To stir up excitement for the party, hand deliver invitations one week in advance. Grab attention by attaching a unique kabob skewer to each invitation. Skewers come in all shapes and sizes — with handles that range from colored fruits and vegetables to Wild West and animal themes. By providing guests with their own unique skewers, they will be able to easily identify their kabobs. So, be sure to ask each guest to bring their skewer to the party and anticipate loads of fun!

Several hours before the party, prepare your back yard by setting up stations. Drape several tables with colorful fabric and use them for assembling ingredients onto skewers. To provide seating for your guests, consider bringing the indoors out. Place an area rug in the yard and set out a sofa, beach chairs, or even kitchen stools so everyone isn't limited to the porch or patio. Instead of using garbage cans for trash, line wicker laundry baskets with trash bags to dress up your outdoor area.

Make sure food is prepared in advance. Try our tasty recipes for Beef Tikka with Pineapple Coconut Raita (pictured above, bottom right) or Chili-Lime-Cumin Beef Skirt Steak Skewers (pictured above, top right) for a meal that's guaranteed to impress. Prep time for each is only 30 minutes.