5 Easy Holiday Decorating Tips --A No-Stress Guide to Preparing For the Crowd

When decking the halls with boughs of holly seems low on your priority list this season, it can be agonizing to actually get your holiday decorating done. But when it comes down to it, it doesn't have to be all that complicated to be pleasing to the eyes of your guests. Involve your kids this year and you'll find that it's not as painstaking. Follow these five tips to an easy holiday decorating experience and don't stress it.

Less is More

Believe it or not, there is some truth to this oft-ignored phrase. If you are having guests over, you should only decorate, with any buoyancy, the rooms that they will be spending most of their time in. No one will be going into the bedrooms, so you don't have to do anything with them. The kitchen doesn't need any special sparkle, and the bathrooms can simply be decorated by using green and red towels on the rack and a Santa-shaped soap dispenser. As far as the main rooms are concerned, these could use more holiday cheer. But don't stress the small, unused rooms.

Branching Out

Don't underestimate the power of the evergreen. Purchase some artificial evergreen boughs (or sacrifice an old artificial tree); because these have wire in them, it makes it a cinch to wrap around a banister, or the legs of a table. Although lights give evergreen a nice glow, it is enough that you decorated your tree, and they don't need to be strung around your banister to make things bright. Instead you can accent these with some artificial berry picks, glass ornaments, and pre-made ribbons. The key is to bring some colors that will sparkle in the green, and the pre-made kind with a little wire already attached makes holiday decorating super easy.

Wreaths

You can find pre-made wreaths of any size. Greet your guests with a large wreath, fitting of your front door, and hang a few mini ones in choice places around a banquet table or against a much-viewed wall. Wreaths are the simplest holiday decoration to display-all you need is a small nail and hammer and it's hung. You can even have your kids make small wreaths by providing them with 4" basic wreaths and some wired bows to wrap around the bottom of the wreath; you can't go wrong or off-centered with this craft because the real art is in the hanging of it.

A White Christmas

Instead of garland, which sheds worse than the family dog, try a different approach to overhangings that your children will thoroughly enjoy creating. What kid doesn't love to make paper snowflakes? Stick with white and light blue construction paper for a wintry look, or go for reds, greens, and even gold and silver foils to spruce it up even more. Simply string a piece of matching yarn through the tops or middles of the paper snowflakes and tack them into an entranceway. And your kids will be proud to explain to your guests that they made them. What could be easier?

All Wrapped Up

Presents can also make a decoration with the right placement. Don't just leave them under the tree, but stack smaller ones on a little-used lamp table or coffee table and see a easy holiday decoration take form. Because you will already have wrapped presents, this is no extra work. Just put an extra long bow of curling ribbon on the top present and let it cascade down to pull the centerpiece together.