How to Put It Together

Load shelves of an armoire or a closet with wineglasses and Champagne flutes, along with a few trays to hold drinks and snacks.

Buy several wine openers so guests can help themselves. (Corkscrews tend to go missing at parties.)

Amass various candles — tapers, tealights, votives — for a cozy holiday ambience. Store matchboxes nearby.

Line the shelves with pretty gift wrap, and keep the paper in a nearby drawer so you can quickly wrap a present or create a makeshift table runner.

Include an ice bucket and a wine cooler that can chill up to four bottles at a time.

Have cocktail napkins on hand to protect end tables and wipe up spills in a snap.

Bonus Party-Prep Idea

Stash a few folding chairs in a closet or under a bed so you can bring them out when your friends show up with their friends (and those friends bring friends of their own). Find metal, plastic, and wooden versions at Bright Settings (from $52 for four chairs, www.folding-tables-chairs.com); bamboo models at Target ($60 for two, www.target.com); and walnut models at Bed Bath & Beyond ($40 each, www.bedbathandbeyond.com). No storage space? Simply rent chairs from a local retailer (look up “party rentals” online or in the Yellow Pages). Prices generally range from $1 to $2.50 a day for plastic chairs to $4 to $5 for wood and $6 to $8 for bamboo.

Shown, top shelf:
1. Hobnail mercury-glass vase by Vagabond Vintage, $62, www.mothology.com.
2. Matchboxes $12 for two, www.shopiomoi.com.
3. Votives, $12 for 12, www.potterybarn.com.
4. Handipt white dripless 12-inch tapers by Colonial Candle, $30 for 12, www.colonialcandle.com.
5. Branch porcelain taper holders, $29, A & G Merch, 718-388-1779.
6. Round aluminum tray, $39, www.westelm.com.
7. HomArt Poinsettia fireplace matches, $10 for 50, www.areohome.com.
8. Tart Leon ice bucket, $115, www.tartontheweb.com.
9. Glimma tealights by Ikea, $3 for 100, www.ikea.com for locations.
10. Gold metallic taper candles, $42 for 12, www.colonialcandle.com.
11. Eight-inch recycled-glass vase, $28, www.3rliving.com.
12. Personalized mint tins, $2.50 each, minimum order of 30, www.beau-coup.com.


Shown, bottom shelf:
13. Stoelzle-Oberglas diamond-cut crystal Champagne flutes, $40 for six, www.surlatable.com.
14. Lunares Home gold-finish Shanghai trays, small, $75; large, $120: www.lunareshome.com.
15. Holiday Gems Ruby Balloon wineglasses by Lenox, $43 for four, 800-635-3669 for stores.
16. Snowflake coasters by Kim Seybert, $45 for four, 631-329-6200 for stores.
17. White hemstitched linen cocktail napkins, $12 for 12, www.bumblebeelinens.com.
18. Abalone corkscrew by Oscar de la Renta Home for Lunt, $95 (includes a bottle opener), www.saks.com.
19. Vellum ceramic wine cooler by Domain Home, $329, 877-436-6426 for stores.
20. French Bull Cinnamon napkins, $6 for 15, www.loftparty.com.
21. Ikea Charm corkscrew, $3, and Groggy stainless-steel corkscrew, $5: www.ikea.com for locations.