Decorate for the Holidays

Decorate for the Holidays
-article by Cyd Klein sew-help-me.com

When decorating your home for the holidays, determine the theme and ambience you want to create for visitors to your home. Pull out all the seasonal decorations you already own. Is there a common color or theme that stands out? Is so, go with that color to build your theme. Some color combinations that go well together are:

Silver and any color
Sage green and cranberry
Gold and any color
White on White
White, blue, and silver
Burgundy and gold

If you have a favorite color, consider going monochromatic by decorating with that color in varying shades and tones. An example would be pale blue to navy.

Are you a collector? Look for ways to pull your favorite items into your decorating theme. If you collect pottery or glassware, explore using various floral arrangements that incorporate poinsettias and decorative holly.

If you collect Santa’s, Snowman, or Snow Villages your well on your way to a holiday theme already. Rather than lump them altogether for a large impressive display, consider placing them throughout your home in groups of threes. Three always seems to give a small grouping that ‘completed’ look

If you are not a collector, all is not lost. You can create the ambience you are looking for by purchasing lots of inexpensive candles and following the rule of three, distribute them through out your home.

Here's an idea; Wrap small boxes of different sizes in festive paper and stack up around the house in unexpected spots. But first, go to a craft store and buy a bag of inexpensive ‘jingle bells’. Before wrapping the boxes, place 1-2 jingles bells in each box. Just listening to the little ones ‘secretly’ shaking the boxes around the house brings its own special holiday music to my ears.

A bowl filled with tree ornaments has be done, but nothing brings the flavor of the holidays long ago as does a large glass bowl of bright red apples and tangy smelling oranges. Or how about a metal pail filled with mixed nuts in the shell next to the fireplace. Throw in a couple of nutcrackers and the kids will be at them all the time instead of the candy.

Speaking of candy, that holiday favorite candy canes are for more that eating or hanging on your tree. Think of using them in floral arrangements, or tie together using a packing string to make a garland. Tie a string of candy canes around big fat candle (make sure no paper is near the wick). Of course you can always attach a candy cane to package bows and invitations too.

Don’t forget our little furry friends during the holiday season. http://www.sew-help-me.com/free-pattern-christmas- ornament-fidos-sock.html has a Free sewing pattern for Fido’s very own Goodie Sock for the fireplace.

There are endless ways to make your home festive for the holidays. The key word is it is YOUR home. Decorate for you. Seasonal decorating can be a way to help you and your family get into the holiday spirit. When there is joy in the home, all visitors to that home experience and take a little of that joy with them when they leave.