Posts Tagged ‘seasonal decor’
Its Getting Closer
That time is getting closer and closer. It is a wonderful time for Christians. It is where our hope begins to be known. At church we will study and hear again the wonderful resurrection news. Easter time once more.
It is a happy time for children. The Easter bunny, the candy, the toys, and surprises that they had not even thought about. Easter!! Kind of like Christmas in the spring for the kids. What fun to color eggs! What fun to hunt eggs! For the grown-ups there is all the discussions about Easters in the past when the weather was nice and those when the weather was bad. The “do you remember” talks. Easter baskets, cookies shaped like rabbits, little toys and sometimes a beautiful, plush Easter Bunny! Get out the Easter decorations, get a new one, put them up and enjoy the time!
Pretty Holidays
Some holidays are just other days that we celebrate something. Other holidays are really pretty. Valentine’s Day is a pretty holiday. It will be here in a couple of weeks. The flowers that we give are pretty. The boxes of candy are pretty. The hearts
in all shapes, sizes, and forms are pretty. Maybe it is because these things usually have red as their dominant color.
Also romance is the theme and that is a dreamy, happy thought. If you are looking for just the right person, it is a happy time. If you have found that person, it is a happy time. If you have lived with the right person for lots of years, it is a happy time. If you just enjoy the holiday and like to enjoy it with friends, it is a happy time. Remember the Valentine’s Day parties when you were in school. It was fun to make the boxes for the cards and then get to enjoy the party with games and delicious treats. Think of red, enjoy seeing the decorations around you, even if you have to go to a store to see them, and sit back and absorb the season.
Stage Your Home for Success
One of the best things you can do when trying to sell your home is to keep it immaculate. A spotless house shows potential buyers that you have cared for it over the years and that it is all ready for them to move into. This can be difficult - after all, life is messy - but it will be worthwhile and will help your home sell for more money. In addition, some sellers hire professionals to “stage” their home - they’ll rearrange furniture, add attractive props, repaint rooms, and more - but you can do this yourself.
Just follow these home selling tips. Buyers are attracted to light, bright spaces. Rooms with light walls and lots of light streaming through the windows look bigger, so repaint dark rooms and always leave curtains or blinds wide open when buyers visit. You should also rearrange your furniture to create more open space in your living room and bedrooms. If needed, store some furniture in a friend’s garage or a heated storage unit to free up even more space for showings. Lastly, invest in fresh flowers and simple vases for your entryway and kitchen - they’ll make all the difference in creating an inviting, homelike atmosphere.
Just for Fun
A new year is well upon us. Some of us are “suffering” from an unusually cold winter. We wanted it to be spring when January came, I guess. In our case, the snow melted , but now we have fog. Sometimes it lifts and we are so happy! The geese have stayed on the pond, but the small birds are all gone. Still we think of the nice, warm spring time that surely is just around the corner. We are making plans for what we will do when “the weather clears up.”
At least at our house, the garden catalogs are not arriving yet. The big lawn mower started, so that means things are warmer. We sometimes think of those decorative birdhouses and the pretty little birds we might expect them to attract. It is still too wet for our little next door neighbor children to be out playing and coming over to see our dogs. Those are all things we can look forward to when the cold gets us down. If you love winter, enjoy it for a few more weeks. Us lovers of spring are standing here waiting with our garden tools all ready to go!
Horses Through American History
When you take a moment to think about it, horses are inextricably linked to our national identity. Horses made transportation, exploration, commerce and war much more expedient up until the 20th century. Draft horses remain useful farm animals, bearing a tremendous physical burden in the service of human needs. And of course there are the majestic racehorses that gallop around tracks across the country, providing observers with a thrilling rush.
It’s no wonder, then, that so many people classify themselves as horse lovers. For these individuals, no other gift could compare to horse figurines, which capture the freedom and grace inherent to equestrian animals. Whether they are placed on a living room mantle or in the center of a coffee table, these figurines are sure to serve as conversation pieces for years to come.
Our Country
Is our country coming to a crossroads? Will things drastically change? Will all blow over and we will be back to life as usual? What will take place in the years ahead? No one can answer these questions for sure. Most of us have an answer we would like to give to each question. Some of us are very opinionated on this subject, some people are not, and some are just drifting along with the flow. Those of us who are opinionated can get into some very serious discussions. But then we listen to the news and find our ideas were not even considered.
Right now we can enjoy the season - if the weather will let us! Give candy to the Trick-or-Treaters, plan Thanksgiving dinner, mail Christmas cards, plan the gift list. We can pray that things will not change so much that we cannot continue with life as usual. Even difficult times are not so bad when we have some holiday breaks. Keep up with the times. Thank God for your life. Stay contented. We still live in the greatest county on Earth!
What Should I do?
What shall I do today? The list is so long that I can’t decide where to start. It is time to do the household chores. Should I do laundry? Maybe I had better clean house. Should I decorate for fall? Maybe I had better do the paper work that has been piling up. Some shopping really needs to be done. The dogs have to have their monthly meds today. Are the treats ready for the Trick-or-Treaters? Tomorrow we have to go to the college to help get some things done. Maybe I had better get ready to go.
What is that in the corner? Our new holiday garden sign
? On yes! That needs to be put out with the current season displayed. Should it be out by the road or up by the house? Maybe just out in the yard somewhere. Now, I have to contemplate a while to really choose the right place. That will take some time. Then I will go out and try it here or there. Maybe I can get that done by noon. It will really look nice out there. Well, I will get busy. I can put that sign up and by then maybe it will be clear to me what else to do today. Decisions, decisions! What a day!
Decorating with Vases
My younger daughter gave me a beautiful vase for my birthday. For about two weeks I thought and thought about what to put into it. Finally, I decided that a fall bouquet would be perfect. At the craft store I found some beautiful greenery that fit just fine. Then I found a bouquet of fall flowers that fit in perfectly. Now each season I have only to find a bouquet of the flowers of the season and change them, leaving the greenery in the background. What fun!
Sometimes vases are so beautiful that they make a fine display specimen by themselves. However, sometimes they just call out to be filled with a beautiful flower arrangement. It is a lot of fun to find just the right thing to go into them. Sometimes a vase has sat on a shelf or been put away and we have more or less forgotten it. Taking it out again and filling it with the seasonal foliage is a fulfilling experience. It is also fun to look for and find just the right vase to fit into an area or compliment another item on a shelf. Sometimes visitors think something you have had for a long time is a new item. You can tell them or just enjoy the compliment. Have fun decorating with vases.
Lights for the Season
Remember the
days when there were no electric lights for our homes? I do. But just barely. We call those the “good ole days,” but the part about using candles and oil lamps I can do without. I was looking through a catalog and saw the beautiful candle holders now available. Some look like the lamps we have for our electric lights. That is now a beautiful way to enjoy the candle light that is so nice this time of year.
I got to thinking about it and remembered we have some of those that I had forgotten. There are some beautiful candle holders in our cabinet that we use for the pumpkin-pie scented candles and the other beautiful Christmas candles that we get out in the fall and winter. Some holders are large enough to look like a regular electric lamp. When we use these scented candles in their beautiful holders the scent wafts throughout the house and we enjoy the scent of the season. Candle lamps are indeed a beautiful addition to the fall and winter decorations. Light one and sit back and enjoy the time of year.
Holiday Preparations
It is that time of year. The discomfort of the cold is offset by the looking forward to the holidays and the joy they bring. When shopping, I see the children excitedly dashing from one costume to another. Then there are the discussions in the candy aisle as to which bag or bags of candy would be best to keep from running out of candy before they run out of trick-or-treaters.
There are more seasonal items in other aisles. There are already aisles in the grocery stores with items to use in making pumpkin, pecan and other pies. The turkeys and corn stalks are waiting, less observed, to be ready when the time for the masks and ghosts to disappear. Yes, believe it or not, Thanksgiving is rapidly approaching. The students are already planning what they are going to do during their vacation.
Soon we will be singing carols and writing Christmas cards. If you do not have your list made out yet, it is probably in the back of your mind. One of my daughters was telling me their gift plans already. I was dreading the cold this time of year and it is already here. It came sooner than usual and it is not so bad after all. Anyway, “Beware,” “Don’t eat too much,” or ”Merry Christmas,” whichever is appropriate when you read this.