This post is sponsored by SC Johnson. All comments and opinions are my own.
Creating the perfect holiday home takes effort but you don’t have to go crazy spending a ton of money to make a big impact this year.
One of my favorite things to prepare for holiday guests is the dinner table. This is the place where everyone will gather to enjoy a delicious meal so I want it to look as festive as possible.
Creating a perfect table will vary based on your style but there are a few tricks that might be helpful.
Less is more—
Since the food will be the main attraction at dinner, try to keep the decor to a minimum so the food will fit on the table.
Set the table—
Make sure the table is set with everything your guests will need for dinner. Don’t make your guests leave the dinner table to search out a missing fork or spoon.
Bring the outside in—
I am a frugal gal so I like to use my backyard to help me add color to my table. Pinecones, leaves and evergreen are very appropriate for the season and look great no matter your style. Apples, oranges and cranberries are also great for color. Plus, you can actually put them to use once they are no longer needed as decor.
Holiday transformation should go beyond your home decor. When people walk into your home, greet them with holiday fragrance. A Glade® Jar Candle placed in the foyer will add ambiance and welcome your friends and family with scents of the season.
With the four holiday scents, you’ll be able to fill your home with seasonal fragrance that is welcoming and festive. Find the following holiday fragrances at your local Publix.
- Happy Glow™ – Apple Cinnamon Scent
- Shimmering Wonder™ – Plum Blossom Scent
- Timeless Joy™ – Woodland Spruce Scent
- Merry Fun™ – Vanilla Scent
Be sure to take advantage of the great deals available at Publix. Look for a coupon in the new Advantage Buy flyer and save on your favorite products.
- $2/2 Glade® PlugIns® Scented Oil Refills 2 – 3 ct. or Glade® PlugIns® Scented Oil Holder Twin pack Publix Coupon (value 12/3 – 12/16)
I have more great news! One iHeartPublix reader will get to stock up on their favorite Glade® products to help bring surprising bursts of joy into this stressful, but wonderful time of year. The winner will get a $100 Publix gift card!
Entry is simple! You just need to complete the task below. The random winner will be selected on Friday 12/16 at 11 pm EST. View the Giveaway & Sweepstakes Rules.
REQUIRED ENTRY:
- Share your favorite quick tips that help make your holiday a little more fun.
Learn more on the Glade® Facebook page, Glade® Twitter page or on Pinterest. Stay tuned as I will be sharing various tips and tricks to help you enjoy the holiday season.
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Buy a bunch of scratch-off tickets for everyone to scratch on Christmas eve.
Keep plenty of holiday snacks on hand.
Plan a game night, so you can laugh the stress away.
Using my slow cooker for easy dinners.
get everyone involved in the decorating
Attend church to focus on the real meaning of Christmas!
Prepare some of the meals ahead of time, get the family involved for setting the table and other chores, and Caroling in our neighborhood.
Lots of bottles of red wine on hand
I like to work around the neighborhood and look at the lights and decorations. I do that mainly for kids but I love it too!
Frozen pizzas for a quick and easy dinner
During the holidays all the board games get pulled out. It’s a great way to bring the family together.
Play board games and leave a lot of time for “talk time”. Everybody laughing, sharing stories and enjoying each other.
Have at least one Holiday Tradition. We love to decorate the tree while listening to Christmas Music and drinking Hot Cocoa. Simple, inexpensive but so much fun!
I always look for holiday deasl on Groupon. This year I bought tickets to ice skate for the kids – only 7$. And local small theatres for holiday plays. Much less expensive than big productions!
wind down on the chilly evenings with hot cup of cocoa
Since we moved, going to the beach, seeing all the sand sculptures……..what talent and creative. : )
Putting a movie in and a big bowl of popcorn
Speaking of Glade…while I decorate my artificial tree, I always light a Timeless Joy™ – Woodland Spruce Scented candle, and turn up the Christmas music!
Always have some egg nog on hand.
Have plenty of board games on hand, and make ahead whatever dinner items you can. And my husband makes a nice crock-pot full of mulled wine.
We have a bingo game, and a dice game that we play every Christmas. It’s my favorite Christmas family tradition.
Don’t overdue anything! Instead of being stressed out. running around and trying to make everything perfect, make good decisions about spending you time wisely. Don’t forget to actually enjoy the holiday season!
Walk our dog in the woods and maybe in the snow……..
Bake and cook as much in advance as I can so we can enjoy time with the kids.
Baking Treats with the Family and Doing Christmas Crafts!
Live, Love lots, and have fun! Make memories and cherish the time you spend with your family and friends!
Serving lunchmeats, cheeses, breads, crackers. veggie & fruit trays, and finger food desserts. (PUBLIX has a great selection) Enjoy the time with family and friends. Don’t forget the pine scent Glade!
Always keep the boozy drinks flowing! Have lots of games available. Prep your food and just try to relax and enjoy the season.
Playing Christmas music and being together
Look for the best deals on groceries and then use coupons on top of it. Try to keep the house clean from Thanksgiving til Christmas so not to have to clean as much. (Good luck with that one,right?!)
Plan, plan, plan as much in advance as possible so you can enjoy the time when it comes!
Making sure the decorations are all up early enough that there is still some time to sit around with family and enjoy them before Christmas as well as during.
I always bring booze to every celebration
Heat some cider, put it in insulated tumblers, and go look at holiday lights.
We always buy a new puzzle to work on before Christmas…helps to pass the time.
Wrapping presents a gead of time so you don’t have to spend all Christmas Eve wrapping presents!
Unplug & relax by taking the family on a drive around the neighborhoods to look at the lights & decorations.
Christmas movies for the kids to keep them busy 😉
I like to keep a list of gifts I’ve purchased so that I am organized and don’t have to scramble as the holidays approach.
Making sure we remember the reason for the season…keeps us grounded & sane!
I get the whole family involved in decorating the tree. We put on Christmas music and sometimes we sing along too. It is a whole lot of fun
Buy next Christmas supplies the week after this Christmas…save $$$$ and all set for next year!
Get the shopping done early.
Take advantage of holiday grocery sales to stock up on cooking/baking essentials for the rest of the year.
Pizza night!
To make the holidays more fun, I always like to have fun things the kids can do. I have the most in our family and the youngest so I try to keep them busy. I also send some crafts that they make to their grandparents. It’s always nice when I get phone calls saying they received our crafts and how much they loved them! It makes me forget the stressful things and slow down for a little bit! Thank for the chance to win! I can’t live without old.iheartpublix.com!
Have a pecan pie ready
Prepare food ahead if you can – cookies, casseroles, breakfast quiche, and other foods can be frozen and pulled out when you need them. Spend your time enjoying yourself, family & friends.
Watching Christmas movies together
Because I purchase holiday wrapping supplies at huge discounts after Christmas, I don’t have to get in the crowds to shop for those supplies when the season rolls around. That is fun for me!
I get all of my supplies out in November and have them ready to begin wrapping the gifts I’ve purchased year-round. I’m all about organization and making the holidays as stress-free as possible!
We DIY’d a beautiful Advent calendar! Instructions are all over Pinterest and it’s so nice, even as an adult, to take a moment from our busy Christmas schedule to enjoy the special surprise in each day’s little box!
I like to spread out my kids’ gifts and let them open 1 each day of their winter break. Then if they get a board game or a movie, etc, we actually spend that day enjoying it. This way they don’t just open a heap of presents and just pick their favorite one to play with. 🙂
I have my grandchildren come over and we do extra special craft ornaments they help me decorate my tree with ornaments they have made. All while listening to and singing christmas music. And with the scent of a glade holiday candle
I bake lots of cookies!
One or two evenings we have snacks and play our old favorite Christmas movies
I love to get a Christmas tree with the family. Load it on the car and get home to decorate it with the family and bake cookies.
Wrap presents and put them under the tree early so everyone can guess what they got people love to shake boxes to see what it is all warped up.
Happy days with no Stress is simple just let the family do everything and you just sit back and enjoy.
My family has a big party and we invite everyone for a great time.
We all open a gift everyday.
Holiday made simple with a love of being with the family and having a joy of a time.
Best tip: Stay out of the stores.
My family loves to play board games and decorate the tree while we listen to Christmas music.
Hay rides and getting our family Christmas tree, what a great time.
Merry Christmas! Make hand made ornaments for the tree.
We have a ugly sweater contest.
We always go buy our tree together every year and come home and start decorating. And the kids help wrap the gifts to each other . We play board games and I always make deserts .
We love to purchase Halloween candy that is on clearance after Halloween, such as mini candy bars (just make sure none of them have any indication that they are from Halloween)Lol. Then we purchase Christmas stockings and fill them and secure them so they are not accessible to eat. We keep them on hand and anytime from Thanksgiving on if we have a neighbor stop by, an unexpected friend, family member and even the garbage person, newspaper person, UPS person and mail person we give them one. It makes for a nice treat and many have told us that it makes their day.
Wrap gifts as you buy them. It saves time !!!!
I LOVE TO MAKE CHRISTMAS COOKIES THAT RESEMBLE MY FAMILY
Stock up on wine and champagne sales, especially the BOGO’s at Publix. I always see the Greenwise markets have great deals on those too. You never know if you will get surprise holiday company.
Creating traditions that make memories and can be passed on. W
We prepare Xmas dinner the night before so all we have to do is pop it in the oven to cook.
Plan ahead!! Let the kiddos help in the kitchen with baking. Be grateful and thankful that God blessed you with another day. Tomorrow is not guaranteed.
I enjoy baking
Make a big pitcher of Sangria! It makes any holiday fun!
We have a “wrap all the presents” afternoon with snacks and Christmas music. Everything gets wrapped and we have a fun afternoon.
Baking and decorating the dinning table
We do lots of different holiday crafts to keep the kids busy. Plus we keep the hand print ones in their baby book to see how they have grown
Just bought my TREE and now will decorate and enjoy EGG NOG. Have a Blessed Merry Christmas everybody.
Holiday music playing gets everyone in the spirit!
We go to the holly jolly trolley ride to see the lights turn to stars with the glasses they give you at st Augustine. They play chrtmas songs and everyone sings too. We also read christmas books, watch movies, and bake cookies together. Before opening gifts on Christmas we read a bible verse about the birth of Christ so our children and grandchildren to remember the reason for Christmas … Jesus birth.
We get the shopping done early, so we can spend more time with family and friends!
We play games
Don’t stress over the little things and remember to have fun!
Have a craft or game at the ready that the kids can do during meal prep when you have a crowd. The felt trees with the felt ornaments that you can make are genius (search Pinterest).
DECORATE THE BATHROOM! IT’S FUN, NOT A LOT OF EFFORT AND GENERALLY A SURPRISE FOR FAMILY AND GUESTS. TRY SOLID RED TOWELS WITH HOLIDAY -THEMED TOWELS, A SMALL POINSETTIA, A SMALL BASKET OF ORNAMENTS, EVEN A HOLIDAY-ISH SHOWER CURTAIN (THEY SEEM TO BE EVERYWHERE THIS YEAR). WITH PLENTY OF GUESTS, YOU’LL WANT SOME FRESH GUEST SOAPS AND PLENTY OF HOLIDAY GLADE, OF COURSE…
We have a green “pickle” ornament. We hide it on the tree on Christmas eve. In the morning when the kids wake up they look for the pickle (which is very hard to find). Whoever finds the pickle gets to open presents first!
After dinner on Christmas eve we put on lots of warm clothes, socks and boots. We gather the dogs and we all go for a long walk. We enjoy that time when we can all talk and catch up on each others lives.
I help my friend decorate her home for Christmas. We have cookies, hot tea and listen to Christmas music while we decorate.
Baking cookies and watching movies.
Quick tip? Keep it simple and organized. Every aspect of the holiday can be easily organized. Organization means less stress and is well worth the effort. Keeping cookie making ingredients or wrapping supplies together can make things so much nicer to work with.
We really don’t do anything out of the ordinary to make things “fun” for the holidays, as our holidays are plenty fun with just friends, family, and celebration.
Several years ago we opted to have lasagna and pizza for our Christmas family get together. At first I made lasagna from scratch but I now opt to purchase frozen lasagna. My daughter makes a big green salad and cooks garlic bread. Adding drinks is the only other items needed. We can all relax and enjoy each others company.
I bring out and play Christmas comedy dvd’s and holiday music cd’s.
We have our big Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve, that way I get to play with the kids and all their presents on Christmas Day and not have to worry about getting the meal on the table. Then we just eat left overs on Christmas. Makes it a very enjoyable day for me as I am not stressing about getting the meal on the table.
Decorating sugar cookies with my stepsons is always a good time.
Since we have a very large family, we visit each set of grandparents the week before and after Christmas. That way we aren’t rushed on Christmas day to open presents and then hit the road.
We decorate the tree while listening to Christmas music!
We play games and watch Christmas movies.
Watching holiday movies with my boys – it gets them into the holiday frame of mind and we get to snuggle on the couch together in the process
My kids have an advent calendar that I fill with an activity (bake cookies together, complete a Christmas puzzle) or gift ( Christmas hand soap, treat for the lunch box, christmas socks. They love it even though they are now teenagers.
For meals I like to put each person in charge of something. That could be a side dish, dessert, decorations, tablescape, etc.
We like to make a gingerbread house together!
Making homemade decorations while listening to Christmas movies.
My daughter and I always make Ambrosia salad togergether. We get all sweets and appitizers done at least 1 day in advanced so that we can have the time to enjoy Christmas and binge Hallmark Holiday movies.
I love to have a plan for all our activities including prepping for meals.
I like to make cookies with my family while watching Christmas movies.
A family gathering with all the relatives in Florida the week-end before Christmas with a meal, bingo, white elephant gift and snowball fight with the fake snowballs.
Pop in a holiday movie and light some Glade Merry Fun scented candles. Quick and easy way to relax and make the holidays a little more fun. 🙂
Baking cookies together.
We watch all the Xmas specials and go out to look at Xmas lights on houses.
We pull a name out of a stocking and give 1 gag gift to that person for Xmas. We also switch up the contents of some of the stockings on Xmas eve so that Grandma finds shaving cream and daddy gets a pretty bow.
It’s a little extra work, but I love wrapping all the stocking stuffers. It’s more fun to pull out a box of candy but you have to guess the contents based on sound before you can enjoy it!
I think involving the family will make the holiday more fun and playing Christmas music/movies and also take a drive around town to see the lights
Don’t put much pressure on yourself! Christmas will be exciting no matter how clean are your baseboards
Traditional Christmas hymns
We like watching holiday themed shows and movies together.
Making cookies
Make sure everyone has some downtime during Christmas day before the big together activities.
I like to put large presents in a bag to save time wrapping. I also do this with awkwardly size gifts.
We have a family game night. Even as the kids have grown and moved away, we still enjoy a night around the table and a fun game, popcorn, and family.
Have a Christmas party.
New onesies for all..one person hates it..haha.
Football championships!
Cutting down our tree..yup still do this.
Big feast..baking..church..angle tree..toys for tots bike run..toys for tots boat run, one new ornament every year..cultural from another countries tradition..many faves!
My roommates and I cut paper snowflakes out and hung them all around our apartment. Go Knights!
We go downtown for lighting of the Christmas tree and look at lights around the riverfront.
Decoorating our home.
Having “It’s a Wonderful Life” playing on the tv in the background makes wrapping presents seem like less work.