Still, she's introduced immoderate caller ideas too—including a dice crippled that her household members recently started playing connected Christmas Day.

"Everybody brings a acquisition that's nether $20," the 74-year-old explained. "We rotation the dice and past there's antithetic directions that you person to bash with that gift. We spell astir 3 times successful the circle, and past you extremity up with the acquisition you're holding astatine that point."

Don't Wait Until the Last Minute To Do Your Holiday Shopping: "Don't hold until 2 weeks earlier Christmas erstwhile everything mightiness beryllium a small spot pricey," Babs instructs. "I deliberation commencement aboriginal successful the year. And erstwhile things are connected sale, person that database handy. It doesn't alteration dramatically twelvemonth to twelvemonth who you person to bargain for. So I would accidental bash things early, store income and you'd beryllium amazed the bargains you tin find."

Do Consider a Gift Card for Someone You Don't Know Well: If you bash person caller names connected your database this twelvemonth and don't cognize them well, Babs recommends going with a tried-and-true acquisition card. Too impersonal for you? She besides suggests giving a "generic portion of covering similar a scarf" oregon a homemade baked good. Just marque definite it's thing they tin eat.

Don't Forget a Gift for the Host: To genuinely marque hosts consciousness merry and bright, see bringing them a gift.

"I bash a small hack," Babs says. "If you privation to bring a vessel of wine—if they don't drink, you could ever bring a bully vessel of olive oil—and you wrapper it successful a festive vacation Christmas towel, a beverage towel. You could conscionable kinda sandwich that vessel successful betwixt the 2 sides of the beverage towel, and conscionable rotation it, and past kinda tuck successful the bottom, and past necktie it disconnected with immoderate ribbon and it makes a precise awesome hostess gift." 

You can watch her demonstration here. 

Do Take Picky Eaters Up connected an Offer to Bring a Dish: Hosting and not definite what to service picky eaters oregon guests with definite dietary restrictions? Babs suggests taking retired the guesswork by having them lend a dish—if they offer. If not, she says the full repast doesn't person to revolve astir their requirements but that it's inactive bully to service up a fewer options that are definite to beryllium wide crowd-pleasers.

Don't Get Too Frazzled by Holiday Entertaining or Forget to Enjoy Your Own Party: "Planning is ace important and to marque definite you gait your planning," Babs shared. "Start aboriginal capable truthful that you're doing the paper planning, the market shopping, the prep. Plan arsenic overmuch arsenic you tin beforehand. If you hold 'til the past minute, I deliberation things could stroke up successful your face. So you past could truly make conscionable dreading entertaining that. But if you could person amusive astatine your ain enactment due to the fact that of pre-planning and not waiting until the past minute, you'll thin to entertain much for sure."