10 Dollar Tree Items That Will Streamline Your Holiday Hosting Like A Pro

The holidays are a time of making merry with the ones you love the most, gathering together to celebrate the year that's past and making wishes for the year ahead. Translation: there are always a lot of people in your house all at once throughout the celebration season. And while it's magical to have everyone gathered, it can mean lots of hosting duties fall on your plate. Not only do you have to juggle all the details of hosting dinners or overnight guests, but your preparations can come with a hefty price tag. However, with some Dollar Tree magic, holiday hosting is a breeze (and won't break the bank).

From no-brainer additional coat storage, to easy leftover containers, to pre-made and pre-organized cutlery sets, Dollar Tree is the holiday hosting savior that will streamline your hosting like a pro. It makes it simple to pull together the festivity, all at one store and without getting overwhelmed by all the details that come with hosting. Coupled with some tips to make holiday hosting stress-free, your festive parties and gatherings will feel polished, welcoming, and thoughtfully planned, without overspending or sacrificing your sanity.

Hosting large groups in the winter means lots of additional coats and handbags needing to be stored. If you don't already have a spot to allocate everyone's things, then Dollar Tree hooks are an affordable hosting hack. Purchase several over-the-door hooks, like the Essentials black over-the-door hook set, to install hooks on all of your closet doors — or even on every door near your front. This way, everyone can hang their own coats and purses where they see a hook. No one is confused about where they left their things, and folks can easily retrieve their items without bothering you, the host.

If you're a shoes-off household, it's easy to accumulate a mountain of shoes in your entryway when you're hosting for the holidays. Instead of suffering through a sea of sneakers, assemble this easy tower of Dollar Tree stackable containers. They fit perfectly on top of one another to create an impromptu shoe rack that you can make as tall as needed for the number of guests that you have. When your holiday hosting is done for the season, you can disassemble and store them for your next party, or use the containers individually for other organizational needs, like organized pantry storage.

Hosting means thinking of the practical things, like how to make your bathroom functional for a large number of guests. While a fancy bathroom organizer in the guest bath (that all of your holiday visitors will use) is an aesthetic way to organize towels and other hygiene products to streamline your hosting duties, it can be a pricey addition to your bathroom. Instead, you can DIY an equally chic holiday organizer with some garden border fencing and baskets from Dollar Tree. Simply tie up the fences together, affixing the baskets to the front, then hang in your bathroom for a "wow" look.

A staple among the budget-friendly Dollar Tree organization hacks, acrylic can organizers can help with more than just storing sodas in your fridge or pantry. During holiday hosting season, bring them out into the dining area, living room, or on your kitchen countertops to create an incredibly organized and easy DIY drink station. Couple it with a bucket of ice for those who like their drinks chilled, as well as some fun, festive drink flutes like these plastic, short-stemmed champagne flutes, and you'll have a streamlined, yet sophisticated, hosting addition.

There's no shortage of genius Dollar Tree serving tray organizational hacks out there, but this idea turns a regular old bowl and a cocktail glass into an easy appetizer and snack station for the most efficient of holiday hosts. Simply glue down a stemmed Dollar Tree glass — like a margarita glass or a martini glass — into a large salad bowl, and let it dry, ensuring that the base of the glass covers the glue (so that it won't touch your food). Then place your appetizer of choice, like chips or crackers, into the bowl. Fill the drink glass with the appropriate dip, then set out for guests to enjoy! 

We've all been there when we host holiday gatherings: You're left with a ton of food and sweets, and there's no way you can finish them all. Rather than let all of that go to waste, send people home with leftovers with these adorable holiday tins from Dollar Tree. Stage an organized packing table or countertop area with these tins, some wax paper, and paper towels for a leftovers assembly line, and have folks pack a tin before they leave. That way, you have an efficient dessert distribution system that makes you look like a hosting pro.

If you're having a larger group of people over, and you plan to serve the meal buffet style, then these pre-made napkin and cutlery sets from Dollar Tree will make your life easy. Because each set is already bundled, there's no need to gather forks, knives, spoons, and napkins separately before guests arrive. You don't even have to wrap them — they come all assembled! Place several sets in rustic birch and straw baskets from Dollar Tree, and place them in different locations around the kitchen and dining room to make cutlery retrieval simple and organized.

With a few Dollar Tree wooden crafters boxes and crates, you can DIY your own adorable hot chocolate bar for a perfectly entertaining treat for your guests. Using wood glue, assemble the crates, boxes, and a couple of MDF wood planks (as the sides) together to create stacked compartments where you can pack candy canes, hot cocoa packets, marshmallows, and chocolate together for a simple one stop-shop. Gather your favorite themed holiday mugs to place around the station for a fun, self-service holiday activity. It keeps your guests and their little ones entertained while you are free to focus on other hosting duties.

If you truly want to be the host-with-the-most, then you'll want to give out party favors during the holidays, and while this seems like a daunting task, Dollar Tree's individual glass jars can make organizing these gifts incredibly easy. First, batch-make or bulk-purchase your favorite treat — maybe it's a fruit and nut blend, your favorite black tea, or mini candy canes — then fill the jars with pint-sized samples. Either affix a bow or other festive decor onto the jar. For a little extra pizzaz, like use these jars with rose gold lids from Dollar Tree.

When all is said and done, and you're ready to retire from hosting for the season, there's one last organizational trick that will keep things mess-free and streamlined for you to pull out for next year's hosting extravaganza. Dollar Tree's Closet Essentials clear storage bags are the perfect solution to store holiday decor, serving ware, and any other Dollar Tree products that you purchased to maximize your hosting, organizational chops. Stackable when filled and easy to break down and store away when they're empty, it's one last holiday magic trick for the smart host.