Giving Your Stair Banister the Holiday Treatment

Chances are you decorate your entry door and windows over the holidays. If you have a fireplace mantle, you most certainly take advantage of hanging your stockings and showing off your Christmas collectibles. So don't give up the opportunity to decorate one of the grandest architectural features of a home: the stair banister! If you got it, flaunt it!

Measure your staircase from top to bottom and plan your materials accordingly. If you are draping ribbon, you'll need to use at least double the length of the banister. The same goes for lights and garland. It's always better to have more than less, so a little excess can simply be used somewhere else in your home!

Instead of the usual evergreen garland and red ribbon or bows, try a bright citrus color like orange or a regal color such as fuchsia. Layer a translucent ribbon in the same shade to add depth. A great evergreen alternative is thick wire ribbon draped in loops up the banister. Add large pinecones (we always seem to forget these great accents!) and berry, floral or holly sprays at the top of the loops to make it festive yet natural looking.

Everyone places wreaths on their doors, but what about wreaths attached side by side on the banister? What a great way to showcase them! You can get more creative with the wreath accents then accents on a garland and create a banister that is simply stunning.

Sometimes simple equals elegant. One way to add more floral accent to a simple evergreen garland is to attach white, pink or red silk poinsettias. These gorgeous and traditional Christmas plants have often been resigned to a pot or silk arrangement. Not anymore! Add large bows and berry/pearl sprays in coordinating colors at the top and bottom of the staircase to complete the creation.

Another great take on the Christmas tree is to gather large evergreen boughs and stagger them up the banister. Then take large round ornaments on satin ribbons and hang them from the boughs at different lengths.

Decorative Wreaths - Home Decorating With Beautiful Decorative Wreaths

Whether bought to welcome guests at the front door or to grace the fireplace mantle, decorative wreaths make a wonderful addition to any home. Easy to display and change with the seasons, decorative wreaths come in many varieties of colors, flowers, sizes and materials. Home decorating can be simplified and the home's beauty enhanced with the addition of one or two well placed decorative wreaths.

There are several kinds of wreaths that are available and each have their pro's and con's.

Dried wreaths are made of flowers and leaves that have been dried either in a controlled environment or by exposure to natural sunlight. These wreaths work best for people living in a humid climate. Without dense humidity, breakage and flower crumbling occurs quite easily. Overall these decorative wreaths will look the best when they are new but will begin to deteriorate over time and will eventually need to be replaced.

Preserved wreaths are made of live flowers that have been chemically preserved. Some preserving agents also add a boost of color to give the wreath a longer life and more vibrant colors.

These wreaths work best for people living in a dry climate as humidity often causes their artificially added color to run or their preservation to be compromised. Preserved decorative wreaths will also look best when they are new but will break down and eventually will need to be replaced. Also it is best to use these wreaths outdoors because of the chemicals that they have been treated with.

Artificial wreaths, made from synthetic materials, are designed to withstand all types of weather and humidity levels. They are also hypoallergenic and require little if any maintenance. Most high quality decorative wreaths look extremely lifelike and are designed to endure beautifully season after season, year after year. The use of artificial decorative wreaths is the recommended and best choice both for the lasting beauty they offer but also for their longevity.

Depending on the flowers and foliage in your wreath, small adaptations can keep it in season all year round. In summer, consider adding a few sprigs of fresh greenery and even a few real or silk in-season blooms such as tulips or crocuses. In summer, remove the spring additions and add a warm, buttery silk bow with a fan of dried variegated grasses or small blooms such as orange blossoms. In fall, remove summer additions and add rust colored leaves and a spray of baby's breath running throughout or tied in a bow on the side. In winter, remove the fall additions and wrap a string of miniature white Christmas lights around your wreath and add a few small gold ornaments with a large red velvet bow.

Coming of Age Activities and Celebrations

Have you thought of doing something special for your daughter as she "comes of age?" Many families and communities are finding creative ways to acknowledge girls during puberty.

These ideas will help you honor your daughter's new maturity, acknowledging change, and create a memory of a passage shared. You and she will create moments unique to you, and, who knows? It may be the beginning of a new tradition that she will share with her own family and community in years to come.

Projects

Does your daughter have a cause she is passionate about? Would she enjoy taking on a more involved community project? She might also be ready for a bigger responsibility at home. Some communities invite girls, as they pass through puberty, to give a presentation to a group of women they know, sharing about something they are interested in.

Research coming of age in different cultures. Navajo and Apache communities, for example, hold coming-of-age to be one of the most important ceremonies of all. Why is that? Why does the entire community honor these girls as having special power, and ask them to say special blessings?

Celebrations and Gatherings

Invite friends of any age and have a party! Have a "red" theme, if you want, to symbolize womanhood and power. Read a verse, sing a song, light a candle, have girls walk through an archway, take photos, and eat yummy food.

Crown the girls with wreaths that they make from ivy, flower garlands, or poster-board. Decorate the crowns with ribbon and lace, and crown the girls during a special moment, welcoming them into the circle of women.

Here are things other families have done: One mother, a dance teacher, is planning a gathering of creative movement activities for women and girls in her community. Another, who loves the outdoors, facilitated an overnight for several girls, where each one could have some time alone under the stars, in a safe environment.

Tips For Displaying Your Collector's Dollhouse Without an Interior Decorator

In the wide world of dollhouse accessories there are so many to choose from it can be quite difficult to find just the right piece for your dollhouse. You started with just the house, added the basic furnishings, yet it just doesn't seem quite right. It's not cozy enough or perhaps you just have a feeling it's not finished yet. This is the time to start shopping for dollhouse accessories.

For example, your beautiful Victorian dollhouse is complete on the outside, and you have purchased the chairs, hutches, kitchen appliances and various bedroom furniture. It's still too spacious to adequately represent that particular time period when the entire house was filled to the brim with various figurines, beaded lamps, frilly coverlets and wall hangings.

You are in luck! These days finding the perfect dollhouse accessories are as simple as a quick trip to the Internet. It's easy to fill the china hutch with replicas of find china plates and teacups, or perhaps that table at the end of the loveseat required a tea service complete with treats on a tray? Maybe you need to find a finely painted floor covering made from canvas to bring a bit more authenticity to the parlor?

Whatever you need, it's available and a very reasonable cost. You may have set your dollhouse on a table with a bit of artificial grass. You can even find dollhouse accessories for the lawn. A little simple landscaping such as a rose bush by the front door or an outside lamp can really add to the details you are trying to include for a more finished look.

You can even accessorize to reflect holidays or seasons. In the winter, you may choose dollhouse accessories such as quilts on the beds or thick rugs for the floors.

In the spring you may want to brighten up a room by changing the curtains to something lighter allowing natural light in. At Christmas, trees covered in ornaments, wreaths, plates of gingerbread cookies, trains, gifts, nativity scenes, baking supplies and so many more dollhouse accessories are available to set the mood in your dollhouse.

Purchasing a small jack-o-lantern and placing a bowl filled with candy by the front door can even celebrate Halloween. There is even tiny painted Easter eggs and baskets to decorate with.

Perhaps your dolls love animals; you can purchase birdcages with canaries in them, cats to curl up on the chair and dogs lying in front of the hearth. You can even showcase a miniature collection of dolls, artwork, and shadow boxes filled with butterflies. Anything you could possibly want in your own home is available as a dollhouse accessory.

Dollhouse accessories don't end with decorous items; it can include items such as gingerbread trim on the house, a particular style of doorknob, or adding shutters. You might want to add cleaning supplies to a shelf in the mudroom, or a stack of bills to be paid on the desk in the office. Don't forget to line your bookshelf with books or buy a box of diapers for the baby's room when choosing dollhouse accessories, either.

It is so much fun to build the dollhouse, more fun to furnish your dollhouse, but the real fun begins when it is time to buy all the dollhouse accessories. You will laugh at the size of the roll of toilet paper and be astounded by the options of kitchenware and color choices in clothing and accessories for your dolls. Have fun, go a little crazy, and don't forget the tiniest details when you are choosing your dollhouse accessories.

15 Summer Decorating Ideas

Summer decorating is a wonderful time to lighten up the colors and fabrics in your home. While you may not be able to decorate every room, there are numerous ways to add summer flair. You can decorate with a summer theme such as fruit (apples, strawberries, grapes), flowers (roses, carnations, daisies), or seaside nautical in addition to following some of the ideas listed below.

1. Replace heavy drapery with light sheers. The sheers provide an airy appeal while letting in the sunshine. If removing your existing drapery is not an option, consider changing just the valance and tiebacks to a lighter color. Another option is to use grapevine wreaths, strands of beads, artificial flowers, or decorative ribbons as your tiebacks or swag holders.

2. Store away items that are not useful in the summer such as blankets, throws, and heavy quilts.

3. Lighten up the color of your sofa by placing a slipcover on it or replacing your dark colored pillows with lighter colors.

4. Place light colored slipcovers on your all-wood dining room or kitchen chairs.

5. To add a lighter summer touch to your dark wood tables, use white lace or doilies as runners or tablecloths.

6. If you have a heavy bedspread, considering replacing it with a lightweight linen blanket.

7. Bring in the outdoors by adding fresh flowers in vases or baskets to counters, tabletops, and nightstands.

8. Add summer accessories around your home such as birdhouses, sea shells, bowls of fruits or vegetables, and summer reading materials.

9. If you have dark lampshades, replace them with lighter ones.

10. Repaint a dark hallway in your favorite hue such as buttery yellow, a creamy tan, or a fresh apple green.

11. Display a grouping of floral plates on a wall, hutch, or fireplace mantle.

12. Clean out the ashes in your fireplace and fill the firebox with a large artificial fern or a basket of colorful flowers.

13. Place twigs in tall vases and set on each side of the fireplace mantle.

14. To add summer whimsy to your bathrooms, hang lightweight fabric shower curtains printed with ladybugs, bees, flowers, or palm trees. Display matching hand towels and rugs to continue the summer theme.

15. Change the layout of your furniture to give your rooms a fresh, new look.

Decorating your home for the summer does not have to be complicated or cost a lot of money. As you can see from the ideas listed above, a new lamp shade, adding new fabrics, or changing the paint color of a room can breathe new life into your interior design. So, have fun and use your imagination to bring some fresh new looks into your home for the summer season.

Jesse Tree and Advent

Jesse Tree and Advent are tied together where as the Jesse Tree has biblical root. Some parishes defer the use of a Christmas tree to a Jesse Tree in the Altar or sanctuary area. Of course some of the Christmas Tree roots do go back to Pagan believes around the time of Constantine, who added some of the pagan tradition into Christianity as a conversion point. The use of a Jesse Tree and now the variation the Jesse Tree Advent Wreath provide solutions for those with concerns. The Jesse Tree is steeped in Jewish tradition and henceforth Christian tradition.

Running in parallel with the Advent wreath each week ornaments are placed on the Jesse Tree. But these ornaments are not the frosty little snowmen, or Santas they ornament well thought out to show the evolution up through the birth of Christ. In some places the ornaments are placed daily and there is a coinciding Old Testament passage to be read each day that highlight a person who contributed to moving God's word forward. If doing this daily you may choose to draw on construction paper a Dove or fish or maybe a tree. And as Genesis 1:1-2:3 is read aloud you would place this item on the tree.

Churches may do this weekly and make it coincide with the lighting of each of the advent wreath candles. They selected Joseph, David (son of Jesse), John the Baptist and Jesus as the Sunday persons that the ornaments are to be based on. For Joseph, the ornament should be a Sack of Grain or a Coat. For David's representation it should be a Shepherd's Crook or a Harp and for John the Baptist, a Scallop Shell. And for Jesus, the ornament prescribed is a manger.

As parents struggle to keep Christmas about Jesus, the use of the Jesse Tree, especially if the parish is using one, is the reason that a Jesse tree advent wreath may be a perfect addition to the home. The scenes are displayed around the wreath to make a circle. The daily practice of speaking about Biblical Figures helps shift the focus from commercialism and the chorus of "I want" when it comes to toys.

The other nice thing about the Jesse Tree is this can be a great opportunity for you to read the Bible stories that go along with each person. It is a great refresher for the parent where as many under forty were not as well catechized as their parents. Rome recognizes this problem and is starting adult education programs. However, to go with a Jesse Tree themed advent wreath it's a great way to brush up on who the major figures of the Old Testament where as well as the Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth and her husband, Zachariah as well as the Magi.

Advent can be a season used not only as a penitential season but it can also be used to strengthen the core of the family. The Jesse Tree is sometimes called an Advent Tree because it functions throughout Advent, foretelling of the good news that is coming, the birth of our Savior.

Home Decorating Ideas - Country Style Updated

What do you enjoy most about Country Home Decorating? For some the fondest memories are the casual, colorful, nic-nac haven of the 1980's...I remember that time, do you? Other country home decorating ideas of the past included painted wood plaques on the walls, pine furniture with cut out hearts, wreaths made of natural materials, ruffles, braided area rugs, bunnies and duckies (with clothes on) in the front yard...it was and still can be, a comfortable, cozy and homey type of decor. In my 1980's neighborhood it was THE decorating look!

Twenty five years later, Country home decor is still a comfortable and sought after look, although some of the elements have undergone a 21st century transformation. In this fresher, updated look, the wall plaques and ruffled plaids may no longer be present, but the overall look is still casual, informal and inviting.

Antique pieces, distressed wood (from age or intentional) of pine, oak and maple are staples of country home case goods. There are many great sources of new, well constructed furniture that provide a timeworn appearance - a big plus! If your style preference is more sophisticated upscale county, you'll most likely select new pieces which will have a light wood finish and a slightly more traditional look as opposed to a Colonial style turned leg, for example.

The cute ginghams and red, blue and green plaids are gone. Textile choices should remain organic, informal and durable, but the pattern and color schemes may vary, depending on homeowner taste. Select your color scheme early on in the project, determining the two or three colors that will make up your palette, and add one or two accent colors. Then stick with the plan to ensure that your space retains that 'put together' look.

As with any home decorating project, Country Home Decorating requires thoughtful planning with regard to the budget, color scheme and coordination of the furniture, accessories and room layout. And please remember that country decor doesn't mean cluttered and disorganized.

Collectables such as candles, baskets, porcelain figures, small antiques, baskets or whatever your passion is, can be displayed in a way that showcases them rather than disappearing into the background. How? Display your pieces in groupings of five or less, varying the size and shape of each piece and thus creating an interesting vignette. Whatever you decide to use as an accent in your country style home, make sure it is something that you love and enjoy having around every day, and that will be your secret to success.

Country style decorating is practical, so look for ways to make your pieces multi-task, or give them a new function. For example, if you have found the most perfect hand-woven basket to add to your home's country decor, use it for storage as well. The antique nightstand that you picked up at the flea market may have a place in the guest bathroom as a small storage unit.

Whether your unique interpretation of country style decorating is rustic, casual and primitive, or updated, fresh and simple...decorate from the heart with pieces you love and you will be pleased with the result.

Outdoor Wreaths - How to Select the Perfect Outdoor Wreath Part 1

In this article series, we'll discuss the elements of shopping to select the perfect outdoor wreath to compliment the area you have in mind. Outdoor wreaths are a very effective way to bring color and texture to a front door, a back patio, a porch, or just about any area. We'll also discuss how to be sure that your online transaction is safe and secure when purchasing over the internet.

To start, determine the area which you are seeking to add enhancement. Ask some basic questions - What size wreath am I looking for? What sort of durability will I need to handle the outdoor elements? Is there a theme or particular color in the rest of my outdoor decor that my wreath will need to flow with? Will a live wreath, a dried wreath, or a silk outdoor wreath suit my purposes best?

Now that you've determined answers to your first question, next, let's talk a bit about lighting. What is the temperature of your room? Because your wreath is outdoors, it is true that the lighting will technically be "natural" but does it have direct sunlight or does it bear the blue tones of sun shadow because direct natural light never shines in that room? Keep in mind that natural light will greatly enhance the beauty and vibrancy of your wreath. Is your current lighting adequate? Will the lighting of the space determine the hues of greenery or flowers in your outdoor wreath?

Also be sure that your outdoor wreath is appropriately sized for the space you would like to hang it. Oversized wreaths look very nice as house ornaments while small dainty wreaths look very inviting on individual doors.

Next determine the season that your wreath will express. Use warm and bright colors of flowers, bright fresh greenery, and seasonal berries for spring and summer. Use rust colors, deep browns, grasses, or earthen accessorized wreaths for fall. Individual holidays such as Christmas, Easter, and July Fourth can be accentuated by a simple red bow, set of Easter bulbs, or decorative flag added to your current in-season outdoor wreath. You will want the blossoms and blooms of your outdoor wreaths to correspond with the blossoms and blooms of nature for that season. For example, in early summer, flower blooms will be bursting with vibrant color, but by early autumn, those blooms will have withered up and fallen off. Don't display a wreath overflowing with spring bulb plants as fall is setting in.

Having determined the season, context, and lighting, you can now shop for the perfect outdoor wreath to compliment your area of need.

In our next installment, we'll look closely at how to find the widest selection of wreaths with the least amount of effort and how to ensure a safe and secure online transaction when purchasing over the internet. Stay tuned!

Sympathy Flower Arrangements

Flower arrangement is an art. You have to know how to play with the colors of the different flowers to radiate the mood you want to project. You have to know how to cut the flowers properly for them to stand firmly or to fall properly and not fall because they are starting to wilt and die. There are basic forms that florists can follow like bouquets, wreaths, table centerpieces, or basket flowers. But nowadays, florists are starting to experiment on unorthodox methods to arrange the flowers to enhance the beauty and extract the best moods.

This experimentation continues for sympathy flower arrangement. You can see the conventional wreaths or bouquets or basket flowers or coffin sprays. Nowadays, florists offer customized shapes to give a personal touch to the gift you offer to the mourning family members. There are now heart-shaped flower arrangements, and crosses and crucifixes are not so uncommon anymore. Star-shaped or pillow-type arrangements are also used more often.

Florists use their knowledge and their imagination to mix and match the different flowers to brighten the mood of the already somber occasion. It is never easy for you or anyone to loose a loved one. Often, the news of a departed leaves you in shock and in a state of confusion, even if the deceased is not someone you know personally, but someone whom you knew from a friend, a co-worker, a classmate, a church mate in your congregation, or maybe a team member in your basketball group. It doesn't matter how you know the person, the reaction is the same. Florists use their expertise to help ease the pain of the loss and at the same time be sensitive to the cultural differences and avoid any religious clashes that could occur.