I just saw something on television about this. They suggested that size is one of the factors of success. They mentioned that many people build them too small and then the bats don't use them. Because they are social animals, they want them big enough to hold a couple hundred. The one they made was a couple feet tall and a foot and a half across (my estimate). They mentioned they needed to be quite high up for the bats to be able to fly because they are really gliders and need to start up high in order to fly. They also said that you should stain them with dark stain to absorb the sun because they need to stay warm. That is about all I know about them. My dad had a huge colony in our barn when I was a kid. They kind of creeped me out. I know they are good animals to have around, but I haven't gotten the courage to put one up yet.

lovechristmas - I think what you are doing is great! First, take all the furniture out of the rooms you are going to use for the open house, except for the dining room table and chairs if you have them. You will need a table cloth and some sort of centerpiece for your table. I like to do something that I make myself, I have a couple of holly trees on my property and there are fresh greens available here at this time of the year as I live on the east coast. You could use silk, put some christmas balls, or other decorations in the midst. I try and do something a little different each year. One year it was snowmen. Last year it was a little more formal since I was having a sit down dinner and using my Lenox holiday china. From the furniture you took out of the room, look at the room from the perspective of creating small intimate group settings for conversation, but not so much that it doesn't feel like a group event. Make sure you have enough seats for everyone to sit down to eat. I would do buffet. If you serve food that has to be cut, rent/buy plain white china plates from a restaurant supply store. Got to the nearest big city and you will find them in a certain area and there are always a street full of competitors. When I first did this I though what a waste of money. Not so, I have reused those plates for years and they give a more put together look. You can do the same with silverware. The restaurant supply places are probably one of the best/cheapest resources for that kind of thing. You can be creative with table coverings. If you have a christmas quilt or even a red or green, use it to cover a buffet or table you will use to set up your bar or food. You can go to the fabric store and get fabric that you like. You will not even have to sew it as they now have sew glue. So easy. If you have an island in your kitchen, use that for your food setup, its close to the kitchen and you don't have to worry about covering it. I would set up stations on separate tables, bar stocked with wine and beer, food to be set up on a buffet length table or on your island if you have one, table for punchbowl and cups. I usually try to decorate each table. I have had pieces of glass cut to cover my good pieces in order to use them for serving stations rather than renting serving tables. It was cheap and I still get the warm feeling from the well worn antiques. I have inherited some nice pieces, a tea cart and a Shefield table that I love and have always wanted to use for entertaining, but was hesitant because if something was spilled, it could ruin the finish. The glass takes the worry out of any spilling and are easily cleaned with windex. Plus, if there is a spill on a table cloth it really ruins the look of the table for the rest of the day. Glass is easily cleaned up. Using different tables for different purposes avoids a traffic jam of people if you only have one or two tables to accomodate the food, bar, etc. It just flows better. As for your bar, I usually offer beer, a white wine and a red that go with whatever you chose to serve. Of course, you could do something holiday oriented like eggnog in a punch bowl - looks really nice. You can do ahead store in fridge in plastic pitchers then transfer to punch bowl about 1/2 hour before guests start to arrive. If you are a newlywed, perhaps you have gotten some nice serving pieces to use. Get out all of your proposed serving pieces to see what you have vs. what you need. I get everything out since you can forget from year to year what you really have on hand. I am constantly buying unique serving dishes at tag sales and putting them in the pantry closet for entertaining. Not everything has to match. I think it is much beter if it doesn't. If you are using a buffet table, you can set up your food serving bowls at different heights, use small boxes or differing size supports on your table to give it interest. Cover the boxes with colored napkins coordinated with a tablecloth if you are using one so as to hide what you are using for the height. Make a menu - choose a lot of do ahead dishes if you want to relax and enjoy the party with your friends. Think about what you have in the way of oven space - do you have a double oven and how many burners are on your stove. Do you have a toaster oven? Do your friends contribute or are you doing all of the food. I would do something interesting for dessert like individual cheesecake lollipops you can make ahead that are covered with chocolate and frozen. After you make them, freeze and pull them out of freezer when you put out your dinner. I find slicing pies and cakes is boring and labor intensive. A large bowl of strawberries with a bowl of sweetened whipped cream, I hope I am making sense. An event? Not sure what you mean by event, but I think it would be hard to do what I think you mean since, it is an open house and not everyone arrives at the same time, some people may come in and out throughout the day? Is that the type of party, or are you giving a time to arrive? Have a great time. It is alot of fun planning a party and it just takes a little creativity to have it all come together. You will do a great job. Have a wonderful Christmas! How lucky your friends are to have someone like you to gather together those who won't be going "home for the holidays".

cran, I had another thought if you want something festive & different from the soups... I make lobster crepes almost every year around the holidays. They're very easy, quick, & hold remarkably well in a chafing dish! No recipe...here's what I do... Toss in a skillet with 50/50 EVOO & butter a couple finely minced shallots & 1 or 2 cloves fresh garlic. Saute a couple minutes then add sliced 'shrooms of your choosing. Saute until the 'shrooms are tender. Add freshly picked lobster meat & continue sauteeing until the lobster is warm. Add some heavy cream, a bit of lobster stock, and a hit of sherry. I season with salt/pepper, & fresh thyme. Cook until liquid reduces a bit. Finish with a couple pats of butter. Fill crepes with a small amount of the above mixture & arrange the crepes in an oblong baking dish. Pour remaining sauce/lobster mixture over crepes & warm in the oven at 325 degrees for about 10-15 minutes. Squeeze the juice of a lemon over the top of the crepes after you've taken them out of the oven. Transfer to chaffing dish. These are so delicious it's stupid! Lobster is so cheap now it's not unreasonable for a crowd since they're so rich nobody will eat more than one. Thanks for the welcome back! I'll make a post on "Conversations" in the next few days. I'm out of bed about 20% of the time now; but typing still brings on vicious pain so I can't make this post & still give an update. :( BTW, I've been teaching DH to cook. He's become possessive of "his" kitchen! :) cran, I'm sure your Open House will be wonderful. Another idea that I started about 20 years ago...at 10:00 p.m., I hand out those short (4") white, chunky chandles in a handled holder. Then, appoint a guest to go around the room & light everybody's candle while I get organized at my piano. Then, we sing "Silent Night", "Oh Holy Night", "White Christmas", and whatever anybody else requests. We usually sing for 30 minutes, or so. It serves two purposes. First, everybody enjoys it & it seems to give a signal it's time to start gathering coats & finishing our toasts in preparationn to end the evening & I don't get stuck with guests still hanging on to their eggnog mug at 1:00 a.m.! hahaha You don't need a piano...people sing carols without music very well! Have a fun filled & safe party! /tricia

I am so happy I did the open house even though it was a lot of work. I know you all must think I am crazy using the antique quilt as a table cloth, BUT my mother always used it the same way. It is has a red background and the quilted christmas shaped trees ate dark green. There are some stains on it but it is in pretty good shape and no one spilled! Thanks again and happy holidays!