Customize these templates and rock the holiday party (video)

For your next party, how cool would it be to customize a gift box for every guest? Ridiculously time-consuming right? No, dear Office user, because you have a time-cheating secret weapon for rapid-fire customization: Mail merge. Check out this excerpt from the Office Show Holiday episode, and learn more about how it's done after the break.

To recreate Jessica's gift box in the clip, you need to:

• Download this Publisher template. Replace the photos with your own image.
• Create a data file of your guest names (options: Excel, type a list in Publisher or export it from Outlook).
• Draw a text box on the top flap
• Go to the Mailings Tab, click Select Recipients and choose your data file.
• Click your text box, select Insert Merge Field, and click First Name.
• Click Preview Results to check your work, and Merge to Printer to print your boxes.
• Use card stock for the best results.

These are great little boxes to put small chocolates or cookies in, and you can increase the size of the template if you want to make bigger ones. It's based on a Word template by Office.com contributor INGTERNET, you can see lots of his other gift boxes in the templates section of Office.com.

Martha-esque Extra Credit: You can also use a merge to insert photos of your guests, or their kids, dogs, whatever. In your data sheet, add a column for the location for your photos (the photo url or directory address on your computer drive. Don't place the actual photos in Excel). Under the Maiilngs tab, click Picture>Insert Picture Field, and select the photo column on your data sheet. Magic!

Origami Holiday Ornament

This origami ornament Publisher template ended up on the Office Show cutting room floor, but it's still fun. Simply drop in your photos, and you've got a fold-up origami holiday ornament. It's an easy way to decorate your tree, or you can send it around as a holiday card.  Folding instructions are on the second page of the template.

-- Doug Kim and Jessica Reading