How to Entertain Friends at Home

Still hitting the town with friends? If dropping big bucks on a restaurant meal is getting hard to swallow, try these five low-cost and fun ways to entertain friends at home. 

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How to Entertain Friends at Home

How to Entertain Friends at Home

Inviting friends over for a casual evening is a great way to spend time together, and entertain on a budget. Here’s how to entertain friends at home. 

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1. How to Entertain Friends at Home: House Concert

1. How to Entertain Friends at Home: House Concert

Thinking of how to entertain friends at home? Invite a musician to perform in your home. To help cover the event, each guest pays $10 to $15 and brings an appetizer. Click to find musicians for your party.

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2. How to Entertain Friends at Home: Outfit Exchange

2. How to Entertain Friends at Home: Outfit Exchange

Entertain friends at home with an outfit exchange. Invite several people to bring clothes that are in good condition; this way, there will be many sizes and styles. Provide a group change room that has mirrors. (Provide one room for guys, another one for gals.) Then get busy digging through the piles of clothes for the perfect items. Bag unclaimed clothes and drop them off at a charity.

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3. How to Entertain Friends at Home: TV Dinners

3. How to Entertain Friends at Home: TV Dinners

Entertain your friends with dinner. Invite your sci-fi-geek friends to a “post­apocalyptic potluck.” Feast on futuristic dishes such as textured vegetable-protein chili and “radioactive” green Jell-O while watching a planetary disaster movie. Prefer something less out of this world? Pick a country, then bring related food and flicks. How about chicken curry with Bollywood/Hollywood?

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4. How to Entertain Friends at Home: Book Exchange

4. How to Entertain Friends at Home: Book Exchange

Entertain friends with a book exchange. Ask guests to bring a snack and four books to exchange. Everyone describes their books, suggests which other guests might enjoy them, then heads home with hand-picked reads.

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5. How to Entertain Friends at Home: Fitness

5. How to Entertain Friends at Home: Fitness

Entertaining friends? Try a group early-evening hike, bike or cross-country ski followed by dessert and coffee at someone’s home. In bad weather, play Wii Fit or try a yoga DVD together. Then cool down with fruit dipped in melted chocolate.

Click for more tips from, home gardening to decorating

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