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Archive for the ‘Home and Garden’ Category

Traditional Green Wreath

Yesterday’s blog was about welcome mats and how they set the tone of greeting for your holiday guests. Another way to say welcome at your door without saying a word is a wreath. These come in literally all shapes, sizes and colors, so find something that matches your unique personality, your home, or the type of welcome you want to extend.

My recommendation is to have fun with this!

If you don’t have a wreath hanger on your door, you can buy inexpensive hangers that hook over the top of your door.  Just make sure your door will close with one on. I like the metal hangers because they are relatively flat and work with most doors.

Traditioanl Fresh Green Wreath with Berries

This time of year a lot of service organizations and clubs also sell fresh green wreaths to raise funds. You can get a very nice wreath and contribute to a good cause at the same time.

Boxwood Wreath

Boxwood Wreaths are fun and can come in some interesting shapes and styles. The greens are always vibrant and look great with nothing more than a simple red or plaid bow.

Cedar Wreath

Cedar Wreaths are another fun, fresh alternative that runs toward the classic holiday look. The best thing about these wreaths are the fragrance. If you’ve never smelled fresh cedar – you must sniff some this holiday season. It is divine.

If you are concerned about getting sap on your door, I’d steer away from fresh greens and go toward something a bit more out-of-the-box.

Pinecone Wreath

A pinecone wreath is a fun, woodsy way to say welcome. Just gather an assortment of pinecones and glue to a styrofoam form or wire to a wire form. You can get creative and add in different accents like nuts, twigs, cinnamon sticks, etc. If you wanted to stretch your effort to last a bit longer, you could use this wreath for Thanksgiving and right on through the holiday season.

Red Berry Wreath

Red Berry Wreaths are guaranteed to grab some attention with their bright red pop of color. You can purchase these wreaths pre-made or make one yourself by hot-gluing berries onto a grapevine or evergreen wreath form.

Candy Wreath

Candy wreaths are super easy (just time consuming) and make a whimsical splash at your entry. Don’t be surprised if you find a few missing as people pass by and can’t stop themselves from grabbing one. You simply hot glue the candy onto a styrofoam wreath form and finish with a bow.

My niece and I decided to make one years ago. After multiple burns, much grumbling, several pieces of eaten candy and possibly a few tears along with an annoying whiny-pants who kept asking “can’t we quit now?” she finished up the wreath while I ate another piece of candy and we hung it on the front door. Neither one of us has been up to the challenge of repeating the process. But it did look great!

Traditional Green Wreath

I think my favorite wreath, though, is one of traditional mixed greens finished with a plaid bow. Boring? Maybe. But to me that circle of green with the bright plaid bow says “holidays” like few things can.

You can decorate your wreaths as elaborate or as plain as you like. Most wreaths look nice finished with a bow – how much easier can it be than that?

So go hang a wreath, pat yourself on the back for adding some holiday cheer outside your door and go eat a sugar cookie for me.

Happy Holiday Entertaining!

The Traditionalist

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The wind is blowing, it is way chillier than I’d like it to be and tomorrow I will be wearing a ridiculous costume to work. That is a combination that has put me in a frame of mind to pilfer good ideas from someone else. I’m all tapped out today.

So I would like to direct your attention to the Better Homes and Gardens website.

You will find a bounty of great ideas here for everything from decorating ideas to recipes.

Some of the things that were speaking to me today include:

This cool, but very  simple fall arrangement. Beautiful!

This fabulous corn husk centerpiece. Love the rustic charm.

And this pumpkin with a glowing candle. What a fun way to utilize a pumpkin.

If you are looking for some great ideas, Better Homes and Gardens is sure to have something that will get your creative juices flowing.

Happy Entertaining!

Shanna

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The other day I hosted a party which gave me the opportunity to put together a buffet table. Using a fall theme, I knew I wanted to keep it simple, but still have fun with it.

The three elements to setting a successful buffet table are height, color and texture. Remember those three things and you can’t go wrong.

When you are setting a buffet, start with a table covering. It can be anything you want to use. Feel free to get creative and think outside the box. I like to use flat sheets because they are inexpensive, drape well, are easy-care and come in a variety of color and sizes. Go with a neutral base. For this buffet I chose black as my neutral. Add some height elements, remembering to keep your centerpiece on one end of the table to create visual interest. I just used some cardboard boxes to create height then covered them with another black cloth. Over the top of that I layered a fun pumpkin print fabric to add more color and texture.

The centerpiece was the next item to go on the table. Using fall florals from my yard, it came together nicely. Except for the lack of something green and fern-like. (Side note: carrot tops look green and fern-like if you don’t have anything else handy and they stand up much better than I thought they would!).

Plan where each dish will sit on the table. I like to make little party cards that say what  is in each dish and then place them on the table beforehand. That way once it is time to put out the food, I know exactly where it goes. I have also been known to set out the serving pieces before I put the food in them so I can see how the table will look.

Once you dish up the food and put it on the table, it will really start to pull the look together. The combination of height, color and texture found in your table coverings, serving pieces and food will impress your guests and look fantastic!

Give it a try and let me know how it goes!

Happy Entertaining!

Shanna

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Word of the Week: Heirloom

heir·loom

{air-loom}

adjective

being an old variety that is being cultivated again

Heirloom Carrots

Way back in the spring when the gardening bug was nipping away at me, I decided to plant carrots. The only problem was that I couldn’t find any carrot seed. Crazy, I know, but true.

So Hubby came home one day with a packet of heirloom carrot seed. I didn’t think anything about the seed being “heirloom” and quickly planted them. It wasn’t until I pulled up a purple carrot and stood looking at it a bit confused that I finally remembered we’d planted heirloom carrot seed.

It has turned into somewhat of an adventure. When you pull up a carrot, you never know what color you are going to get. It could be traditional orange, glowing white, brilliant yellow or purple.

A plate of shredded funky-colored heirloom carrots.

The other day when I decided to make Hubby his favorite carrot cake, I had a plate full of  oddly colored carrot shreds and wondered what they’d look like in the cake batter. Turns out, you can’t even tell. But I will tell you, it was an excellent cake. The carrots were so fresh and soft and rich it made a huge difference in the texture of the cake.

I would encourage you to try planting a few heirloom seeds next spring and see how much fun (and how tasty) it can be!

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