MNN - Mother Nature Network

1. Iron your tablecloth. Unless your tablecloth has been balled up in a corner somewhere, it’s probably not all that wrinkled. Once you set the table, any small wrinkles will be unnoticeable anyway.  

2. Make every item on your dessert tray from scratch. If you’ve got a tray of cookies and other sweets in addition to the pies out for dessert, you don’t have to make every single one of them from scratch. Add one or two bakery or store bought goodies to the tray and save yourself some baking time.

3. Fold your napkins like a turkey. Or a bird of paradise. Or a chef’s hat. Or anything else that requires a lot of time and origami skills.

4. Make the kids clean their rooms before guests arrive. There are plenty of chores your kids can help you with in the areas of the house that the guests will see. Use their energies for those tasks. Unless your parking coats up in one of the kids’ bedrooms, your guests probably won’t even see their rooms. Close the bedroom doors and let the mess wait until the long weekend.

5. Clean up completely before going to bed. If you have Friday off from work, leave some of the straightening until the next morning. The dessert dishes will be fine in the sink overnight and the folding chairs won’t mind waiting a day to be stored back down the basement.

What's on your list that you can get rid and no one will even notice?