How Celebrities Celebrate the Holidays

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Molly Sims

Set to host multiple dinners this holiday season, Sims tells Us her biggest tip to get party ready is to plan ahead. In fact, the Los Angeles-based mom has already planned out her party venue: The family's backyard. "I have a lot of outdoor space, so most of my entertaining is done out there. We'll have buffet stations all over," predicts Sims. "We've been known to do a potato station and a sundae station for the kids."

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LaLa Anthony

Prior to her holiday parties, Anthony endures a good sweat session. "I always work out before the holiday so that I don't have to have any rules because you should still have fun," she tells Us. "You shouldn't be clocking calories when you're with your family drinking and having a good time. Put in the work now to have the fun later."

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Nigel Barker

The Face's Barker will be spending the days before his holiday celebrations on the road traveling to his wife Chrissy's home state of Alabama. "We're going to drive down -- a 22-hour road trip -- which is going to be interesting," he predicts of his pre-party prep.

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Rebecca Romijn

Jerry O'Connell's wife will be pulling double duty when it comes to getting holiday party ready this December, as her twins Dolly and Charlie prepare to celebrate their 5th birthday on Dec. 28. "I go out of my way to make sure their birthday is completely different from Christmas," she tells Us. "I fill their bedroom with balloons. I stay up all night blowing up hundreds of balloons. We always have family over and they get to blow out candles. It's not like they don't have a birthday but this is the first year they're like, 'we want a party!'"

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Jennifer Hudson

In preparation for Dec. 25's festivities, Hudson is getting her hands dirty in the kitchen with her son David Otunga, Jr. "Lately we've been making chocolate chip cookies the size of my face. That's not good for my Weight Watchers [maintenance] but we bake every day," she explains.

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Padma Lakshmi

Top Chef's hostess -- mom to daughter Krishna -- can't get enough of stuffing at Thanksgiving, but when she's had her fill, Lakshmi makes sure her family doesn't fall into the tryptophan trap and get sleepy. "We play charades, it keeps everyone from falling asleep after a big meal," she tells Us. "I really look forward to that every year!"

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Tim McGraw

Married to Faith Hill since 1996, McGraw is frequently on the road touring the country, but always makes special time to bond with his three daughters over the holidays. "Our family tradition is decorating the [Christmas] tree on Audrey's birthday," he explains of the family's youngest, born in 2001. Another at-home treat for the brood: Their traditional Christmas Eve pasta dinner!

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Kenan Thompson

"We do this road trip type of thing every Thanksgiving. My parents are from a small town in Virginia so we all drive there together from Atlanta," Saturday Night Live's Thompson, who married Christina Evangeline in 2011, tells Us. "It's nice to spend time with the fam old school American style."

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Joey Fatone

The former *NSYNC singer spends hours in the kitchen to get holiday party ready. "We usually have Christmas at my house and I've got a lot of family, so that's what we give: food! That's really my favorite tradition, just having everyone together," explains the married dad.

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Kristin Cavallari

The Cavallari family's Christmas party gets underway a full week before Dec. 25, the pregnant former reality star -- expecting her second child with fiance Jay Cutler -- tells Us. "My mom is German, and we had the elves come seven nights before Christmas to put something in your stocking -- my brother would get coal all the time," she says. "I want to do that with [son] Camden and our future kids."

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Anne Heche and James Tupper

Hosting a large group of family and friends for Thanksgiving, the couple has their dinner prep down to a science. "On Monday the week of Thanksgiving, we do a practice Thanksgiving. We practice small to make sure it's good," Tupper tells Us of how they prepare for the sit-down soiree. "Then we are ready to go on Thursday."