I found some fun fall accessories at Pier 1 this weekend. Though I would love to channel my inner Martha Stewart for the festivities, making a laborious craft project as a centerpiece isn’t going to happen this year.