12 Days of Decorating

Day 10 – Exterior Lights

Don’t forget the exterior lights this holiday season!  This is the area where there are no rules!    I mean, we’ve all seen the Griswold House in “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”. Ok,  so the Griswold house may be a bit excessive but as always, have fun with it – this is a reflection of you!

One of my favorite things during the Christmas season are the exterior lights that are displayed in the village of Spencerport on Union Street.

Here’s another look at some really neat Christmas lighting displays: best-christmas-lights-display.htm

Remember to submit your holiday creation in our Holiday Decorating Contest.

12 Days of Decorating

Day 9 – The Tree

Here are some examples of Christmas tree décor that I thought you might enjoy.  As you see the styles vary greatly.  Personalizing it is what makes it unique and a reflection of you.  I must admit, some of the items added to the trees I would never have thought of. I grew up with the traditional lights, bulbs and garland.  These trees have huge ornaments, vibrant flower stems, and some are so busy with décor that the tree branches are almost lost.  Nonetheless, it’s fun to see.  Enjoy and Have a blessed Christmas.

There is still time! Enter in our Holiday Decorating Contest by clicking here!

12 Days of Decorating

Day 8 – Holiday Entryway

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What better way to greet your guests than with a Holiday Entryway with a contemporary flare?  To compliment this black and white striped wall I chose a bold colored table in turquoise to pop against the wall.  I couldn’t decide if I liked the white or brown branches better so I chose to show both images.  I took tiny colorful ornaments to and sprinkled them on the table and hung a few of them on the branches. Fun!

Happy Holiday everyone!  Don’t forget to enter in our Holiday Decorating Contest by clicking here!

 

12 Days of Decorating

Day 7 – It’s All in the Fold

Setting a holiday table with decorative napkins really gives it a finished look.

The following fun link gives you a choice of many different yet easy ways to fold napkins.

If you don’t have time to fold, then try using nice napkin rings.

The site is: http://napkinfoldingguide.com

Hey, this is something the kids can do while you’re working away in the kitchen.

Have fun with it!

Don’t forget to enter in our Holiday Decorating Contest by clicking here

12 Days of Decorating

Day 6 – Beverage Setup

Give your guests something they can really say “cheers” to with a holiday home beverage setup.

To create this look:

• Grab a plain table cloth (I chose white to go with the tangerine walls in my kitchen – it doesn’t always have to be green and red.  I chose to go with non-traditional Christmas colors)
• Line up all different types of beverage glasses (the more variety of glass shape and size, the more interest added)
• Provide your guests with things they will need to enjoy their beverage – limes, beverage napkins, ice, stir sticks or a martini shaker etc…
• It’s all in the details!  Its Christmas.  This is the time to go over the top.  So I popped whole cranberries into each ice cube slot before placing the ice cube troth in the freezer.  The result (as shown below) – so pretty and fun!

• keep the decor that isn’t edible to a minimum.  Save the decorations for the mantle, tree and elsewhere.  On the table I placed a white vase with brown sparkly branches and a glass bowl with orange and pink ornaments.  I sprinkled little tea light candles on the table to add warmth.  That was it!

As always –  have fun with it and enjoy the holiday season!

Don’t forget to enter our Holiday Decorating Contest! Click here

12 Days of Decorating

Day 5 – Holiday décor all natural!

I saw an article in the December issue of Better Homes and Gardens that caught my eye.  I had never sugared citrus fruit for décor.  Actually, it was quick and easy.  The whole process took me about ten minutes.  To sugar the fruit, brush it with beaten egg white, then sprinkle (don’t roll the fruit in it) with superfine sugar. Allow to dry and arrange in a clear glass bowl or compote.  (Note: do not eat this fruit, due to the raw egg wash)

I did make some changes to the recipe.  I used regular sugar instead of superfine sugar.  Go with the superfine sugar if you can find it..I think the regular absorbs the egg whites and makes more of a wet look.  Furthermore, because fruit is so expensive and it would be costly to fill the bowl,  I chose to use  some artificial fruit from the dollar store.  It worked perfect and I can wash the egg white off with Clorox water and use it again next year. Oh, by the way, the arrangement should stay fresh looking for up to three days. If the sparkle fades then just sugar it again.

Send us some pictures of your finished art work!  Or better yet,

Enter in our Holiday Decorating Contest by clicking here!

12 Days of Decorating

Holiday Design Contest Entries

Our second entry comes from Jaime

That tree looks gigantic!  Great Job!

12 Days of Decorating

Day 4 – Illumination

There is nothing more beautiful than candle light to add warmth to a room.  Bring your own  glass collection together to house tea lights and votives just by using what you have around the house.  Vases, everyday juice glasses, champagne flutes, water goblets and wine stems can be transformed into beautiful scenery for any area of your home this holiday season. Fill the bottom of the glasses with salt,  this is twofold…it will give a holding place for melting wax so clean up is so much easier than scraping it off the bottoms and it looks like snow!  Filling the glasses with water and using floating candles is also an option.  Have fun with this! 🙂

Don’t forget to enter our Holiday Decorating Contest!   Click here

Ontario ARC Gift Wrapping

This November our company had the privilege of serving at the East View Mall ARC gift wrap booth. This booth is run by over 400 volunteers that take time to wrap gifts in an effort to raise money for the Ontario County ARC.  Ontario ARC and other local organizations have paired together to create Pet Connections. The money raised this season from wrapping gifts and from donations will fund the Pet Connections program, which in turn provides pet therapy to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and additional employment opportunities for them as well in the field of animal care.

Nicole Scuteri, marketing manager of FEP, and myself were honored to help in this worthy cause.  The volunteers that run the shifts do it tirelessly and with great organization.  Many of the volunteers are the parents whose children have either gone through the ARC program or currently dwell within the residential client homes.

Our prayer is that their goal will be met this Holiday season.

Please stop by the ARC gift wrap booth and support this organization.

Just think of it, drop off your gifts for wrapping, run your other errands and then return to pick up your packages all ready for the Holidays!

A help for you, a GREAT help for them. 🙂

12 Days of Decorating

Day 3 – Christmas Morning Spread

Whats better than waking up on Christmas morning with the excitement and the anticipation of this joyous day??  This year create a Christmas morning spread that your family will absolutely love!  We took Christmas themed tea cups and saucers and stacked them to look like they were about to topple over.  Next we grabbed a cake stand and placed coffee/hot cocoa mugs on top of the stand with cloth napkins sticking out of them.  To finish the look we sprinkled tiny colorful ornaments all over the table and added a couple bowls of gigantic marshmallows.  A fun look with a whimsical touch! Enjoy!

We want to see how you celebrate the holidays!!  Show us you creations and enter our Holiday Design Contest!