Having flawless party arrangements is just as crucial as being the perfect host, a virtue that not many can boast of. And with Thanksgiving just around the corner, we would all benefit with brushing up our party skills. Speaking of, who better than Ina Garten and Hilary Duff to turn to for a few tips to up our hosting game?

Learning From The Best

The Younger actor, Duff, trusts only the best when it comes to honing her party-hosting prowess. So she turned to the Barefoot Contessa for advice and picked up some really quick and easy tricks to turn the party completely around as a host.

“One thing that I’ve learned is to give people jobs so everyone is involved,” Duff says. “Not necessarily like a potluck — although I do that, too — if I’m serving dinner and making appetizers and stuff, when people are arriving I like to give them little jobs and I think everybody wants that. No one wants to sit there and feel useless so even if it’s like slicing up a cucumber or putting the crackers on a cheese plate or stirring the pot so it doesn’t burn, it’s actually really helpful and it brings everyone together.”

That said, Duff admits that not everyone is an expert and not every party that she hosts is impeccable, so the key is to keep your calm and be casual about it. “I win some and I lose some just like everybody else.”

So there you have it, the key to keeping your guests happy at a party – keep everyone involved and keep calm!

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