Every December, the Chicago Botanic Garden invites area florists, plant designers and its own horticulture staff to design distinctive holiday wreaths for display on the greenhouse-facing walls of the Regenstein Center. Featured in conjunction with the Garden’s annual “Wonderland Express” model railroad exhibition, these wreaths have become a major holiday attraction for our family.
Beautiful Holiday Wreaths made using Vintage Holiday Ornaments – A Charming way to enjoy recycled Christmas Memories. Alanda’s wreaths have been featured on Celebrations.com.
Christmas is a time for joy and family reunions. Never mind if the economy is not doing well and that you cannot afford to buy expensive gifts for everyone this year. Christmas can still be very enjoyable even if you do not have a lot of money to spend. To get home ready for the holiday season, you should start working on your Christmas décor as early as possible. No, you do not have to buy those expensive Christmas decors.
You can always use the Christmas decors that you used last year and then add plenty of poinsettia flowers to make your home really lovely. Poinsettias are very colorful that it can make your home alive. Moreover, using poinsettias as outdoor Christmas décor is better than buying those Christmas lights. Remember that although Christmas lights look great at night, they do not really look so good during the day.
On the other hand, poinsettias will always look colorful and lovely anytime. Besides, using Christmas lights for decoration can be quite costly. Just imagine how much energy you will consume if you fill your large front lawn with lots of lights.
Working With Flowers
If you happen to live in the countryside and you have space for gardening, it should not be difficult for you to grow your own poinsettias in time for the holiday season. They key here is to buy some of those plants with think and stocky stems. These plants usually thrive better than those with smaller stems. When it comes to colors, you should go for those plants that display deep and intense colors.
Plants with deep and intense colors will make good Christmas decors. To make your plants look even better, you should put them in beautiful decorative pots. Terracotta pots will nice designs will do nicely. What if you cannot afford to grow your own poinsettias, what should you do? If you happen to live in one of those windowless apartments in the city and you cannot grow your own plants even if you want to, you might as well buy some of those artificial Christmas decors.
There are plenty of artificial Christmas decors that you can choose from. Christmas wreaths that are made of a combination of paper, clothe and plastic can be a good choice. Just add some flowers and Christmas lights into your Christmas wreath and then hang the wreath on your front door. That should give your home a festive look.
Holiday seems farmer became more and more modern. There is nothing more rustic smell of cinnamon during the holidays. You can light candles, or add cinnamon cinnamon sticks to the steamer on top of wood burning stove. If you do not have a wood burning stove, and simmer cinnamon sticks with cloves in a pot on the stove your kitchen. There are many more decorating tips to consider: Rustic Garland Fruit of both means fragrant and inexpensive to decorate your home for the holiday. Buy apples, oranges, lemons and used for wreaths, ornaments and fill the bowls. To make the crown of the fruit, and take the apple, orange and lemon slices with cinnamon sticks, including on the theme of the series. Sprinkle apple slices with cinnamon smell delicious. Cinnamon sticks and break easily into smaller pieces with your hands. Use darning needle threaded with a wide variety of assembly ring. When you make a ring, an alternative fruit slices with cinnamon sticks to the string. You can also another type of fruit the crown of cranberry addicted to heavy thread. Stringing cranberries and popcorn together creates a tree Holiday Classic ring. Rustic Accessories Make your own cinnamon star decorations. Simply put, combine equal parts of cinnamon and apple juice. Mixture of apple juice and cinnamon together to create the dough. Dust, wax paper and rolling pin with cinnamon and then spread the dough. Use a cookie cutter in the form of star pieces of jewelry. Poke a hole in the upper part of the stars with straw so that you can comment. You can let your cinnamon stars air dry for 24 hours, or you can bake them at 150 degrees for 1 hour on an ungreased cookie sheet. Shred cloth patterned red and green to chip to use the tape for hanging and cinnamon stars on a tree or a wreath of flowers. Rustic fireplace mantel Evergreen clippings used to cover the fireplace mantel. Anchor the crown of your fruit along the front of the mantel. Glass jars containing the cranberries and walnuts and cinnamon sticks and mint creates a rustic charm. Rustic Hutch Koch can be your dining room into a rural view with a scattering of red enamel panels. Evergreen arrangement between the plates. Evergreen curtain ropes of cranberries strung across the top of the cage. Rustic table Replace the traditional tablecloth with a touch of rustic burlap. The establishment of a rural center by downloading a large wooden box with orange and lemon studded with whole cloves. Set the table with enamelware for dinner gala rustic. Rural other ideas * Enamel, wood, bowls brimming with pine cones, balls and cut the vine of pine, fir or rural normally. * Bring in the sections from the outside and put it in pitchers enamel. * Use galvanized metal tub, or bucket enamel clay flower pot for a holiday tree. * Top holiday tree with star metal rusted. * Wrap presents in brown kraft paper and finished with raffia bows tied with a branch of rice. * To make the paper wrapping more holidays, reindeer, decorated with the nature of red ink. * Burlap and raffia wide range of materials to make wreaths for the brackets rustic, and submit.
Body:Most of our holiday decorating is usually centered around the main living areas of our home. Usually the living room and family rooms are the first areas to be decorated, and the many other rooms of the house often times go forgotten. Today, however, many homeowners are decorating other rooms of their home, in addition to the living room. Here are a few ideas to help you get started decorating some other rooms of your home:
Kitchen:While most people don’t have a lot of wall space in their kitchens due to cabinets and windows, there are certain things that can add a festive touch to this area of the house. If you have an open area above your cabinets, this might be a perfect spot for that Victorian sleigh and Santa Claus that you want to put out, but don’t want the children to play with. A beautiful holiday plate or bowl on a clear plastic plate stand would really dress up the back corner of the counter top, along with a coordinating holiday cookie jar. Trading out your normal kitchen towels and rugs for ones that coordinate with the rest of your holiday decorations as well as your table linens gives a unified look.
Four Season Porch or Sun Room:A sun room or porch is the perfect place for a lighted tree at night because all the windows make it very visible to the surrounding area. This is also the perfect place to get a little whimsical with your decorations, too. The children will love a bright tree and funky decorations. Perhaps you would prefer a country or historical décor in this room. Popcorn and cranberries strung on a green tree are a sensory pleasure. Whichever you choose, be sure to add all the small touches you like, this is an area where adding more clutter just makes the end result look better.
Bathrooms:Like the kitchen, trade your everyday towels and rugs for holiday linens. If you have room on your bathroom countertop or vanity, add a small, decorated topiary-type tree. Some Christmas hand soaps are a nice touch. Since most of these rooms are small, a wreath is always a nice way to add a bit of the holidays without taking up too much space.
Bedrooms:Bedrooms are great places to add some holiday cheer that will be enjoyed by each member of the family individually. A small artificial tree is always a welcome pleasure to a child who is old enough to understand safety. Letting the child pick the ornaments or make paper ornaments to decorate the tree will make it that much more special. A stuffed Santa Claus and holiday bedding or throw can top off the child’s room. For adults, a small lighted tree, wreath and candles can make a peaceful place to get away from the holiday rush.
One thing that remains a staple in holiday decorating is the Christmas tree and wreaths that can be used just about anywhere in the home. As you expand your decorations throughout the house, your need for holiday storage will also grow. This requires a concerted effort on your part to be organized and efficient in storing your holiday decorations. When decorating an entire house, one of the most efficient ways to store your decorations is by room. With appropriate labeling, the trees, wreaths, and ornaments can be distributed to the appropriate location and then opened up. This same procedure can be reversed when it is time to un-decorate the house.
The holiday season should be an enjoyable time of the year, but it can also be stressful. While we all want our homes to be decorated to celebrate the holiday, the aggravation of untangling lights, wrestling yard ornaments and finding that some of our most treasured ornaments have broken over the past year can make it all seem like too much effort. One of the easiest ways to reduce the strain of the holiday season happens after each holiday ends. Take the time to properly store your decorations and other holiday items at the end of the holiday season and next year you may find that the holidays are much more enjoyable. So, how do you store your holiday and seasonal items for easy retrieval? The first step is to invest in proper storage containers. You may never be truly organized if you pack the items away in whatever cardboard boxes and plastic bags that you can find. Take an inventory of your holiday items and purchase storage containers for everything. The benefit of storing items in containers made for long-term storage is that they provide excellent protection for your valuables. There are a variety of storage containers that you can purchase that are made specifically for storing holiday decorations. One excellent investment is a plastic storage box for storing ornaments. These boxes are often partitioned into small sections. This allows you to place an ornament in each section without going through the additional step of wrapping the breakable in tissue paper or newsprint. The partitions prevent the ornaments from banging against each other and the plastic box, and it protects the ornaments from being crushed while in storage. To store your Christmas tree lights, invest in a box made specifically for the job. These plastic boxes have removable inserts that you can wrap around each string of lights. The inserts are then slipped back into the box. The next year you simply remove the lights, one insert at a time, and decorate your tree. Storing a wreath from year to year can be tricky. A quality wreath is expensive, and you want to enjoy it from year to year, but they easily become damaged after one year. A box specifically designed for wreath storage prevents the wreath from being crushed or damaged. Other holiday items may be more difficult to organize. Candles, stockings, table linens and ceramics all make up an important part of the holiday scene, but without proper care, they may not last year after year. Although these items do not have a specifically designed storage box, you should follow similar procedures as if they have a special storage solution. Use a plastic storage box, not cardboard or a plastic bag. If there is room for the items to move around in the box, then the box is too big. Get a smaller box or fill in the empty spaces with newspaper or tissue paper. All storage containers should have a lid that seals. Once you have a storage container for all of your holiday items, it is time to store them. Seasonal items should be stored in an out of the way location so that you do not have to move them when you are looking for an item that you use more frequently. Depending on your living arrangements, this could be in an attic, a basement, a garage or a storage building. No matter what the location may be, there are some important things to keep in mind.
Store everything together.
Do not store some of your holiday items in the garage and others in the basement. If there is not room for everything in one spot, rearrange. It is better to have all of your Christmas items in one area and all of your Halloween decorations in another if it is necessary to keep items separately. Often people try to divide decorations up by room, but often, when this happens, you forget from year to year what you have, and end up not using all of your decorations.
Store your items off the ground.
When you store your items in a plastic container, you should raise your holiday decorations a few inches off the ground. This step is not necessary in the attic, but at ground level, and below, it is a wise precaution. Lay out some pallets, which many stores can provide free of charge, or some blocks of wood, and then set your boxes on top. The two to three inches under the bottom of the box allows air to circulate and prevents moisture from building up. This step is extremely important because moisture can easily damage your decorations and you may not even realize it until the next holiday season. By utilizing these tips, you can safely store your holiday decorations without worrying about any of your items breaking during storage.
Decorating your home for the holidays can be so simple. Those of you with very busy schedules may want to consider an area in your home that you can transform in to a showcase vignette that can be easily changed out for each holiday. For this project we choose a kitchen garden window.
Step 1 – Position a suction cup hook to the inside of your garden window determining the height that your wreath will hang from. Next, begin by wrapping multi-colored red and white satin ribbon to the top of the resin berry wreath creating a pretty bow. For this step, take the stained glass holly ornament and hang it on to the suction cup hook. The stained glass ornament becomes a sun catcher as well as a focal point. Once your bow is secured in place, position your wreath on the suction hook with the bow at the top.
Step 2 – Below on the window base, set a desert serving tray (we used a brown metal tray and added a small Christmas desert plate to the base of it). This now becomes a display stand to showcase some of your favorite decorative kitchen items. Next, fill one small outdoor ceramic pot with fresh red berries, then insert a rustic moose ornament and a small pinecone pick to add an outdoor woodsy feel. Next, position 3 small artificial pears next to the pot which will add a nice Christmas kitchen theme touch.
Step 3 – A Christmas sleigh was added to balance the look of the display and to house 2 small artificial potted herbs. A small Christmas country style wired ornament hangs from the sleigh reminding us of the holiday season. In the center of the window base, another small outdoor ceramic pot with a red bow tied around the top rim of it was added. As a final touch fill the ceramic pot with fresh red berries, an outdoor find.
Supplies: Step 1
Supplies: Step 2
Supplies: Step 3
During the holidays decorating kicks up to a frenzied pace and sometimes getting the house decorated takes up all your energy. All you can be bothered to do is string some lights outside and call it a day. If you want to do more than put up a few lights for your outdoor decor this year then you need some new ideas.
If putting up lots of holiday themed lawn ornaments is not your thing then you might have some trouble even thinking of any decor for your garden. Some fairly simple ideas will help you to make your home look tastefully decorated for the season.
Wreaths
Wreaths might seem like obvious décor for the holidays but many people forget how a beautiful wreath can instantly add festive cheer to a house. If you’d like you could make your own or buy one. There are plenty to choose from around the holidays. Wreaths have evolved from very simple to elaborate and cool modern constructions of plain twigs. Take your pick and brighten up your door.
Welcoming Porch
If you have a porch then you have a great canvas for holiday decor. You can do any number of things with your porch during the holidays. Start with lights; you don’t have to go with the usual string of lights. Instead why not choose holiday themed lanterns. Lanterns don’t have to be restricted to Halloween. Find lanterns in white, silver, or gold and string them around your porch to add warmth.
At Christmas using holly (you can use plastic if your climate is not conducive to the real thing) and berries is a good idea. Wrap all the winter greenery around porch railings or any furniture that might be on your porch. Or you could start putting poinsettias on your porch; again these don’t have to be the real deal to look good.
Windows
Windows are another great place for decor. You can do a lot with windows around the holidays. Taping cutouts of snowflakes and other appropriate holiday themes decorations to your windows is one fun idea. Soft glowing lights make excellent decor for windows. You can use outdoor lights disguised as candles on window sills to create a soft glow at all your windows.
Critter Cheer
Give the birds in your area a helping hand and create some decor outside at the same time. Cover pine cones in peanut butter and hang them from festive ribbons on trees and your porch, instant bird feeder.
The Christmas season is just around the bend. Now it is time to get those holiday decorations in place. And more often than not, these decorations show off a myriad of beautiful floral displays. Let us look into some of these floral arrangements that people have grown to be so fond of during this festive occasion.
Holiday wreath
Holiday wreaths are one of the most customary decorations that we see during Christmas. They are often spotted on main doors as a sort of Christmas welcome to any guest that may come in knocking or a joyous greeting to people passing by. And if it suits the guise of the house, these wreaths can be seen indoors as well. Dressed typically in green, these wreaths are trimmed with glitter and silver lining as an added charm. The standard wreath, however, never goes without a peek of petals. Yes, flowers are almost always present on a Christmas wreath. Some may use fresh flowers but it is usually recommended to use plastic or artificial flowers so that they will not wither after only a few days, figuring that they are going to be exposed to the cold snow and icy winds outside. People prefer to go for dried flowers or artificial ones that are made of plastic or paper.
Wall hangings
It’s time to bring color into those walls so dress them up with wall hangings. These decorations are available at the local store or for a great idea you can get the family together for this project and get in some time to bond during the season. All you need to do is get some greens, add lively colorful flowers, tie them with a ribbon and viola, you have your very own homemade wall hanging ornament.
Garlands
Garlands are not only popular during graduations or hula parties but they brighten up the wooden staircase or the banisters that seem so naked and barren all year long during the holidays. While you are at it, you can spruce up your fireplace with these as well. You will basically need some artificial green garlands from the store then add some vibrant artificial poinsettias. For an extra effect, you can wrap Christmas lights around the garland. It will surely brighten up not only the staircase but the whole room as well.
Centerpieces
Holiday centerpieces are popular additions to the dining tables or the living room counters during the Christmas season. This decoration is typically made of two main components, the flowers and the candle. One to three candles are placed in the middle and surrounding them is a lovely array of flowers. The kind or color of the flowers usually complements the overall theme of the table or of the house holiday decors as a whole. Dining with these centerpieces are said to make meals more festive for the family.
Christmas tree ornaments
A tree is not a Christmas tree without embellishments and ornaments to brighten it up. These days, people choose flower-patterned trimmings to adorn the tree. Fresh flowers are not advisable as common sense tells us they can decompose and go rotten in a few hours. Artificial flowers are the only way to go. There are a myriad of false flowers of varied hues available in the market. Surely, one can find one that should spruce up the tree and make the room look a lot like Christmas.
Crackling fires, snowflakes, colorful lights, and the anticipation of Christmas is all around. As the excitement of the holiday draws near, and pets young and old await the arrival of Santa Paws, here’s some decorating ideas to help get your pet involved in the holiday spirit.The Treat Tree: Mix homemade dog biscuits into your tree decor. There are some great recipes online. Place a hole into the unbaked cookie with a straw, bake, and set to cool. Place ribbon through the biscuit to hang on the tree.
To make these treats interactive, attach a small label to each ribbon that lists a trick or behavior you would like your pup to perfect. Each day you can pull a treat, or allow your pup to pick, and have him complete the task before receiving the treat.
For cats, simply use a soft treat and add ornament hooks. Many cat owners express a problem keeping their cat out of their tree, if your kitty likes to use your tree as a hiding place, the treat tree may not be a good option; consider a pet tree without edibles or create a second tree as the treat tree to act as a decoy for your cat.
The Pet Tree: In addition to homemade treats, add candy cane rawhide, embellished pet ribbon, small picture frames with your pet’s photo, and pet related ornaments to your tree. Finish it off with a small picket fence to keep create a barrier for your pet for the ultimate pet themed Christmas tree.
The Treat Wreath: Make a wreath out of dog treats. Purchase a Styrofoam wreath form at your local craft store. Simply make additional dog biscuits or purchase Milkbones at the grocery store. Hot glue each bone to your wreath form until the entire wreath form is covered, layering and overlapping bones. Add dog embellished ribbon and your wreath is ready to great your guests at the front door or anywhere in the home.
For cats, substitute Milkbones with small cat toys.
A Mantle to Bark About: In addition to stockings and traditional holiday décor, include your pet by adding black and white photography of your pet in a silver or gold frame. Take a photo of your pet dressed in the holiday spirit or simply in front of your Christmas tree. You can easily alter this photo to black and white using your computer or take it to your photo center. Print your photos to the size of the frame and add to your holiday mantle collection. You can also search for pet related holiday accessories at your local HomeGoods store. Don’t forget to add a stocking for your pet. Petco offers some great stocking stuffers.
Incorporating your pet into the décor can be fun for the whole family, whether you go all out in a pet themed holiday décor or simply include your pet by adding a few pet friendly embellishments. It’s the purrfect holiday reward for your perfect pet.
