Has the stress of the holiday season already got you down? Well, don’t despair. In a four-part series on “Today,” Elizabeth Mayhew, style director of Real Simple magazine, offers ideas to help take the hassle out of the holidays. She kicks off the series with some easy, stylish decorating tips — from inexpensive centerpieces to the most efficient way to hang the lights on your tree. Read her tips and watch for more on this special series.
REAL SIMPLE HOLIDAYS
DAY 1: HOW TO PREP
It’s the details that count: From grace notes on a table to a tree full of (snag-less) lights, these easy holiday tips don’t sacrifice time or style. Armed with yards of ribbon, a few basic tools and a batch of fresh ideas, Real Simple shows how you can wrap it all up in no time flat — and with a healthy dose of holiday flair.
How to set your holiday table
To make a centerpiece that won’t wilt and can be recycled, tie up small white gift boxes (www.containerstore.com) with colorful ribbons (www.mjtrim.com for ribbon, $2 to $3 a yard). For the most dramatic presentation, use three box sizes and create stacks of different heights — but none higher than eight inches if you want to be able to see Aunt Mary over the centerpiece.
Whether you’re using everyday dinnerware or the good stuff, quirky placeholders will add a personal welcome at your table.
Set for takeoff: Replace formal napkin rings with red luggage tags as an unexpected way to mark places at the table. Write each guest’s name on a piece of paper cut to fit in the tag’s window. Pull a napkin through the strap, buckled at the last hole. And don’t forget to let your guests know they can take their name tags home with them. (Red luggage tags, $8 each, Lillian Vernon, www.lillianvernon.com.)
Set for a close-up: Stimulate conversation — and a few laughs — at the dinner table by placing tiny pictures of your guests in mini albums to mark their spots. Making copies of original photos on a black-and-white copier lets you create a unified look, as well as enlarge or shrink the image to just the right size (and you don’t have to cut up your favorite photos). Slip an image into the front of each book, then write a message on the pages inside or just leave them blank. (Kolo’s Mini Mini photo albums, available in 10 colors, $4 each, www.kolo.com.)
The art of tree lighting
Every holiday season when you hang the lights on your tree, the crossing strands form a wire net that’s a bear to remove. But there’s a solution: “The trick is to go up and down, not around and around,” says David Stark, co-owner of Avi Adler, a Brooklyn floral and event design company.
- Divide the tree vertically into three sections and string lights by section.
- Plug the lights in before you begin, to weed out defective strands. Leave them plugged in as you place them so you can spot dark spaces in the tree.
- Beginning at the bottom, weave each string in and out of the branches, to the top of the tree and back.
Take cards to another level
Instead of the usual ever-tumbling mess of cards on the mantel, create a wall hanging that grows with each good tiding.
- Cut strips of 1-1/2-inch-wide ribbon to the desired length and notch the ends.
- Attach them to the wall, starting an arm’s length above your head, with 3M Command Poster Strips ($3 for 12, 800-364-3577 for store locations). When the holidays are over, they’ll pull off easily without stripping the paint from your walls.
- Tiny Can o’ Clips clothespins by Cavallini & Co. ($6.50 for 24, Kate’s Paperie, 888-941-9169) keep cards in place and make it easy to add or remove them as new ones arrive.
Each month, Real Simple offers beautiful, practical solutions to make life easier and better, guiding readers through the things they have to do so they can spend more time doing the things they want to do. For more Real Simple tips on holiday decorating, including the Real Simple solution for holiday wrapping, visit .