Halloween: Safety Tips For Holiday Decorating

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Halloween: Decorating For The Holiday

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Seasonal Decor: Fall Home Decor Ideas

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Fall Home Decor: Natural Style

Holiday Gift Wrap Ideas

Ready to get creative with gift wrapping?  Check out these holiday gift wrap ideas:

Unique Gift Wrapping Ideas

Have you been using the same ol’ holiday gift wrapping paper for years and are ready for something new?  If you take the time to create your own wrapping paper is it a really great way to show someone that you really took the time to make their present special.

Some great items for creating gift wrap are: scissors; ribbons; glue; glitter; small Christmas balls and rubber stamps

Tissue Paper:

Choose the color you’d like to wrap your gift up in and wrap it up in tissue paper.  You can use a ribbon of a similar or matching color or combine different colors of ribbons and tie them around it.

Tin Foil:

Get really creative and wrap a gift with tin foil.  After you’ve wrapped the present you can glue a gift card with a poem; rhyme; sentiment or picture to the middle of the gift to add an extra special touch for the person you are giving it to.

Paper bags:

Most people have some paper bags at home.  If you do, creating adorable wrapping paper is easy and affordable!  This is a great activity with the kids and you can use many of their arts and crafts supplies to spice up the bag.  Use markers, paints, crayons, glitter, rubber stamps and whatever else you can think of to add personalize the gift bag for the recipient.

Personalized wrapping paper:

Take printed photos of the recipient and print them on your computer, then glue them to the gift.  You can cover the whole gift package with pictures or add just one or two for an added touch.

Cellophane:

Another popular idea is to use colored cellophane as wrapping paper.  There are so many things you can do to wrap a gift in cellophane.  For example, a popular idea is to take homemade cookies on a plate and warp them up with cellophane and a ribbon.  Candies in a mug wrapped with cellophane is another popular gift.

Make a curly cue bow:

Open your scissors up so that you have one blade to work with.  After you have tied your ribbon onto the gift by simply using a knot or bow, place the blade at the bottom of the bow where there is extra ribbon and press firmly with your thumb on the inside of the ribbon and place your index finger on the blade on the outer side of the ribbon.  Then run the blade up to the top of the ribbon, now you’ve made a curly cue.

There are so many different kinds of wrapping paper you can buy, literally thousands, but there is only one creative holiday gift wrap idea, and that is one made with love and care.

Yard Decorating Ideas For Christmas

We spend lots of time decorating the inside of our homes, but other then putting up the lights outside have you thought of decorating the outside?  If not, consider bringing it outside with these yard decorating ideas for Christmas.

Decorating Your Yard For Christmastime

Christmas holiday time is a great time to drive around the neighbourhood to look at the enchanting homes.  As you see the decorations you get inspired to get creative and decorate your own yard.

Here are some get ideas for decorating the yard for Christmas:

Of course the tried and true outside decoration is to run Christmas lights around the eaves and sides of your house, and along the outer edges of your windows.  Consider placing a nice wicker basket full of Christmas balls (plastic ones if you have small children) on your front porch.  Take garland and wrap it around or all over your mailbox also.  Of course, if you have a large tree on your front yard you can decorate it with lights, and even add ornaments and garland too.  Life sized Santa or Snowmen add a wonderful touch to your front yard if you have the room.  You can also put up an animated Santa that has a sensor and will sing greetings like “Merry Christmas” as people go by.

Poinsettias on each step next to the railing of your stairs will add great holiday decor on the outside.  See if you can find yourself a large boot belong to Santa and fill it with gifts and place on the front lawn.  Any yard will be light up nicely by a large Merry Christmas sign if you have one.

If there’s not much chance it will be a white Christmas then spray the outside window pans of your home with snow.  A Santa and reindeer would look great on any front lawn, but if you can’t afford the traditional one you could buy or make your own sleigh and then fill it right to the top with empty wrapped presents.  No Christmas scene is complete without the Nativity Scene, be sure to choose a special place for this.

Decorating your yard for Christmas can be lots of fun and a great time to have special family time.  Make a plan, get together and draw up what you need to do and where everything will go on your front yard.  When you’re finished, stand back and admire your hard work and don’t be surprised if a few neighbours slow down to have a look at your decorations, too.

Christmas Wreath Decorating

A Christmas wreath always seems to add the final touch to the front door or any room decor.  Here are some ideas for Christmas wreath decorating or how to make your own.

How To Make A Christmas Wreath

If you’re looking at purchasing a traditional Christmas pine wreath they are quite expensive and it seems that every year the price increases.  There are some simply ways to decorate or create your Christmas wreath at home, here are some ideas.

Decorate a Picture Wreath

Here’s a great idea:  Create a picture wreath.  Purchase a simple, undecorated, starter wreath from a local craft supply store.  Use your favorite family photos.  Take each photo and poke a small hole at the top of each picture, then put a different color ribbon through each photo.  Then tie each photo onto the wreath and hang it on your front door.  Your friends and family will love to have a look at your family photos and will marvel at how creative you got with your wreath.

Make Your Own Wreath:

Here is what you will need for this project:

- acorns, wire, candy canes, holly, pipe cleaners, can of snow and Christmas tree branches.

Take the wire and form it into a circle. Twist the two ends of the wire around each other to secure the circle.  Tie the Christmas tree branches around the wire using the green pipe cleaners.  Take candy canes, holly and the acorns and add them to the branches using wire or hot glue from a glue gun.  Use the can of snow to spray on the Christmas tree branches.  Now you’ve got a beautiful wreath to hang on the front door. Spray the Christmas tree branches with artificial snow. You have just created a beautiful Christmas wreath to hang on your front door.

Make a Popcorn Wreath

Another idea is to make a popcorn wreath with a Christmas photo of your family in the middle.  Take some thick thread and string popcorn together.  Decide how large you want the wreath so that you can determine how long the popcorn chain should be.

Form a piece of wire into a circle and secure it at both ends.  Double up your popcorn chain and wrap it around the wire.  Your Christmas family photo can be placed in the center of the wreath.

There’s no limit, you can make animal wreaths with photos of your pets; ornament wreaths, candy wreaths, jingle bell wreaths, Christmas ball wreaths or any kind of Christmas theme you’d like.

There are so many ways to make or decorate your own Christmas wreath you are only limited to your imagination.

Ways To Decorate The Christmas Tree

If you’re looking for inexpensive ways to decorate the Christmas tree here are a couple of creative ideas that don’t cost a ton.  Think of things you can use that you already have when trying to decorate on a budget.

Low Cost Decorating For The Christmas Tree

During the holidays some people can’t afford, or just plain don’t want to buy a lot of fancy decorations for the tree.  Decorating your tree doesn’t have to be expensive.  You can have a beautifully decked out tree on a budge without sacrificing style or beauty.

Snow Covered Tree

A great, inexpensive way to create a fantastic looking tree is to make a White Christmas Tree, or Snow Covered Tree.  Use cotton balls as big lumps of snow and place them on the tips of the branches.  Sprinkle the cotton balls with white glitter to give them a glistening snow effect, or cut silver garland into tiny specks to achieve the same effect.

Of course, you’ll need a tree top on your Snow Covered Tree.  A cookie snowman will work well.  Take a snowman cookie and cover it entirely with white icing.  You can use chocolate chips for eyes and an orange gumdrop for the nose.  Add a smile to his face by piping chocolate.

Add a tree skirt by taking a large piece of cardboard and cut it into an arc.  Then, take two or more cups of flour and mix in water to create a paste.  Paste the flour onto the cardboard to create the illusion of freshly fallen snow.  Add white glitter before it dries to create a sparkling effect.

Tree Covered In Cookies

Make a delicious tree covered in cookies.  You can get really creative with this and use all kinds of shapes and sizes.  Give the cookies an extra splash of color and appeal by using non-pariel ranbow sprinkles.  Prepare the cookies for hanging on the tree by inserting a piece of rolled cardboard (size of a dime) into the top of the cookie before baking.  This will make sure the hole stays open during baking.  After the cookies are baked and cooled, insert ribbons and hang them on the tree.

As a tree topper you could use a large gingerbread man with a Christmas light in the center.  Follow the same procedure as the cookies by inserting a piece of rolled cardboard into the center while the cookie is baking.  Dress up the gingerbread man by adding white icing with red food color.

Make an adorable tree skirt by using an apron that has a pattern or photo of images that fit with your theme, cookies would work well of course!

However you decide to decorate your tree this holiday season, remember it doesn’t have to cost a fortune to look beautiful.

Baseball Theme Decorated Christmas Tree

If you’re thinking of decorating your tree a little differently this year consider doing a Christmas Tree Decorated with a Baseball Theme.  You will likely be the only one doing this in your area and you will certainly have a unique and fun Christmas tree.

Make a Baseball Theme Christmas Tree

Are you a fan of sports?  Ever thought about decorating your tree in a baseball theme?  Here’s how:

Get yourself a white tree and some white ball ornaments.  Turn the ornaments into baseballs using red paints or red marker.  Make baseball gloves to hang on the tree by having your child place his hand on a piece of cardboard and then insert the cut-out prints into brown gloves.  Attach some brown wool and hang them on the tree.

Add some baseball bats too.  Get out your favorite cookie recipe and shape the dough into small baseball bats.  Get out your favorite cookie recipe and shape the dough into small baseball bats.  There’s no need for food color, they’ll brown during baking.  Tie the bats at their neck with ribbon or wool and hang on the tree.  Personlize the bats with your kids names or names of your favorite players by using melted chocolate in a pastry gun.

Use the colors of your favorite team to make a tree skirt out of fabric.  If you shoose the New York Yankees, for example, take some white fabric and add a black border.  Then cut out and sew on the letters to spell New York Yankees.  Add sparkles of red.If you have a team logo blanket or sheet on hand you may want to use this instead.

Create your favorite teams’ logo to go on top of the tree.  Using the New York Yankees logo as an example again, follow these steps:

Decorate a piece of cardboard by painting it with your teams’ colors, for example black and white pinstripes.

Punch two holes in the cardboard and put black wool through the holes to attach to the top tree branch.

Or, an alternative would be to hang your team’s hat on the top of the tree.

Don’t forget to add lights, they could be in your team colors or a complimentary color.  Now you’ve got a one of a kind Christmas tree for your home.

Christmas Tree Decor For Small Spaces

If you live in a small space you don’t have to do without a Christmas tree.  There are many things you can do to create a holiday atmosphere.  Here are some Christmas tree decor ideas for those who live in smaller spaces.

How To Decorate a Christmas Tree in a Small Space

Are you short on space and have no room for a large tree, regardless if it’s real or fake?  This small space shouldn’t prevent you from buying a tree altogether, you just need to plan accordingly.   Here are a few ways to make the most of your small space this holiday season and create fantastic Christmas tree decor:

Ceramic Trees

Ceramic trees are beautiful accents for any part of your home.  There are some that light up, creating holiday cheer.  Place one in a child’s bedroom, in your home office or even on an end table in the living room.

Decorating

You can decorate a small tree yourself, or purchase one already decorated  For example, you could decorate your kitchen by using a white tree with ornatments that compliment the kitchen decor.  Using a tree skirt that matches your living room or den will accent the colors of that room.

Home Office

Small trees go well in an home office.  They are usually placed on a desk, counter top or filing cabinet.  Fun novelty trees such as those that sing and dance are popular for the office.

Upside-down Tree

Did you know about this?  You can get trees that hang upside down.  They are not new, but have increased in popularity as a space-saving way to decorate.  A couple of advantages include more space under the tree and ornaments don’t get shaken off by pets.

Even if you have a small place, are single or just don’t want to take up too much space with a large tree; you can have a Christmas tree that looks great using these holiday decorating ideas.

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