Event planner Preston Bailey is truly one of the profession’s geniuses. He can transform huge, empty indoor and outdoor spaces into magical settings of light and grandeur. (The fact that many of his clients have six-figure event budgets helps, of course!) Still, his designs are exquisite.

If you want a visual treat, look at the before-and-after images on his Web site. (Tip: When each new image in the slide show appears, wait a few seconds for the pink bar to appear on the image. Then pull the bar to the right to reveal a photo of the empty space before he transformed it.)  Click here to see the slide show.

During Bailey’s busy holiday season, he has offered up a number of DIY projects that can help us transform items in our homes into fabulous party decor. Above are two of our favorites, and two of the easiest.

The beautiful ribbon-wrapped purple ribbon-wrapped vase, above left,  and the vase created from orange silk leaves, on the right, are projects that even craft novices can duplicate easily and inexpensively.

This craft novice plans to try wrapping red satin ribbon around glass vases filled with branches of fresh holiday greenery and bright red berries. If they come out even half as beautiful as those created by Preston Bailey, I’ll be thrilled.

Click here for details about Preston Bailey’s newest book, Preston Bailey Celebrations.

Filed under: Entertaining, Flowers, Holidays, Party decor, Uncategorized