DECK THE HALLS
Cinnammon-Applesauce Ornaments
Christmas comes but once a year, so spread the cheer all through the house.
* Decoupage a serving tray with last year's cards (they're probably sitting in
a drawer somewhere) and set on your coffee table.
* Wrap a garland around the bedroom mirror.
* Arrange a couple of poinsettias in a bare corner and tie big, bright bows
around the pots.
* Decorate the guest bath: Wrap the tissue box like a gift, tie ribbons around
the shower-curtain rings, and set out small fragrant flower arrangements.
* Put out a potpourri of pine needles, orange rinds and cinnamon sticks.
* Decorate the dining-room chandelier with bright, festive ribbon.
* Sew small brass jingle bells along the hem of a tablecloth.
* Boost the effect of votive candles by placing them on squares of mirrored
glass.
* Tie a scarf around a stuffed bear and set him up in a chair.
Add holiday spirit to any corner with a small potted tree like Norfolk pine.
Trim it with toys (the smaller, the better), ornaments (old and new) plus a
garland of bright, shiny beads. When spring comes, plant it outside.
And the stockings were hung by the chimney with care...
Legend has it that the first Christmas stocking was filled with gold coins,
then tossed through the window of a poor nobleman's home to provide a dowry
for his beautiful daughter. And since the man had three daughters--they always
seem to in legends--the miracle was repeated three times. On the third night,
however, the delighted father caught a glimpse of his benefactor--Saint
Nicholas himself. Through the years, the custom of hanging stockings may have
become less marriage-oriented (and the stocking-stuffers less pricey), but
it's no less magical, especially for little ones, whose first taste of
Christmas bounty is often the tiny treasures that stockings hold.
Trimming the tree is one of the highlights of the season, so call the family
together, haul the boxes out of the basement, untangle those wires, hang those
lights and get ready to bask in the glow.
* Lights go on first, garlands next, then ornaments. And while it's easier to
attach the tree-topping angel or star before you stand the tree up, it's more
fun to save it for the final, dramatic touch--just be careful.
* Use lots of lights. If your tree is loaded with a mind-boggling collection
of different ornaments, limit the lights to one color to help tie everything
together. If the tree is sparse, lights in a variety of colors and shapes will
help fill things out.
* Attach strings of lights from the bottom up, working so they're concentrated
at the bottom two thirds of the tree, then gradually thin out toward the top.
(Try to wind wires tightly around trunk and branches so only the lights are
visible.)
* Work from the inside out when hanging ornaments. Put some large, shiny ones
on the innermost branches to reflect light and eliminate dark spots. (Another
way to brighten the center of the tree is to wrap the trunk with foil or
garlands of gold tinsel.)
* Dress the tree with purchased ornaments and things you love. Buttons,
costume jewelry, dollhouse furniture, tiny bits of lace or silk tassels all
add richness and interest. And don't worry about overdoing it. This time of
year, more is definitely better.
* If you don't have a huge collection of ornaments, fill out the tree with
simple things like Christmas cards, candy canes, ribbons and bows, store-
bought tinsel and snowflakes cut from paper doilies. Tiny boxes covered with
gift wrap can look surprisingly elegant, and gingerbread men, cinnamon sticks
and seashells all add charm. To add glitter, hang walnuts, pinecones, bay
leaves or blown eggs decorated with gold or silver paint and tiny sparkles.
* Place your most attractive ornaments at eye level on the outermost branches
for all to see.
* For a lush look, attach ornaments with narrow red, green or gold ribbon
instead of wire hooks. Or, for a country flair, tie ornaments in place with
lengths of raffia.
* Experiment with different tree toppers: A collectible china doll dressed in
its Sunday best, a big fluffy-gold lame bow, a nest of twigs, dried flowers
and small wooden eggs.
* Don't forget to decorate the base of the tree--a pretty tablecloth, a piece
of lace, satin or silk, an arrangement of potted plants or poinsettias, or
even a collection of stuffed animals and dolls is all it takes.
* Be sure to keep the tree moist; fill the stand with fresh water at least
every other day.
Theme Your Trees
Set up small trees and decorate each one differently. Use folk-art crafts,
toys, family photos, greeting cards, cookie cutters, herb bundles and anything
else that appeals. A Southwestern Tree sports popcorn balls, punched-tin
ornaments and plain foam balls covered with dried corn or strips of calico.
Raffia streamers, dried chili peppers and a string of pepper-shaped lights
finish it off. The Natural Tree gets a fragrant melange of dried orange
slices, kumquats, seckel pears and lady apples, and is topped with a
Pepperberry Star edged with tiny pinecones.
Go for the Gold
It may be hard to pull off any other time of year, but the holidays are
perfect for the rich warmth of gold. Toss a Golden Pillow on a sofa, and pull
out all the stops when you do the table. Stamp or paint golden stars and
swirls on white table linens, and set the places with sparkling china, goblets
and flatware. Add inexpensive golden votives, golden starfish or seashells,
Studded Candles (simply use pushpins from the crafts store) and Moss Stars
wrapped in gold ribbon.
Greens Galore
* Drape velvet ribbon through a bowl of fresh fruit, Christmas balls or even
pine boughs to create an instant, informal centerpiece.
* Don't stop at pine for garlands and wreaths. Try boxwood, eucalyptus,
juniper and other evergreens too.
* Tuck sprigs of holly into the soil around potted plants.
* Drape a pretty shawl over a sideboard or mantel, then create a still life
with dried flowers and fresh greens.
* Fill tin cookie cutters with cranberries and popcorn and display them, with
sprigs of holly, on a pretty platter.
* Tuck wooden toys or antique dolls among pine boughs on a mantelpiece.
* Fill glass pitchers or vases with Christmas balls and sprigs of holly.
* Add a string of Christmas lights to a large potted plant.
Holiday Scents
* Place orange rinds, cloves, cinnamon sticks and fresh ginger in a saucepan
with water. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer. The whole house will smell
wonderful.
* Bake an apple pie--even a frozen, store-bought one.
* Buy a small, fragrant topiary--such as rosemary--for a kitchen windowsill.
* Toss a few fresh orange rinds in the fireplace.
* Make a small wreath from fresh lavender stems--just bend them into a circle
and tie with raffia. Hang in the kitchen or bath.
Company's Coming
* Stencil plain white-linen guest towels with holiday themes using gold, green
and red fabric paint.
* Buy fragrant soaps, wrap them in colorful tissue and place them in a basket
in the guest bathroom.
* Make place cards by writing the names of your guests on Christmas balls
using a metallic paint-pen. Or paint the names on wooden napkin rings.
* Drape short ribbons from the chandelier.
* Tie lengths of red velvet ribbon around the corners of the tablecloth.
* Wrap up a little box of assorted chocolates for each place setting.
* Cover doorknobs with holiday fabric that's been cut into squares with
pinking shears. Secure the fabric with a big ribbon.
Easy Decorating
* Dress up the table with a cascade of sugar-dusted fruit. Simply brush fruit
with lightly beaten egg white, dip in granulated sugar, then air-dry on a
rack. Display on fine china.
* When the main event rolls around, pull out all the stops and let your
silver, china and crystal sparkle against elegant, snow-white table linen.
Punch up the shimmer with ribbon-tied napkin rings, glitter-wrapped candies
and shiny tree ornaments. And instead of the usual evergreens and berries,
fill small vases with bunches of fresh white tulips.
* To make a centerpiece in no time at all, fill a wooden box with pears and
kumquats, then tuck rosemary sprigs or small pine boughs all around.
* Step by step to the prettiest stairway: Weave branches of holly through the
posts, add swags of thick gold cord and hang gilded starfish (available at
crafts stores) along the way. To gild starfish: Paint with barn-red acrylic;
add Dutch Metal leaf with white glue.
* A fresh-flower wreath gives a table or sideboard an elegant touch. To make
it: Soak a wreath of florist's foam in water. Drain, place the wreath on a
tray and insert flowers and greens. Stand a vase filled with tree ornaments in
the center.
Let There Be Light
* Tie ribbons around the base of candlesticks.
* Arrange a group of candles--both votives and tapers--on a pretty tray or
mirror. Even unlit, they'll look festive.
* Hang ornaments from the dining-room chandelier.
Staircases may be the traditional spot for swags, but they look absolutely marvelous around doors and windows, over mantels, along chair rails, almost anywhere at all. If time is short, the natural swag and the star swag with twinkling lights are your best bets. With a little more time on your side, you can create handmade treasures to be displayed on fresh greens year after year. Try sponge-painted stockings or our band of tiny velvet angels, right. They're well worth the effort, and you don't even have to make them all this year. Turn out just a few, then fill in gaps on the swag with beautiful bows, dried flowers or your favorite ornaments.
How to Make a Swag
You'll need: * a piece of jute string cut to desired length of swag * green florist's twine * florist's tie wire * florist's picks * pruning shears * sprigs of greenery * decorative extras. To make a natural swag we used boxwood, eucalyptus and cedar adorned with dried oranges, pinecones, gilded phalaris grass, artificial holly berries and poppy-seed pods.
Begin by tying twine to jute with an overhand knot. Cut a bunch of greens about 10" long, hold them against the jute and wrap with the twine. 1. Continue adding and wrapping greens, overlapping each bunch slightly; tie twine to jute when you get to the end. 2. Tie wire to pinecones. Pierce round objects such as oranges with unwired picks; use wired picks to secure berries and small bunches of grass. 3. Attach decorations to the swag by pushing picks beneath the wrapped green twine.
VELVET ANGELS ON A SWAG
YOU'LL NEED (for 4): 1/8 yd each of velvet and muslin; 1/4 yd gold tissue lame and woven interfacing; curly doll's hair (from a crafts store); scraps of Battenberg or other lace; 8" each gold cord or pearls for headband; four 12" wired chenille stems; 1/2 yd each assorted narrow trim for neck and fronts; 2" instrument or ornament to hold; fine felt-tip permanent black marker; blusher for cheeks; polyester fiberfill stuffing; fabric glue (we used Fabri-Tac) or glue gun; 8-per-inch graph paper; gold thread for embroidery (optional). Purchased or homemade swag of greens; see How to Make a Swag, above.
STITCHING NOTE: Stitch pieces with right sides together and 1/4" seam allowance.
TO MAKE: 1. Trace the half patterns for head and body and the wing pattern in the Crafts Corner library. Draw 1 1/2" x 4" pattern for arms on graph paper. 2. Cut 2 heads from muslin, 2 bodies and 2 arms from velvet. Cut 4 wings each, reversing 2, from lame and interfacing. Baste interfacing to the back of each wing. 3. Embroider rows of decorative stitching designs by hand or machine on body-front piece, if you like. Glue or stitch a row of trim down center front. 4. Fold each arm in half lengthwise, wrong side out. Stitch long edge and one end closed. Turn right side out. Cut chenille same length; bend back 3/8" at one end and insert this end first into arm. 5. Stitch a head to each body. With right sides together, pin an arm to each side of front 1/2" below seam, with raw edges matching. 6. Stitch back to front with arms sandwiched between and leaving an opening at bottom. Stuff. Sew opening closed. 7. Glue or sew trim around neck over seam. 8. Arrange a 10"-long bunch of hair on head over seam; arrange, sew and trim as desired. For a headband, wrap gold cord or a string of beads around forehead; lap and sew ends at back. 9. Stitch wings in pairs, leaving straight ends open. Turn. Tuck in ends. Cut lace slightly smaller than front of each wing; glue. Lift hair and sew or glue wings to back. 10. Lightly pencil a simple face: a dot for eye and curve for mouth. Draw with the pen. Brush on blusher cheeks. 11. Bend arms to front. Sew or hot-glue an instrument, ornament or handmade 1 1/2" stuffed lame heart to hands. 12. Insert wire through the back to attach angel to the swag.
STAR SWAG
TO MAKE: Make or buy a swag for the banister or to hang wherever you like (to make, see above). Arrange lights among the greens. Buy paper stars that have holes for hanging, from a crafts or party store, or cut stars from stiff colored paper and punch a hole. Attach stars to the swag by tying them to wired florist's picks and inserting or wiring the picks to the swag. Add bows on picks.
SPONGE-PAINTED STOCKINGS
YOU'LL NEED (for each): 1/2 yd Onsaburg or muslin fabric; FolkArt Acrylic Paints: 2-oz bottle each Christmas Red, Evergreen and Thicket (by Plaid); FolkArt Textile Medium; natural sponge; 1 yd self-adhesive shelving plastic; red and green thread; black medium felt-tip marker; disappearing fabric pen (Plaid); 1"-wide masking tape; transfer paper; waxed paper; coated paper plate or palette; 3 small jars; press cloth; see-through ruler, rotary cutter and mat (or straightedge and X-Acto knife).
TO MAKE: 1. Machine-wash fabric and press while damp. 2. Enlarge stocking pattern in the Crafts Corner library (see How to Enlarge Patterns, below). Add 1" seam allowance all around and cut out paper pattern. Darken lines with the black marker. (For the other stockings, use the toe, heel and checkerboard designs and stars, as in the photographs, adding borders and 1"-wide dark-green stripes as shown.) 3. Pin fabric over pattern and trace design with the disappearing marker. On another piece, trace stocking back, reversed, omitting designs. (Do not cut exact stocking shapes before painting.) 4. Stencils: Tape pattern firmly over the shelving plastic. Cutting through pattern and plastic, leaving the 1" border intact, cut out the light-green sections only; save negative shapes as stencils and positive shapes as masks. 5. Cut another stencil for red sections (premark red squares to prevent mistakes). Cut stars as masks. Cut a third stencil for 1"-wide dark-green stripes, or plan to mask fabric between stripes with tape. 6. To paint: In a jar, mix red paint with textile medium, following manufacturer's directions. Place stocking front on waxed paper. Peel paper backing off stencils and masks and cover all except red parts on stocking front. Dampen sponge and squeeze out excess water. Pour paint onto plate, dip sponge into paint and blot on a paper towel. Dab paint onto fabric through the stencil to achieve a mottled texture. (Paint more solidly around edges to clarify shapes.) When paint is partly dry (you can speed drying with a hair dryer), carefully remove stencil. Let dry. 7. Paint light-green sections. When dry, paint dark-green sections. 8. Cut 3" x 7" fabric for the hanging loop. Place loop and stocking-back on waxed paper. Sponge back in toe color of front; sponge loop to match color at upper edge. 9. Press to set paint, following manufacturer's instructions. 10. Assembly: Cut out front and back. With right sides together, stitch front to back on seamline, leaving top open. Trim seam allowance to 1/4" with pinking shears. Zigzag or serge seam allowance and upper edge. Turn right side out. Press top hem to inside. Fold loop in half lengthwise, right sides together; stitch long edges closed with 1/2" seam allowance. Trim seam; turn; press. Pin ends of loop inside back corner of front. With thread matching paint, topstitch around upper edge 1/2" below fold, catching the loop in the stitching.
HOW TO...To enlarge patterns on a photocopier, start with a 150 or 200 percent enlargement and keep increasing or decreasing successive copies until the length of each grid section is 1" or required length. If not using a copier, draw squares on pattern by connecting the grid lines shown around the edges. On graph or plain paper, make a grid of 1" squares (or size required). In each square, copy lines from the corresponding square of the pattern.
CENTERPIECES:
Centerpieces don't have to be traditional flowers in a stiff arrangement; anything you want can be front and center. Just remember to keep the height of your centerpiece low enough so that guests can see each other across the table:
Pine cones, spray-painted red and green, interspersed with shiny Xmas balls for the holidays
Branches of evergreens can have "snow" on them by sprinkling with powdered sugar
Sprays of dried, colored leaves and acorns and squash in baskets for autumn
Fresh cut flowers don't have to be immersed in a vase--use a milk jug, pitcher, coffee pot, or an arrangement of small laboratory bottles, each holding a single bud.
The same is true of candlesticks--use a melange of sizes, styles, heights, and colors to make a majestic, flickering focal point.
A footed cake plate for a series of tiny pots of violets or miniature cacti
Use all types of collectibles that you may own-- snow globes, animal figurines, tea cups, etc.
Highly fragrant blossoms (tuber roses, lilacs, and gardenias, for example) are ideal for an elegant tea, but for a sit-down dinner, their delicious redolence will compete with your food; for outdoor entertaining, they may be too fragrant and attract bugs.
OR.....
Cinnamon Ornaments
Mix all ingredients well and add a few drops of
cinnamon oil if scent isn't strong enough
(if using "old" cinnamon, for example).
Roll out between 2 sheets of plastic wrap to about 1/8" thickness.
Cut with cookie cutters into desired shape and
use a drinking straw to make hole for hanging.
Let air-dry for several days, flipping every day to make sure
both sides dry evenly. Hang from ribbon or cord and,
if desired, embellish with fabric paint, ribbon, lace
or fabric scraps (glued on), etc.
Kitty showed many Victorian styled ornaments,
wreaths, garlands, centerpieces and edibles at
several Victorian Inns in Cape May. NJ.
My personal favorite was the handkerchief dolls.
Made from a hankie, cotton balls for the inside of the head,
and a simple ribbon to tie off the neck.
(more ribbon to tie off arms if desired)
They were so simple and pretty.
It’s a good thing to do with many of
the vintage linens that we collect.
Another idea is to 'tea stain' the linen first.
Black coffee works best.
HOW TO HAVE A STRESS FREE HOLIDAY!
SEASONS GREETINGS TO MY ON-LINE FRIENDS!
© 1997 bondiblue2@mac.com
| |||||||
|
Holidays for Fun belongs to | |||||||
Get your own Free Home Page