Ringing in the New Year

With such a short period of time between Christmas and New Year's Eve, it might seem quite impossible to host both a Christmas and a New Year's Eve party. All the logistics aside, a host can only tolerate having guests in the house for so long before questioning his or her own sanity. But if you're willing to brave the crowds again, a New Year's Eve party is a fun way to ring in the New Year. And with a few key tips, you can simplify that New Year's Eve party so much that you'll never avoid the midnight bash again.

• Throw that Christmas party guest list out the window and invite different people to your New Year's Eve party. Let's be honest here, you've already said everything to those Christmas party guests. And unless you want to hear about Uncle Alfred's vasectomy again, those guests have probably already said everything to you. So dig a little deeper into that address book and find some new party guests.
  
  
• New Year's Eve might very well be the easiest party to decorate for. You'll need a clock... And yea... That's about it.
  
  
• To help you stay awake half the night and yet avoid the caffeine-induce insomnia, why not try lowering the temperature in the house and opening a few windows? Nobody can fall asleep when it's 50 degrees inside with a windchill.
  
  
• Be sure to stock up on beer, ketchup, and toilet paper.
  
  
• And don't forget – you can't have a New Year's Eve party without confetti to toss about at the stroke of midnight. And what better source of confetti is there than the shredded remnants of that self-help book your therapist gave you for Christmas?

And now that you know the basics of New Year's entertaining, break out the champagne and polish the stemware because 2011 is coming up fast.