What a great post! We moved into our house in March of 2012 and we love to entertain. It is much easier in the warmer months since we have a large covered patio and the kids can play outside. However, we hosted our first large indoor gathering this past Christmas and it was very stressful!! So what were the lessons learned from this last party?? 1) Make rules for the children. -We found food in toy bins and stickiness from spilled juice on the playroom floor. Next time we will tell kids that food and drink are only allowed in the kitchen and dining room. -Designate one bathroom for the kids and put kid friendly towels in them. We have a beautiful powder room which got torn apart...scuffs on our beautiful vanity, stains on the nice towels, etc. Next time we will tell the kids to use the kids bathroom only. -LOCK doors! We did this for this party and it worked out great! We locked the toy room closet and left out several toys that were easy to put away. We also locked bedroom doors that we didn't want kids to go into. Closing a door is not enough! Kids usually end up opening closed doors out of curiosity or open them if they decide to play hide and seek! In our case this forces kids to stay in the play room area only with the kids bathroom close by. 2) Make sure you get RSVP's. We made WAY too much food so we ended up sending guests home with food. Even still a lot of food was wasted. I think it is always better to have too much food rather than not enough, but it was excessive in our case! 3) Clean as you go! We have double dishwashers so I could have easily cleaned up while talking to the ladies after dinner. Instead we all sat around and relaxed. The kids then had meltdowns and many were not able to stay and help clean up. My hubby got called into work at the end of the night and I was left with a major kitchen disaster at the end of the night! Yikes!! I think in the future I may hire a pair of high school gals to help keep the kids in order, help serve, and help clean up at the end of the night! Now for things that DID work out: -Preparing as much as I could the night before (e.g., setting the table, setting up beverages, putting out platters with sticky notes labeling what will go in them the next day, empty dishwashers, clean bathrooms and check toilet paper, etc) -Asking guests to bring something. I provided the main dishes and some appetizers. But then guests brought salad, side dishes, and dessert. We had designated areas for the appetizers/salad, main/side dishes, and dessert. So when the guests arrived we had them place the food in the appropriate area. I have learned to not have guests bring main dishes. We've run into problems in the past where people brought small dishes and there wasn't enough food to go around. -Self-serve beverage station. We get drinks for guests when they first arrive, then we make it easy for them to serve themselves for the rest of the night. We usually do beer, wine, and sometimes margaritas. Then we have a large self serve beverage jar that has water and lemon slices in it. And then juice for the kids. Juice boxes are a no-no because inevitably the kids squeeze too hard and the juice gets everywhere. At dessert time, we turn on a huge hot water dispenser and leave out a tray of different teas and chai. For the kids we leave out plastic cups and a Sharpie pen for parents to write their kids' names on the cups. Then for the adults I leave out wine and/or margarita glasses with charms on them (the charms are all different so guests can easily identify their charm/glass). I also leave out crystal clear plastic cups for adults to use if they want water. Depending on the size of the party, for hot drinks I will leave out either mugs or disposable hot cups. BTW, I also have crystal water goblets at each adult place setting. And I leave a crystal pitcher of water on the table at dinner time. -Having an adult table and a kids table. We had the adult table in the dining room and the kids table in the breakfast nook. This allowed us to have nice adult conversation without the kids interrupting us. We also had the kids eat first so adults could assist if needed. Makes for a more peaceful adult dinner time since the kids mostly played while we ate. -We did a gift exchange for the kids only. It was fun to watch kids open up a gift. -We took family pictures. We pulled each family to the fireplace area and took a family picture for them. I still have yet to email them out :) I have to admit, I was not crazy about doing an indoor party for that many adults and kids. Clean up was MUCH harder indoors. We may have to do a Christmas in July party this year so we can have the party outdoors!! Or have an adult only party at Christmas time. This post was edited by janealexa on Sat, Jan 5, 13 at 17:52

I make jewelry and have lots and lots of stones and glass beads and findings. I bought a bunch of the plastic drawer sets on casters at Joanne Fabrics or at other hobby-type shops. I then bought some plywood at Lowes and had them cut it to the right size to make tops for the drawer sets. I took the wood home and sanded the ends smooth and then put on a nice dark stain and several layers of polyurethane. Then I went to Joanne's and chose a beautiful fabric that matched the family room. I really hate sewing hems, so I used Tacky Glue and folded back the heavy fabric and glued the hems and side seams. I made skirts for the drawer sets, stapling them to the plywood tops. You can then glue ric-rack or rope trim to hide the staples. I made the fabric into a flap in front of the drawers, but mostly just made straight, heavy skirts that were stapled to the tops. Then the top just sits on top of the drawer set. I sat plants on one, family pictures on another. Using this idea, you can hide all kinds of small things. They make the drawer sets in tall, narrow sizes, as well, so you might be able to find a space in the corner of a guest room or den to put one.

I had pillows made by an upholster. I made my out of 2 different fabrics so I can switch with the seasons - with the welt cord a contrasting fabric. Here they are with the wool plaid for winter. And here with the khaki linen. Older pic but only one I have with old couch... On my club chairs I had kidney pillows made the same way but they are tufted with a button of the constrasting fabric. Smiles:)

We LOVE our dogs! We've always had large outdoor dogs. The two indoor dogs we've had were small. We live in the country and they get to run free, swim in the surrounding lakes, and chase rabbits and howl at the full moon :) When they are "caged" it's a 3/4 acre pasture, not a crate that many are in during the day when no one is home (and/or at night). I'm home all day and have interaction with my dogs on and off all day. The weekends are full of outdoor activities around here (they're right in the middle of whatever is going on). They have grandchildren that play with them. They are my first defense against would be intruders. They bark at the slightest movement/sound (trust me :o ) Was it a coincidence that the first time they came in at night last year, we had a pack of feral hogs root up our south lawn??? I don't think so :o So the point of having an outdoor dog is no different than having an indoor dog...companionship. BTW, if you've ever seen a Lab jump in a sub-freezing lake to retrieve a duck or just for recreation and LOVE it, you'd know that they are fine in their igloo dog houses filled with cedar shavings :) Could all dogs do well in that environment? No, that's why we choose a breed that can.