All things old and new to enhance your home and holidays
Celebrate the seasons and special times
To create an easy centerpiece for a coffee table, we made use of an old wicker pie basket and a mason jar. We placed an LED candle in the mason jar and then around it placed lemon pomanders, cinnamon sticks, pinecones, nuts, berries and mini fruits. It was finished off with a couple sprigs of…
The scarecrow is guiding you to find the pumpkin Patch. This is an old Martha Stewart purchase from Martha by Mail. He is looking a bit worse for wear, but he has had a tough job fending off those crows! The pumpkins are painted galvanized metal. The salvia ‘Indigo Spires’ are incredibly vibrant this year….
It’s getting spooky in town! The pumpkins are being delivered, the jack-o-lanterns are getting lit and witches are flying and stirring their cauldrons. Trick or treaters are getting ready to spirit around to gather goodies. Retired lighted houses The Haunted Mansion, The Spooky Farmhouse and Grimsly Manor from Department 56’s Snow Village Halloween collection are…
An easy and inexpensive way to decorate your urns or planters for the holidays is to use greenery and lighted grapevine balls. Here, we used a 25′ bundle of inexpensive white pine roping, cut into four sections and placed each in the urns. We took large 10″ grapevine balls and wrapped each with a set…
Instead of carving a pumpkin for Halloween decorating, consider using a dried gourd. It will take some time and effort, but it will reward you with being able to use it for years to come. Of course you can grow and dry your own gourds, but you can also easily find already dried gourds at…
It’s twilight and the brisk autumn air is filled with the fragrance of waning leaves and bonfires. Off in the distance, lantern-light is seen dancing in the darkness. People have gathered to celebrate the end of the harvest and to honor the dead. Guided by the light glowing from within carved turnips, they leave apples…
Victorian Christmases were truly handmade and full of bustle. Specialty Christmas shops didn’t exist. Acres of malls from which to buy presents were unknown. Through Victorian ingenuity and hard work that brought the family together for every task, the holiday celebration was equally resplendent with joy and beauty. Outside, the air is cold and crisp,…
One of the best gifts you can give for the holidays is something you make yourself. We always make extra sweets and wrap them up to give as holiday gifts. Last year we presented this whole tray as a single gift.
The egg is the eternal and quintessential symbol of springtime. Here are some of our favorite egg crafts using blown eggs. Blowing an egg is very easy. Using a corsage pin, make holes in each end of the egg, with a large hole on one end. Swish the pin around to break up the yoke…
This centerpiece is very easy to make and perfect for any table during autumn or the holidays. The amount of supplies and the size of the Styrofoam base will vary depending upon what you feel is a good size for your table. Here, our base was about 16″x12″. We used six 3″ pillar candles in…
I’ve always wanted to try my hand at making Ukrainian Easter eggs. The process is a fascinating one as the design is created by using a special tool designed to hold beeswax and is heated by a candle. With this instrument you draw your design and then dip a blown out egg in a dye…
What a bright and sunny greeting this wreath makes on a door for the harvest season! And nothing could be easier. Because of our abundant wildlife and busy traffic through this door, we used artificial bits from the craft store. Ideally, it could be made using things right from your garden. Sunflowers, an assortment of…