It’s almost New Year’s Eve! Although it’s a great night to go out and see all that your city has to offer, New Year’s Eve is also expensive and crowded. And who needs the hassle of getting a cab home? Sometimes it’s nice to just relax and enjoy your house on the last night of the year. Here are a few suggestions for what to do:

• Have a chili party: Chili is easy and versatile and pretty hard to mess up. You could assign someone to bring white bean chicken chili, another to bring classic chili con carne, another to bring black bean vegetarian chili, another to bring pork chili with salsa verde…you get the idea. For guests that aren’t big on cooking, it’s easy to bring chili accouterments like grated cheese, onions, cilantro, etc.
• Dessert and champagne party: Whether you are a master baker or just pick sweets up at the bakery, a dessert party will satisfy everyone’s sweet tooth on NYE! Don’t forget lots of champagne.
• Book club: If you have a literary bent, how about arranging a book club meeting for New Year’s? Bonus points if you design the menu around the book’s theme.
• Slumber party: Stay safe and stay off the roads! Invite your friends and their sleeping bags for a night of old-fashioned fun. Board games, movies, etc…the sky is the limit!

Have a safe and happy New Year’s Eve!

Image courtesy of EricMagnuson on Flickr.

If you need to thank the people who gave you awesome gifts for Christmas, the best way is still a thank-you note. Everyone loves receiving things in the mail, and a note is much more personal than an email or phone call. Here are some of MLuxe’s favorites.

Black and white damask is a classic and elegant pattern.

Available at Target.

This unusual color guarantees that your thank you notes will stand out.

Available at Papyrus

This fun holiday thank you note can be customized!

Available from Etsy.

Holiday Guide: 8 Table Setting and Tablescape Ideas
Casa Sugar
“After spending hours cooking the perfect Christmas dinner, you’ll want your table to look the best it possibly can. Luckily a few simple tricks, like lining the table with candles or making festive paper Christmas trees, will bring that extra touch. In this holiday guide, we’ve gathered 10 inspiring table settings that will get you thinking about your own designs. Whether you like bold metallics or understated displays, we made sure there’s something for everyone.”

Surprise Surprise Light
Design Sponge
“This “Surprise Surprise” light at Gretel Home is a fun little spin on a present-topping tradition. Made of Mylar with a white textile cord, it would be a fun piece to mount in a child’s room — or an adult’s room — next to the bed as a more playful nightlight. That corner of your room will always feel festive.”

5 Tips for Cutting Your Own Christmas Tree
Charles & Hudson
Safety first! Charles & Hudson shows you how to safely and effectively cut your own Christmas tree.

How To: Impress Everyone with Perfect Gift Wrapping
Curbly
“Because I became an expert sheet-tucker, I inadvertently became pretty darn good at wrapping presents too- the technique is one in the same.”

Holiday Ornaments: Classic
Apartment Therapy
“The holidays are the perfect time to show off your love of tradition. Even staunch modernists have been known to throw away their minimalist rules for something that reflect fond childhood memories or traditional, cultural designs.”

Happy Thanksgiving to our readers! We’ll be back posting on Monday. In the meantime, carve up some turkey, dish up some pumpkin pie and relax and enjoy the holiday.

We are thankful for YOU!

Image courtesy of Ginger Me on Flickr.

If you have been assigned to bring a dish to Thanksgiving dinner, or are even hosting the whole thing, check out this humorous flowchart courtesy of Chow. Who doesn’t love “The ancient marshmallow yams of sorrow”?!

Image courtesy of Chow.

Is there EVER a good time to remodel your kitchen? No matter what, it means major disruption, dirt, dust, inconvenience and expense. The trade off for all this is a beautiful new kitchen at the end that will fit your lifestyle, add value to your house and maybe even save you some money with energy-efficient appliances. But in the meantime, there’s the pain.

Many people prefer to remodel their kitchens in the spring and summer. With the warm weather, it’s easy to grill out and dining out options become a little more numerous with restaurant patios. Plus, if you’re cooking, summer is the perfect time for low-prep salads and other no-heat food.

Winter can be a little bit more of a difficult time to tackle a kitchen remodeling project. Besides the reasons above, there’s the holidays. Coming right after Halloween is Thanksgiving and then Christmas and Hanukkah and New Year’s  and Valentine’s Day…

What do you do when your kitchen consists of a hot plate and a roll of paper towels? Luckily, our friends at CalFinder have a few tips to help you keep your sanity:

• The right contractor is key. Find someone who not only can work within your budget, but who will listen to you and find creative solutions to problems that will inevitably crop up.
• We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Failure to plan is planning to fail. You can save yourself a lot of stress when remodeling you kitchen around the holidays if you have not only carefully planned what you want out of your kitchen, but also planned for the ways it will affect your life.

Check out the rest of the post for more tips and here’s one from us: Make this the year you veer away from tradition. Maybe you always cook a big Thanksgiving dinner. Maybe this year you and your family could volunteer at a food shelter.

If you always host on Christmas Eve, find someone else to take the reins this year. And the Christmas Day turkey might end up being Chinese takeout. Whatever your solution, the holiday when the kitchen is being remodeled will be memorable!

Christmas is over and now it’s time to take down all those decorations and get ride of everything holiday. But how do you do that in an environmentally friendly manner? Our blogger friends have some tips to help you out.

Now that the presents are unwrapped, something has to be done with all the wrapping paper and bows. But what? If you are into reusing things, save them. It’s easy to use bows again. Wrapping paper is a little trickier, but if you are an expert wrapper, open presents carefully and save the paper, reuse is an option. Store it away and when you buy a gift, look for a similarly sized piece of wrapping paper.

If you are like most of us though, you have eagerly ripped off the paper to get to your gift. The Daily Green has some tips for disposing of it wisely. Here are a few:

• 25%: That’s the amount that most people’s trash increases at Christmas. That’s huge. Make recycling a priority at this time of year.
• Have a bag ready to collect all the wrappings. This way it is easier to bring to the recycling bin.

And what about the Christmas tree? For many households, it is what defines Christmas decorating.  PickYourOwnChristmasTree.org offers a handy guide to local recycling as well as some ideas of what else to do with the tannenbaum. For instance, you can make your tree into mulch, use it in a private fish pond for food, put it in your backyard as a natural tree house, or, if you have a living Christmas tree, plant it in your own backyard.

May all your Christmases be green!

Photo courtesy of alancleaver_2000 on Flickr

DIY Project: Handmade Gift Wrap
Design*Sponge
Ever wanted to add an extra personal touch to your gift giving? Try making your own gift wrap. This how-to takes you through the process.

Which is Greener, a Real of Fake Christmas Tree?
The Daily Green
“For many families, the centerpiece of Christmas celebrations is the luminous, awe-inspiring tree set up with care in the living room. But with all the options now available, how do you know which Christmas tree is the greenest choice for the environment?”

Foodie Holiday Gift Ideas for Kids of All Ages
The Epi-Log
Wondering what to get your young gourmand? Here are some ideas from the editors at Epicurious.com.

Design & Decor Books: The Best of 2010
Apartment Therapy
“Even the most die-hard design blog addict will admit there is something special about flipping through the pages of a real, tangible book on home design. Throughout the year we have posted on a host of books about the home — from inspirational (and “aspirational”) glossy tomes to instructional and downright technical guidebooks.”

5 Last-Minute Green Gift Ideas
Re-nest
“‘Twas the weekend before Christmas, and just like this blogger, you’re scrambling to find some good green gift fodder. You forgot someone important (how’d that happen!?) or a few extra folks are coming to celebrate, and you don’t want to resort to some plastic crap that the giftee will end up sending to Goodwill anyway. What to do? We have some ideas.”

During December, the Christmas tree becomes the focal point of many people’s homes and seasonal decorations. Many people have their own eclectic tastes with traditional family ornaments. But for those who want to pull together a professional-looking or themed tree, it can be hard to know how to begin. Luckily there are numerous experts out there to help!

For a slideshow of some great trees, we recommend Country Living’s guide. Over 30 photos of various themes and colors should get your creative juices flowing!

Better Homes and Gardens offers a video tutorial on the best way to trim your tree with style and panache:

Do you have any favorite family tree decorating traditions? Let us know in the comments. Happy Holidays!

Image courtesy of maaco on Flickr.

Happy Thanksgiving, readers! Today we are thankful for a challenging yet invigorating year, our customers, our coworkers and for YOU. Thank you for visiting MLuxe! We hope this blog inspires, amuses, informs and entertains you.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoy the holiday weekend. We’ll be back on Monday with more posts.

Image courtesy of CarbonNYC on Flickr