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HOLIDAY HOSTING IN SMALL SPACES

Gatherings of family and friends are a big part of the holiday season. Hosting such gatherings can be a great way to show loved ones how much you appreciate them, and hosting also saves hosts the trouble of traveling during one of the most hectic travel seasons of the year.

When hosting a large crowd at home, space can be a difficult hurdle to clear. However, a few helpful strategies can help space-starved hosts pull off a holiday soiree where everyone is comfortable. • Pare down the menu. Holiday feasts donʼt have to resemble medieval banquets with excessive amounts of food and drink.

Hosts with small kitchens and tiny dining quarters can pare down the menu, limiting offerings to just a single entree and a few simple side dishes, so everyone feels comfortable at the table and has ample room to eat. A small menu also gives hosts more time to spend with their loved ones during the festivities. • Donʼt overdo it on drinks, either. When planning the drinks menu, avoid offering cocktails, which take time to prepare and often require guests to visit the kitchen for refriger-

A few helpful strategies can help space-starved hosts pull off a holiday soiree where everyone is comfortable.

ated ingredients.

Limit drinks to wine, beer, water, and soft drinks, storing cold beverages in a cooler kept outside on a front or back porch or in an area outside the kitchen so cooks can work without interruption. • Move some furniture. If your main living space is small, consider moving some bulky furniture into a bedroom or office where guests wonʼt be spending time.

Then make better use of the open living space by placing folding chairs or other accommodations to ensure thereʼs ample seating for everyone. A single recliner can only be enjoyed by one person, but removing it from a room may create enough space for as many as three folding chairs. • Go small on decorations. If you know youʼll be hosting in advance of the holiday season, decorate with guests in mind. That might mean skipping a six-foot Christmas tree in favor of one that takes up less space.

Avoid leaving any fragile decorations out, as adults or overexcited kids may knock them over as they try to navigate a cramped space.

Holiday hosting can be fun, even in small spaces. A few simple tricks can make even the smallest spaces accommodating.

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HOME HOLIDAY DECORATING IDEAS

The holidays often involve purchasing gifts for close friends and loved ones as well as making a delicious meal the entire family will love. But nothing sets the holiday scene and overall mood more so than beautiful decorations and other seasonal accoutrements.

Many people leave no room untouched for the holidays, meaning color schemes or trinkets may carry through from top to bottom. Decking the halls this season can be made even easier with some of these handy ideas.

Holiday timeline

If you keep holiday photo cards each year, put them in chronological order and hang them from a piece of garland from the mantel or drape on a staircase banister. This can be a fun way to see how your own children or other members of the family have grown.

Make mini evergreen displays

Clip your favorite pieces of evergreen and push the stems into floral foam. Display in small vases or other containers and place in groupings to emulate an evergreen forest.

Plan the outside

Exterior illumination and other exterior decorations share the holiday spirit with others. It can be overwhelming trying to visualize it all without a plan in place.

Take a photo of the house and map out where you want lights and decorations to go. Then with your “map” in hand, you can more readily purchase supplies and start decorating.

Go for a specific natural color scheme

If you desire an overall holiday feel but arenʼt interested in Santa figurines or kitschy elements, decorating with color in mind can be key. Itʼs easy to tie things together with some natural elements in your desired palette.

For example, white, gold and green may look beautiful. Put boxwood clippings and white amaryllis flowers together. Pine cones, twigs and holly pieces also can add touches to mantels, doorways and table centerpieces.

Ornaments elsewhere

Who says ornaments only have to go on a tree? Display antique or favorite ornaments by hanging them from beautiful ribbons throughout the home.

Scent the scene

Hang something aromatic on the tree to mingle with the pine. Fresh cinnamon sticks tied with twine or ribbon can be nestled among the boughs. Another scented idea is to make pine cone candles and use pine or cinnamon scents to make them smell just like the season.

Holiday decorating gets a hand from some creative ideas. Always follow safety precautions, especially when using candles, hanging lights and plugging in multiple items to electric sockets. With ingenuity and safety in mind, holiday decorations can be extra special. PHASE 2 NOW OPEN & TAKING DEPOSITS!

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Decking the halls this season can be made even easier with some of these handy ideas.

MONTVALE MIANO FAMILY IS TOYS FOR TOTS DROP SITE

Miano Family Chiropractic Center LLC of Montvale will be a drop-off site for Toys for Tots. Donations of new, unwrapped toys will be accepted through Wednesday, Dec. 8 and can be dropped off on Mondays or Wednesdays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. There will also be a bin outside the door, as the door is locked when we are cleaning between patient visits. If you have any questions or need to arrange another time to drop off, call (201) 746-0640. To drop-off toys, stop by 70-J Chestnut Ridge Road.

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game is not necessarily the winner.” The rules are condensed into a 30-second instructional video, and the gameʼs Amazon page promises rhyme fun:“Every card in ʻWhatʼs in the Bank?ʼrhymes: there are Francs, Super Francs, Yanks, Sanks, and Thanks! Try to say that five times fast.” Comito told Pascack Press on Nov. 30, “I grew up playing games with my family, especially around the holiday season. We loved playing games for fun but also to compete with each other.” As Covid kept the family home, he said, “We found ourselves playing the same games over and over again. Bored, I decided to create and share a new game with my family and friends in my Covid bubble. Everyone loved the game — so much so that I would get phone calls from people who heard about the game asking me what the rules were.” And after a while, he said, “I realized I had a hit game on my hands, and I decided to pitch the game to an award-winning toy development agency, which I later partnered with to create and manufacture the final product.” Comito plans to make more games — and is drawing on local inspiration, including classwork from Pascack Valley. “I actually first fell in love with creating games in an AP statistics high school class taught by Tim Wieland, who is now the principal of Pascack Hills. He had us create a game, determine the probability of winning that game, and share the game with the class,” Comito said. He added, “My game won whatever contest he was hosting at the time, and I went on to play it with many friends in college.” According to Comito, “Games are great in connecting people, which is the vision of my company. Itʼs my dream to own a building one day. In this building, there will be a coffee shop on the bottom, and a game lounge — with all my games! — on the top. Hence the companyʼs name, Games Over Coffee.” And, he says, “Just like games, I think coffee is incredible in facilitating connections.” In addition to founding Games Over Coffee, Comito is product manager at a company specializing in collaboration software for teams in startup to enterprise, and he worked as product manager for Nielsen. He volunteers at All Hands and Hearts Smart Response (disaster and humanitarian relief), No More (as ambassador on a campus safety initiative he established), and Special Olympics New Jersey. “At Nielsen, I initiated and lead a volunteer program partnering with a nonprofit specializing in on-theground natural disaster response. On campus, I started the nationʼs largest student-created and -led sexual violence advocacy group that remains on-campus to this day fighting stigmas and engaging in difficult but necessary dialogue on sexual violence,” Comito says. At Rutgers, he was identified by the chancellor as one of 10 of the campusʼs transformational leaders in 2016. Comito took to his blog at Thanksgiving to urge a lighter approach when possible. “Obviously games can be fun. But more importantly, games naturally take the focus away from the individual, and instead refocuses on the relationships and dynamics of the group. Itʼs during games when the funny guy gets to be funny, and the competitive lady gets to pummel others, which leads to laughs and new memories,” he said. He added, “The best Thanksgivings balance reflective conversations with in-the-moment experiences. And what's a better in-the-moment experience when youʼre at-home with loved ones than a game?” He said, “I love facilitating experiences like this, and I love watching group dynamics unfold in new and funny ways. Thatʼs why I created the card game that I did. ʻWhatʼs in the Bank?ʼthrives in the post ʻlife updatesʼtime on Thanksgiving, where people get to be themselves, tease others, and just have fun.” He said, “Itʼs a game that refocuses the group on the group rather than each individual, and itʼs a game that requires a relatively low amount of mental energy, since most of us will be drowsy from the turkey and mashed potatoes.” He wrote, “As a new business owner, I am learning what Iʼm good at and what Iʼm not. Making beautiful videos is not in my repertoire, but connecting people is.” Thatʼs why, he said, “To grow my business, I knew I wanted to showcase the beauty of a game night with friends, and to explain the rules of my game. But I didn't know how to bring that vision to life, nor did I have the equipment needed to make quality content. I decided to bring together talented people who are experienced in making videos, open to new challenges, and collaborative. The results are stunning. We created an incredible video that captures the essence of my game.” Comito said, “I am learning that being a good business owner is not about being good at everything, but connecting with people who are, and getting them excited about your vision.” For more information, visit

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