This Cheeky Confetti was Made for Generation Selfie

Martha Stewart

Guests will go dotty for confetti decorated with their own smiling faces. Use a photo-editing program to give digital pictures of family and friends a sepia tint; print onto matte photo paper. Use 1/2-inch to 1-inch circle punches to cut out faces, as well as extra circles from colored paper and vellum. Package the confetti in envelopes, and hand them out to guests for a celebratory toss at midnight.

Passover Plates

If you're expecting numerous guests for the holiday dinner and have only one seder plate, create one or two extras so everyone around the table can participate. Arrange five elegant saucers or small bowls on a large plate that matches them, and then use the small dishes to display each of the symbolic foods.

Related: 65 Quick and Easy Holiday Decorating Ideas from Martha Stewart

Seasonal Settings

For a splash of style, adorn your table with autumn's brightest accessories: vivid fall leaves. Simply clip sprays of young leaves from a tree in your yard (ours are from a maple). Arrange the clippings at each place setting, and top with transparent glass plates. Come dinnertime, you'll be basking in the oohs and aahs of your guests.

How to Coat the Edge of a Cocktail Glass

1. Melt about 3 ounces of semisweet or white chocolate in a microwave. (It takes about 1 minute to melt.)

2. Holding a glass at an angle, dip a small portion of the rim into chocolate. Lift slightly, and rotate about 1 1/2 inches. Repeat around entire rim, making sure chocolate swags are the same size. Refrigerate glasses until ready to serve.

Related: 22 Gift-Wrapping Ideas for Turning Any Gift Into Something Spectacular

It's Crudite Season

Create an hors d'oeuvre centerpiece that recalls a vegetable patch. Buy a large, deep galvanized-metal planter from a garden-supply center, line the bottom with sprouts, and pour in enough water to moisten them. Arrange vegetables, such as cherry tomatoes, carrots, radishes, asparagus, and cauliflower, in sections inside the container, varying the colors. Serve immediately with herb dip, or cover with moist paper towels and refrigerate up to 2 hours.

From Tree to Table

Shake things up with a dish that's distinctive but doesn't abandon traditional flavors: fall-foliage lasagna. The secret? Pasta colored with beet and carrot puree, and shaped with cookie cutters.

Your caterer can incorporate these tricks into her recipe; we layered fresh ricotta cheese between beet and carrot pastas, which were cooked, then sauteed in -- and drizzled with -- a brown-butter and sage sauce. The combination is hard to, ahem, beet.

More from Martha Stewart:
13 Crazy Beauty Tricks That Really Work
19 Tips for Perfect Laundry Every Time
8 Surprising Ways to Tame Your Sweet Tooth
47 Ways to Maximize Space in Your Kitchen

Christmas may be over, but these glittered knickknacks and photo crafts would be perfect for New Year's.