Twisty Christmas Card.

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Tardy Valentine's: Table Decor

Things have gotten so busy, that I forgot to post the Valentine's table decor from this year. Oh the sham! I guess getting it posted before the end of February will have to do. This table was decorated for Valentine's with things that I already had at home, with the exception of the flowers. I also used a lot of the theme from my silver (white) Christmas table. Here's the table before (at Christmas):

And here is the after:

As you can see, they are very similar. My Christmas table was able to take us through the holiday, into the New Year and to Valentine's.

The table is without the silver trees, silver ornaments and Christmas china, but gained the red napkins, flowers and a touch of red stain ribbon around the vases to add even more color.


Plus, the flowers are carnations = inexpensive. All I did was bundle them up, put a clear (shot) glass inside the big vase for water and there you have it.



Old Time Pottery: Vase, Silver Branches & Spray, Mirrors, Candle Sticks and Candles, Silver mosaic candle holders, red napkins, Silver beaded napkin rings
Michael's: Silver pillar candles
Wal-Mart: White Vase Filler (a bargain!)
Target: Silver Christmas Trees, Square and Cylinder Vases
Hobby Lobby: Silver chargers

Undo Your Christmas Table Setting.

What I loved about my all silver centerpiece was that it can go from Christmas to a winter theme with just a few changes. Here is the table before:


And After...

To make the change, I removed the silver trees and the Christmas plates and added black napkins with new silver beaded napkin rings. This will will take us all the way through spring.

New Year's Champagne Count Down.

Hosting a New Year's Soiree? Here's a simple idea for party favors and fun. All you need are a few things from your party store and to make a trip to the grocery to create a little baggy of fun.


What we have above is tissue paper, favor bags, noise makers and your favorite snacks. I went with a sweet and salty combo. All you do is fold up the tissue paper, put in your snacks and roll up the top with the noise makers. Simple and quick. I did one for each couple.



Add some silly 2010 glasses, snack plates and of course champange and you're ready to go!


Happy New Year everyone! I'm looking forward to 2010!

Jingle All The Way.

Love these jingle bells from Old Time Pottery to add a little cheer and glitz to a special gift under the tree.

Making Last Minute Gifts Look Not So Last Minute.

Photo: MarthaStewart.com

We've all be there. The last of the gifts have been bought but you still need to wrap them! (They usually end up in a gift bag with bright red and green tissue paper stuffed on top.) It's not hard to make your gifts look like you spent a lot of time on them - inside and out. And who better to show us all the possibilities for any occasion than Martha Stewart her self. Here's a little photo montage for inspiration.

I truly like this the image above - doilies are so inexpensive but look at the whimsy it brings to this package. And you don't even have to tie a bow! Pretty much anything you grab to put on a package as a bow or garnish to make a gift look that much more special. Yarn, pipe cleaners, left over ribbon, fabric from the $1 bin. I am a big believer in real ribbon for gifts. I looks much more personal. And if that is all you add to your wrapping, then it's a big step!

With a little planning and some creativity, we can all wrap like Martha. Enjoy your last minute shopping!

Mantel Mount Up.

Good-bye traditional mantel....Heeeeello Christmas!

Green trees: TJMaxx
Wreath: Pier 1
Stocking Hangers: Wal-Mart
Green Ornaments: My tree
Red and Gold sprays: Old Time Pottery
Stockings: hand designed and made
Gold Candle Sticks: Old Time Pottery

Recycle Your Fall Wreath for the Holiday's.

Remember this fall wreath from last month?

Well, it's not the same any more! I updated it for Christmas and here's the final product:



I used the same spray paint from the top hat Christmas tree topper - gold metallic then glitter gold. Then I painted the dots a metallic green. And that didn't work! Not enough contrast between the gold and green. So, I decided to sprinkle red glitter on the still-wet green paint and wallah!



I really think it adds so much more personality to the wreath!

The rest of the decor goes like this:
Wreath: Old Time Pottery
Large Ornaments: Old Time Pottery
Pre-Lit Garland: Wal-Mart
Gold Ribbon: TJMaxx
Light timmer: Wal-Mart

Holiday Entertaining. Table Design Tips.

Your dining room table is a great place to get glammed up for the holiday's. It's probably the largest place you can take advantage of for any seasonal decor. And if you don't have a mantel, then this is the place to set your focal point. A few basic tips:

1. Chose a theme. This one is simple. It's silver.
2. Chose a centerpiece. Usually the tallest piece of the collection.
3. Place items of varying height around it for balance.
4. Use odd numbers in your groupings but...
5. Symmetry is always your friend.


(Notice in #4, although I used even numbers of everything, there are 5 groups of items.)

Take your time looking in magazines or online to find what you feel fits your style personality.

This table isn't fully set for a dinner party, but it you need entertaining guidelines, Emily Post (heart her!) has a range of table setting guides from casual to formal here.

Tall Centerpiece: Vase: Old Time Pottery, Silver Branches: Old Time Pottery, Silver Spray: Old Time Pottery
Mirrors: Old Time pottery
Candle Sticks and Candles: Old Time Pottery
Silver pillar candles: Michael's
Square and Cylinder Vases: Target
White Vase Filler: Wal-Mart (a bargain!)
Silver Christmas Trees: Target
Silver mozaic candle holders: Old Time Pottery
Silver chargers: Hobby Lobby
Christmas China: Lenox
Silver balls: TJMaxx

Topping Off Your Christmas Tree. 2.

A top hat for your tree. How fun!


Here's how it was made! On a trip to Party City, I walked past this little gem. A Top Hat Ice Bucket. $10.And I thought - what a cute way to top off your tree!

After a trip to Michael's Crafts, conveniently down the street, I came home with a plan and lots of spray paint.

1. Fusion for Plastic
2. 18kt. Gold
3. Glitter in gold

For a base layer, I used a spray paint specifically for plastic. No sanding, no priming, quick drying, chip resistant. Then I used a metallic gold to act as the background color for the 3rd layer of gold glitter spray paint to glam it up some.


With a little green glittery ribbon and a few glittery feathers to top it off (no pun intended), I was extremely happy with the way it turned out!

The Tree is Offically Up.

A confession ::: most of the tree actually went up the night before Thanksgiving. I just. Could not. Wait. Any longer. We've added a lot of new stuff to the living room in terms of storage, so there was a lot of thought put in to where the (rather large for such a small house) tree would be placed. It ended up in the same spot as last year: in the hall, where our informal cafe table normally sits.

So, up went the pre-lit tree. Up went the big fat ribbon garland. Up went the ornaments. And then, as I stepped back to admire, it seemed bare. It needed more. So, I put mom in the car and off to Old Time Pottery we went! More ornaments, more sprays and a few more extra large adornments for the tree.

Additions:
gold leafy sprays $1.29 each
red grape clusters $2.29 each
extra large ornaments $3.99 each
peace & joy ornaments $2.29 each

I *heart* OTP!

Topping Off Your Christmas Tree.

During my childhood, the most exciting part of decorating for Christmas came when it was time to top off the tree. My brother and I switched off each year. We had a delicate & beautiful hand-crafted angel from Robert Moore & Co. Our tree was very traditional. White lights and ornaments ranging from the ones my brother and I made in kindergarten class to gifts and heirlooms. We loved pulling out all the favorites each year and carefully choosing a place for it to spend the next few weeks on our real tree. An angel topper was the most fitting for our tree's personality.

Each Christmas tree has a theme - a theme that reflects your family's personality. And the topper reflects that theme. What is your theme?. I have a different theme this year and will be working on it over the next few days. Stay tuned to see this unique idea for your tree this year!

Christmas Tree Oh! Christmas Tree.

Need a little inspiration this weekend while putting up your tree? Many of us get our decorations out with excitement and then realize that we need more ornaments or things aren't as pretty as they seemed last year. For those of us who will be doing adding a few touches or those completely starting over, here are a few tips for your trees.



1. Pick a theme. It's easy to go with a color theme - red, bright green and gold is mine. Everything from the ornaments, to wrapping paper and bows are all in that color scheme. You can also go for shabby chic, traditional, country, or even a candy colored theme that doesn't even use traditional Christmas colors.

2. Once you have the tree up, fluffed and the lights on, start with your base layer or decoration. If you are adding ribbon some sort of garland, this is the time to do it. Start at the top and work your way around, making sure to keep an even distance as you swirl around your tree. Don't have too much wine, or you'll get dizzy!



3. Make things odd. Groups of 3, 5 or 7 work best when placing things on your tree. Find balance in the colors and the groupings and the size of your ornaments. Get all of your ornaments out where you can see them at once. If you have a lot of the same ornament style, pick up 3 or 5 at a time and place them around the tree - starting at the top, then down a section on opposite of the first one, making a zig zag all the way around. Repeat with all of your decorations, making sure to take a step back every once in a while to see what you've missed or what needs to be moved to create balance.



4. Now is the time to add any type of spray or sticks or whatever to your tree. Place beautiful glittered poinsettia's around the tree using the same technique as above. Or use glittered sprays, branches or even feathers! You can place them around the tree or gather them at the top like a burst of glitteriness at the top.

5. No tree is complete without tons of gifts underneath! Find wrapping paper to go with your theme and wrap everything to coordinate. Use the same garland or ribbon you used on your tree or find the same colors. The possibilities are endless here.

In my opinion, a tree can never be too overly decorated. Seems to be the trend over the past few years to take the theme over board. It's always a work in progress. Enjoy your decorating.