Cottage style decorating, renovating and entertaining Ideas for indoors and out
  • Design Ideas
  • Entertaining
  • Outdoor/Garden
  • Lifestyle
  • C&B Project House
  • Shopping
  • Brand Ambassador
  • Wish List
45K
314K
15K
Cottage style decorating, renovating and entertaining Ideas for indoors and out
Cottage style decorating, renovating and entertaining Ideas for indoors and out Cottage style decorating, renovating and entertaining Ideas for indoors and out
  • Design Ideas
  • Entertaining
  • Outdoor/Garden
  • Lifestyle
  • C&B Project House
  • Shopping
  • Brand Ambassador
  • Wish List
dining room with floral pattern wallpaper, painted check floors and a vintage dining table
  • Entertaining

Jickie’s Top Tips for Easier Christmas Entertaining

  • November 17, 2019
  • Written & Styled by Jickie Torres
  • Photography by Bret Gum
  • Printables illustations by Lauren Rebbeck
Total
13
Shares
2
0
11

Well! You made it to day 12! The last day of our Cottage Christmas preparation guide! It can sometimes feel nonstop, right? Hosting during the holidays. From Thanksgiving on, our merry-making muscles will be going into overdrive. But now that you’ve spent all this time preparing, you can take the time to slow down and savor the season. Here we’ve pulled together our best best tips for easier christmas entertaining to show you that you can have your party and enjoy it too.

dining room with floral pattern wallpaper, painted check floors and a vintage dining table
Interior designer Alison Kandler’s charming dining room didn’t need much to feel festive during the holidays. A great big poinsettia goes a long way!

Go big, but not how you think…

I don’t mean go all out; I mean literally go big. One big pot of pink poinsettias is all it takes to make this lovely living room in designer Alison Kandler’s Santa Monica home look festive and fun. Before you start building your shopping list full of arrangements, table cards and enough candles to light up a cathedral, think about buying one big statement piece—I prefer fresh seasonal plants and flowers—and letting that do all your holiday décor talking.

Pick Items That Do all the Work for you

Just like with the above philosophy, easy christmas entertaining is all about making sure that what you use really counts. Gorgeous dinnerware can pull all the weight on your holiday table meaning you don’t have to do as much to make the table look great. A fabulous ice bucket can make your whole bar cart look instantly more festive and special.

Beg Borrow & Steal– From Around Your House

Want to know our home styling secret for all our photo shoots? We don’t always truck in loads of accents and accessories from all the major stores; we borrow from around the house to fluff and preen whatever room we are focusing on. So, if your gathering is concentrated around the kitchen and dining room, steal some ornaments from the back of the tree and sprinkle them on the countertop for décor, and borrow some pinecones from your mantel or entryway to tuck into your dining table for a little more layering and texture. No additional shopping before, nothing additional to store afterward. You’re welcome.

Spend Your Time On What Matters To Your Guests

Often we get caught up in the sugarplum vision of the experience we want our guests to have. I know I’m guilty of that. But stop and think about your guests, or as they say in my line of work, know your audience. If you’re hosting a small group of your girlfriends for holiday brunch, skip the extra décor fuss and use that time to make sweet simple favors for every seat. Or if you’re having extended family over for dinner, focus on the meal; trust me, the other things will just be details. If it’s a group of moms and their kids coming over for a gift exchange, sure, now you have permission to really fuss over the tree and mantel so the setting is magical and festive. Know what’s important for each gathering, and give yourself permission to downplay all the rest.

As a fun gift to you, and to make your easy christmas entertaining strategy even easier, I’ve put one of my favorite holiday cocktail recipes onto a cute printable card using illustrations by Lauren Rebbeck. Make sure you sign up for our 12 days of Cottage Christmas Newsletters to get access to all our free printables! Make them for your guests and share the recipe. Or, what I love to do, give your guests a parting gift with the recipe card and some of it’s ingredients! See below for how cute they look! Either way, make sure you have one for yourself, sit back, relax and enjoy all the fruits of your labor this Christmas. Cheers!

christmas old fashioned recipe favor bag with fresh rosemary, rye whisky and cranberries
Serving a signature drink at your party? Give guests a single serving set of ingredients for it along with a recipe card as a parting favor.

Did you miss any part of our 12 Days of Cottage Christmas? Check out the checklist below to see everything we covered. Or get caught up by starting with what we did on Day 1!

 

Of course, don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest to get your daily dose of cottage inspiration! 

 

 

Total
13
Shares
Share 2
Tweet 0
Pin it 11
Related Topics
  • 12 Days of Cottage Christmas
  • Christmas
  • cocktails
Jickie Torres

biographicalinfo

Previous Article
  • Crafts
  • Lifestyle
  • Uncategorized

DIY Food Gifts in Jars

  • November 17, 2019
  • Written by Hannah Roberts
  • Recipes by Susie Roberts
  • Styled by Victoria Van Vlear
  • Photography by Henry deKuyper
View Post
Next Article
natural wood cottage style china cabinet
  • Shopping

12 Cottage Style China Cabinets

  • November 18, 2019
  • Written by Val Guyant
View Post
You May Also Like
View Post
  • Design Ideas
  • Entertaining
  • Lifestyle

Modern Cottage Living

  • Written by Marissa Moldoch
  • Photographed and Styled by Melissa Kalbfleisch
  • October 13, 2022
Beach table setting with white ceramic dishes, tea candles, white shells, and rattan chargers
View Post
  • Brand Ambassador
  • Entertaining

Coastal Décor for a Seaside Soirée

  • Written, photography and styling by Kara Williams
  • July 11, 2022
View Post
  • Entertaining
  • Lifestyle

Grill Guide: No Beef? No Problem!

  • Courtesy of Grill Guide, the newest publication from Engaged Media, on newsstands April 19, 2022
  • June 7, 2022
View Post
  • Entertaining
  • Lifestyle

A Cottage-Style St. Patrick’s Day

  • Written, styled and photographed by Toni Mogensen
  • March 8, 2022
View Post
  • C&B Project House
  • Entertaining

Entertaining: How to Have a Mardi Gras Party

  • Written by Erin Masercola
  • February 20, 2022
View Post
  • Entertaining
  • Outdoor/Garden
  • OUTDOORS

Garden Party

  • Written by Sarah Jane Stone
  • Photography by Bret Gum
  • Styling by Sarah Jane Stone
  • May 14, 2021
Open shelving with blue dishes
View Post
  • Entertaining
  • KITCHEN
  • Shopping

How to Build a Timeless Kitchen Collection

  • Written by Victoria Van Vlear
  • Photography by Food52
  • August 6, 2020
View Post
  • Entertaining

7 Perfect Spring Salads

  • Writtten by Jickie Torres
  • April 22, 2020

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe to our newsletter

Sign up to receive the best of cottage style directly in your inbox!

  • 3 Day Blinds’ 3 Window Styling Upgrades

Subscribe to our newsletter

Sign up to receive the best of cottage style directly in your inbox!

Cottage style decorating, renovating and entertaining Ideas for indoors and out
  • About Us
  • Subscribe
  • Contact Us
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Newsletter
  • Do Not Share My Personal Info
Copyright © 2023 Cottages & Bungalows

Input your search keywords and press Enter.

We use cookies to optimise our website and give you the best experience on our website. ACCEPTREAD MORE
X