Easy Thanksgiving Table Cloth

I bought a few yards of burlap a little over a year ago. It remained rolled it into a bundle and moved from room to room never exactly finding my vision for it, but on the fringe of the holiday season and knowing sticky fingers would soon head toward my glass table I finally gave it a home.

It cost me all of something like $2.25 a yard. It was not quite wide enough to reach the edges of my table so it almost looks like a really wide runner, which is fine, it still works. I left about eight to ten inches draped off either side. Since it was going on the table...with food...I cleaned it first. Also, it was pretty wrinkled after the dryer so I did need to iron it. For a less than $6.00 runner/table cloth that complements the pops of orange very nicely, I think the burlap was well worth the purchase in the end.  

If you want to give burlap a try in place of a traditional table cloth for your Thanksgiving meal this year consider a couple things: 

First, if you buy a few yards of the burlap and your holiday party becomes a bit more wild than expected instead of trying to scrub red wine out of an inexpensive couple yards of burlap try reusing it in your garden to hold in the soil moisture and control wash away or protect your plants form freezes, snow, ice and windburn. Second, use some shiny repeating pops of colors like the orange chargers and the orange bow on the vase. The heavy contrast of the black to the light colored burlap gives the whole table a sharper, more modern look. Just be careful not to add too many rugged touches in addition to the burlap because it could become too severely rustic. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Pretty on the Inside - Repurposing boxes

This is the first time I have ever ordered from the website Piperlime. In addition to having a fantastic selection of sale-priced shoes and free shipping, they have pretty boxes...on the inside, that is. 

You will need:

• Cardboard box with colored or printed interior
• Clear packing tape

So what does one do with a big cardboard box lined in a attractive print? Oh, so many things! I could have cut it into manageable sized squares to stack, store and use as needed for various crafts or turn it inside out and use it as a gift box that I would not have to wrap. But I had a little problem presenting itself on my mantle that I thought the inside of this box may help me tackle. 

I first disassembled the box. 

Turned it inside out and tapped it closed with clear packing tape. 

Now to assess my problem. You have been watching me redecorate my mantle after all the Christmas decorations have been removed. Hopefully, this will be the last step toward working on the mantle for a while. As you can see below, there is a gappy awkwardly stepped line from one splash of white to the next from one side to the other. You do want to draw the eye across by repeating colors, but the differences in height were just all wrong. I needed more levels! 

By adding the box, which has both white and green, the color flow is carried to the next color pop (in this case from the white lamp shade to the white lantern). The box brings some of the elements, including the white lantern, up higher creating levels and a nicer line between colors. FYI - on either side of the mantle sets chairs with white backs bringing the line of white across the focal point of the room. 

Voila! Pretty on the inside makes pretty on the mantle.

Don't Throw Winter Out With The Holiday Decorations!

I find this time of year can be exceptionally depressing, and really, with the effort we put into parties, decorations, presents, etcetera, etcetera with the holiday season it should be a little bare and lonely after all the whirling hubbub of the season has ceased. So, I propose we find a way to embrace this cold, post holiday season. Something that has worked for me is leaving touches of the holidays that do not scream "I refuse to take down my decorations!" around the house. Part of what makes this season gloomy is a recently bustling, bare house. 

Notice in the picture above. This is just a decorative bowl I keep on the mantle year round. I intentionally chose to place green decorative balls inside so they will work with all seasons. Also, observe the seasonal additives, or leftovers, however you like to look at it. Most of the greenery has dried to the point of a fire-hazzard, but breaking off pieces of your evergreen swags before throwing them out keeps the house still feeling homey. Keep the pinecones too. Keep all the decorations that look winter, just not Christmas. Easy into the bare-dom of spring slowly...it will help keep your spirits up.  

Don't Forget Your Great Decorating Ideas!

Inevitably, every year I stand over my Christmas decorations pondering where and how I had placed them the year before. Next, I search for photos and eventually end up doing something completely different then the year before. I was really happy with the living room this year. So, just as a reminder to everyone out there packing away their Christmas decorations, myself included, TAKE PICTURES! Take close ups and distant shots. It will save you time next year and you will be able to replicate your masterpiece with ease. 

Defeat the Decorative Mesh

I have to be honest, this stuff is intimidating! I thought this wide ribbon mesh would be super simple to work with, and I will not say it was difficult, just that the mesh intended to win the fight once I unrolled it. It has pokey edges around the perimeter that catch on everything, including itself. Knowing this information would have been helpful before I began. As you can see I used the ribbon mesh in a couple of places: the typical spiral around the tree and the not so typical fluff around the base. 

I would assume that draping the ribbon mesh around the tree is pretty self explanatory, but if it is not, here is a quick run down. Pick your path around the tree, every couple rows of branches or so. Starting at the top loosely mash and twist the mesh together poking it slightly into tree as you wind it around. The key is to think very little about how and what you are doing as you work with this stuff. This is a six foot tree and it used every bit of a roll of ribbon mesh...just FYI. 

To make the fluff at the bottom of the tree start by accordion pleating the ribbon mesh. Make a fold about every eight to ten inches. 

Make several folds until you have a large stack of pleats. 

Thread a twist tie down through the middle of the pleats and twist it closed. 

When the twist tie is in place and the mesh is released it should look like this, resembling those hard Christmas ribbon candies. 

Grab those spiky edges and roll them under creating a soft bubbled edge. 

After rolling the edges under you should have this. 

Wrap the puff around the base of the tree. 

I was not finished with the tree when I took this picture, but there is no rule that says you have to use a tree skirt or set your tree on the floor. I actually do not use a tree skirt on either tree. Once your presents are around the tree you will only see little bits of the skirt anyway. Raising the tree allows you to use a less expensive tree in a taller room and easily stack taller presents beneath. 

I have listed several Christmas tree decorating ideas. I hope you find them helpful (if you have not decorated yet). 

Christmas Potholders - Out of the Kitchen

My great aunt and my grandmother worked many time-consuming hours on these pretty little potholders. They are intricate, delicate and I certainly do not want to dirty them. Considering my fear of using them the way they were intended I found an alternate way that really saved me from a bind when I ran out of ribbon. 

I had spent at least an hour scaling my three tall breakfast nook windows and dangling from a ladder to hang garland around them. Each room has a different Christmas-time look with the kitchen and breakfast nook dressed in a more antique, home-made, cabin style feel. The ribbon that had been wound just so with the same amount of loops on either side to my shock and disgust was about 2 feet short of the middle. My eyes darted around the remaining decorations for a solution. I was out of ribbon with nothing to match! Then I remembered the potholders. A little creative ribbon negotiation, some twist-ties, a floral pick with a bell, and three potholders later I had an attractive and appropriate centerpiece for my breakfast window garland.    

Holiday Shawls and Wraps...for You or the Furniture

We all know that from year to year holiday party fashions change. I am very cold natured, so, I have accumulated various wraps to match various dresses over the years. I just wanted to share a quick idea with you as you make your home festive this holiday season.

Table runners and toppers can really add up, especially when you just want to add a splash of color or protect your wooden pieces from some tipsy holiday cheer. Before you run out to buy something at the interiors store see if you might have a wrap you are not wearing this season that may better adorn your furniture than yourself.

Helpful Notes to Begin Holiday Decorating

I try to be cognizant of the things I just do that other people do not come upon naturally. It occurred to me while decorating my trees this year that I decorate sometimes without an end result in mind, but still in a very rhythmic pattern. 

Let me try to explain. Well, we all know when all the dusty boxes come down from the attic and the initial joy of open each box has worn off you are left with an overwhelming sense of AHHH, look at all this stuff, now how did I have it all last year? Keep your head. Begin with the things you know, like the lights. They must go on the tree first. Personally, I really dislike stringing lights. My size does not help anything...when I am up and down the ladder and moving it two to three times for every wrap of the strand. The last couple years I have gone minimal on the lights. I found a larger pearlized bulb that I like and I mix it with some tiny white lights. It generates plenty of light with a lot less work. 

Now that the lights are on do not start randomly pulling and hanging things on the tree. Have you ever seen the professors demonstration about how to fill a jar? You start with the big stuff...the rocks, then eventually you end with the sand. This is the same process, not just with you tree but all your home decor. 

Let's stay with the tree for now. I like ribbons and fabric pieces on my tree. I do not drape them the same every year. Sometimes they go diagonal, sometimes criss-cross, sometimes straight down. It does not matter what they do as long as you find some uniformity that fits your look. Play with it! You can because you have not put any ornaments on the tree yet to knock off in your rearranging of the ribbons. 

Next start with your larger ornaments especially those in sets. Place them in diagonals, x's, diamond patterns across the tree. You will notice as you do this the tree fills up quickly and keeps a balanced look. 

Lastly, add all of your special little ornaments. If you or your friends have little ones with little sticky, snatchy hands place the breakables up top and the plastics at the bottom. If you have photo frames or other special pieces you want people to see make sure to save a spot for them at eye level viewing. Remember, not all of the ornaments have to go on the tree. If you have some great ornaments, for instance, purple ornaments and an all white tree, try adding a grouping of clear glass vases in another room full of your pretty purple ornaments. Use all the ornaments you want, just consider their groupings.      

My husband says I am the crazy Target commercial lady at Christmas and with this next statement you may agree, but oh, well. It may only be one of those unconscious things your mind notices but does not put together why you like it, but I like to wrap the presents beneath the tree according to the color scheme of the room. To far? Well, possibly. But it looks really nice! I decided to do ALL white in the living room this year. I even hid the stockings because they had red on them. I have had an all white tree for years, but never the whole room. This was not an easy task, but it turned out lovely! Back to the presents, I wanted to keep with the white theme, so, other than a very few red ribbons I kept the packages black, white, and green for the most part. It sounds obsessive, but really allows the room to shine and not distract your eye to the gifts versus your mantle.

Speaking of mantle...I want to pass along an idea from Mary Carol Garrity, our guest speaker at a luncheon I co-chaired a couple months back. She said she places a piece of ply-wood that matches the color and shape of her mantle on top of her mantle. This protects your mantle from scratches and allows you to hammer a small nail or staple right into the ply-wood veneer. When your decorations are up it appears as if the ply-wood were your actual mantle, yet your mantle has been protected. As you can see below I have tried this on my own mantle.    

Lanterns are for More Than Lighting

What a busy, yet fun and exciting week this has been...with the promise of it spilling over into next week! My husband’s birthday is this weekend, though it appears we will be tabling it until next, of course Halloween is quickly approaching, and the big fundraising luncheon I am co-chairing is next week! Therefore, with my obvious lack of time for any large projects I want to bring you something completely attainable and show you how it works with projects I have already posted for this Halloween season. 

You can go buy something like this (approximately) 10 inch lantern with a ribbon and a candle or something festive inside for around $50, give or take, or you can make it for oh, around $5. I am sort of hesitant to post this because we are selling decorative lanterns at our fundraiser. They are really cute and the lantern it’s self is more stylized than this one, but the simple fact is you are either the type to buy a pre-decorated, marked up, ready to display in your home lantern, or you are the type that is racking your brain right now trying to remember where you have seen a plain lantern for sale and how much it was, because you already have the ribbon and know how much the glitter skull will cost you. But if you are not the do-it-from-scratch type eventually you are going to think, hmmm...I don’t know that I like that ribbon, that candle, that color, that whatever anymore and I want to change it. Consequently, you may want to use the same ideas to “re” decorate your very pretty, pre-decorated lantern someday. 

Lanterns have been around since Biblical times. Yes, now we use them more for decoration, but it appears to me that there not going out of style anytime soon. The really super thing about them is they are as versatile as a little black dress. You can dress them up, dress them down, display them indoors or out, make them decorative or functional...lots of options, but today I am going to keep it pretty Halloween focused. 

Let me begin by reminding you that not everything in the Halloween decoration isles is tasteful for home beautification. My mom would emphatically tell you that this glittered skull is not tasteful, but I disagree. The skull is an obvious clue what holiday we are approaching. It is not grotesque, it’s glittered! Find a piece, of your own liking, that clearly demonstrates what holiday or season you are wanting to convey, hence, the skull. Remember decorating the inside of your lantern does not force you to exclusively use one singular piece. A lantern filled to the brim with mini pumpkins or candy is just as festive. 

Keep in mind the existing colors in the room when choosing something for the inside of the lantern. Additionally, keep in the same colors in mind when choosing the lantern. Lanterns are available in many colors and you want the one that will be most versatile for your decorating and entertaining needs. Notice I have a lot of black and cream in the room, but, for the season, I have added splashes of orange and rusty fall colors. The orange ribbon has some slight variations in the color allowing it to blend seamlessly with the other shades of orange in the room. The very subtle sparkle in the ribbon is not enough to cause discord with the dramatic sparkle of the skull. The skull being silver keeps it from clashing with the color scheme or competing with the color splashes. As you can see the throw pillow that was posted last week is visible in the background, but also not competing for the rooms attention. 

You can place these lanterns in a grouping of items as shown below, next to the seasonal, ever-rotating candy stand. They are also lovely grouped together in varying sizes.

Two-Faced Couch Potato - A double sided Halloween and Thanksgiving pillow

It has been a stressful day. I guess you can probably tell by the blog title. Thankfully this pillow has been on my couch for a week now, so, I am just writing today, not constructing. 

I had the idea for this a few years ago when I bought a really cute, but obviously Christmas pillow. The back side was polka-dot fabric that matched my living room. After Christmas I flipped it around and placed a smaller pillow to the front and side of it. I love that I do not have to store the pillow and I can use it year round. I wanted to at least help you through the fall season with a cute, cheap, functional idea. 

You will need: 

• Felt 
• Crochet thread 
• Wooden letters 
• Leather laces 
• Ribbon or braid 
• Leaves 
• Soap or chalk 
• Poly-fill

Layout the wooden block letters and leaves on the felt. With the soap make small dots as place markers for the lettering and then trace the leaves. 

Remove the leaves after tracing them. 

String the letters onto the leather and knot the ends. 

Sew the leather to the pillow between the knots. Allow the crochet thread to be visible over the leather. 

Lay the braid onto the soap marks. Only sew the braid down with the crochet thread at the corners or bends of the leaves. Again, allow the crochet thread to be visible over the braid. 

This is what the leaves should look like at this point. 

Measure the inside of each leaf where the central vein would be located on a real leaf and cut the leather laces long enough to accommodate the length plus knots at the end. Sew each lace to the inside of the leaf allowing the crochet thread to show on the inside of the knots. 

Retrieve the multi-purpose sign you made earlier in the week. I sewed a checkered ribbon around the edge of the Halloween side. It just helps the pillow to appear professionally made and finished. The Thanksgiving side has more color and the leaves help finish the edges. 

Sew it up! 

Leave a hand-sized hole to fill the pillow with poly-fill. 

Pin the hole.

Sew the hole shut with black thread and Voila!

Multipurpose Halloween Decoration

Seasonal decoration helps to keep me grounded in that particular moment of my life. Yes, I suppose that sounds philosophical yogi with a strange Bravo channel twist. But what I simply want to convey is celebrating and embracing the season through home interiors, quarterly fashions, baked dishes, and even seasonal gardening helps me enjoy what life has to offer at that particular moment in time that will soon become a memory. 

The project I am sharing with you today is really a two part project, but I wanted to give you some time to complete and use today’s project before moving on to the second half. 

You will need: 

• Black felt 
• Off-white crochet thread 
• Needle with a large eye 
• Chalk or a small piece of soap 
• Picture of a spider web (or use the one below) 
• Scissors 

We had a record setting hot summer. As a result we lost every tree we planted in the spring. The other day while checking on my pumpkins I noticed a spider had used one of the dead trees as his own canvas for a bit of Halloween decorating. His work rather impressed me. I decided to photograph this intricate web and copy it for my interior decoration...since I will not be allowing this spider to decorate “inside” my home. 

You may use this picture or the finished project as a template if you like. Otherwise, if you want to find a unique spider web of your own you can turn this into a fun nature project for kids. 

Using a thin piece of soap I wrote, “Happy Halloween” and the picture to replicate the image onto the felt. You could also use chalk. 

I did not use a crochet needle. I used a hand sewing needle with a large eye, but to help the bulky crochet thread through the eye I coated it with soap. You can firmly rub the thread across soap or wax to keep the fibers together and slippery enough to thread your needle. 

This project is for display in your home. You want it to look stylish and valuable. Choosing the cream versus a stark white helps keep it from appearing as a “craft” project. 

Double the thread on the lettering and the supporting web threads. 

And an hour in front of the t.v. later... 

You can use it as a placemat or... 

Attach clothes pins and ribbons to hang it as a sign. Get creative! Find many different uses for your new work of Halloween art. And come back to see my other use for it.