Monday Crafternoons are all about making your DIY project just a little more attainable.  I was a serious DIY bride, with a handyman fiancé so we have a ton of projects under our belt.  Let us know if there are any projects you want us to add to our series in the comments.

---

For this week’s crafternoon project we are branching out a lil’.  It’s more for that first year of marriage and getting some amazing friends together to celebrate the holidays.  We had our second annual (sort of.. we missed last year while away in Kenya) Friendsgiving this weekend.  We LOVE hosting, having lots of friends over, and cooking big meals.  And though it’s a lot of work, it’s SO much fun having everyone over to celebrate the start of the holiday season together!

And since we have such a blast every year, filling our home with our amazing friends, we wanted to share some things that make it do-able for us.  Now, don’t get me wrong, we are not the perfect hosts, and have a long way to go before we can get everything to go off without a hitch.. but here are some things that help us stay sane.

1. Our full recipe list 
2. Create a timeline of when things need to go into the oven.
3. Use Post-it notes on prepared dishes to remember cooking times without having to pull out the recipes.
4. Make sure you have an empty dishwasher before cooking.
5. Set the table early, or enlist a guest to help (everyone wants a job!)  ***Make sure you have enough chairs!***
6. Take out serving dishes and utensils so they are ready to go (and so that you make sure you have enough).
7. Have a table away from the main cooking space that has snack and drinks to keep people from congregating in the work area.
8. Make as much as you can ahead of time! (including chopping and measuring ingredients so they are ready to go!)  *We always cook our turkey the day of, but really early on, then wrap it up in foil and a big beach towel.. works like a charm.  Keep in mind that if you do this, it will keep cooking while bundled up, so factor that into your cook time..
9. Let people bring things.  (Think of a few easy things to bring, but takes a load off you.  I asked for drinks, desserts, rolls/side that don’t need to be heated.)
10. Send out real, paper invitations before hand.  Everyone loves getting a piece of real mail and knowing how many people to expect is especially important. Next year we’ve got to take some real pictures!!!  (Thanks to Rachel and Renee for these phone pictures).  Also, anyone have any suggestions for keeping our little kitchen from looking like a BOMB went off right before dinner?  We are always so good, still good, and then BOOM, it explodes right as everyone is coming into the kitchen..

Thanks in advance and Happy Friendsgiving!