The following is a guest post from Giada De Laurentiis
The holiday season is well underway. With so many parties and events, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with all of the things to-do.
Here are my top 10 tips for getting yourself and your home ready for the holidays:
Getting Yourself Ready:
1. Plan your outfits ahead a time. Don’t wait to the last minute to figure out what you are going to wear. I like to put a tag on each outfit that reminds me what shoes, bag or accessory I’d like to wear with it, so it’s very easy the day of the event.
2. Get a manicure. It’s an easy way to instantly add glam to your look. You can use rhinestones, sparkles, festive colors and all types for fun designs. It is an inexpensive way to feel good.
3. Give your hair color a boost. I love how confident I feel after I color my hair – it’s a quick transformation. I use Clairol Natural Instincts, because it’s really easy to do during my hectic schedule, since it only takes 10 minutes and includes good ingredients like antioxidants, aloe and vitamin, making my hair look and feel healthy. I just made my hair color a little darker for the winter season with a shade called Navajo Bronze.
4. Exfoliate your face. You don’t need to spend a lot of money, you can make a great exfoliant yourself with baking soda and you’ll have skin that glistens.
5. I also like to buy a new eye shadow and lip gloss. For this time of year, I really like to find shades with some sparkle in them. What girl doesn’t like sparkle!
Getting Ready to Entertain:
6. I like to bring hostess gifts to people’s houses. I don’t like to go empty handed. You can bring a bottle of wine. You can buy beautiful little bottles I like to make a homemade flavored olive oil. Buy a beautiful bottle, fill it with good quality olive oil and flavor it with herbs, citrus or chili peppers.
7. I clean my house from top to bottom to make it as spotless as possible. Especially clearing away Jade’s toys!
8. If you are hosting a holiday party, I like to have one themed cocktail – it’s festive and you save on the expense of having a full bar. You could do simple champagne and add berries or pomegranates to make it look nice a themed drink. Or you can create a Bellini bar with champagne and a few fruit purees, like my raspberry Bellini.
9. Plan on serving a few appetizers for your guests. I like to make a few cold appetizers that can be made ahead of time, like a pizzette or roasted red pepper hummus in cucumber cups. And then I make one hot appetizer, like a panini cut into bite size pieces. Most importantly, make sure everything is bite sized and easy to eat.
10. I also think a festive scent is a great way to set the mood. I like candles with a pine or Christmas scent – I dim the lights and put holiday music on.
Emmy Award-winning personality Giada De Laurentiis has become a household name. With an impressive background of culinary training and a unique, personable charm, she is a globally revered celebrity chef who continues to prove her skill and accessibility not only with her expanding presence beyond Food Network but also with the great success of her cookbooks, newly launched food and kitchen product line and recurring role on the Today show.
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