Yuletide party planner: Entertaining is a gift to your friends FINAL Edition

• Published in: Windsor star
• Main Author: By Wendy Moss Special to The Star
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: Windsor, Ont Postmedia Network Inc 06.12.1986

For a more elegant look, strip ordinary tree branches of their leaves, spray them gold and combine them with white flowers for your holiday tables. Stand the branches in florist's foam on a buffet table, as if they are growing in a forest. Next to the foam, place fresh white flowers (orchids, tulips, roses) in floral foam and cover the bases liberally with artificial snow. It appears as if everything is growing from banks of snow, shimmering with the light of votive candles; (Dough Ornament Recipe: Four cups all-purpose flour, one cup salt, 13/4 cup water, paints and clear glossy polyurethane. Combine flour, salt and water. Mix throughly with a fork. Form into a ball. Knead for a full 20 minutes on a well-floured board. Pinch off handful of dough for ornament. Form into shapes. Bake at 325F for one hour until lightly brown. Let cool. Decorate. Add one or two coats polyurethane.) Let music flow! Like nothing else, music immediately ignites the holiday spirit within everyone. If at all possible, have live entertainment. Something as simple as a piano player singing Christmas carols will do the trick. If your pianist will dress as Santa, rent him a suit to wear. A guitar player singing carols is a unique twist. Or coax your children into singing carols on the front porch as the guests enter. And, always, keep a stack of Christmas records on the turntable;