Oh, Christmas Cards!

It's here! The joyful time when every day brings forth fun mail. Exchanging Christmas cards is one of my favorite traditions, even though my own parents only did it every five years or so.

For the past three years, we've had a Christmas card tree in our family room. The idea came from my friend Val and we immediately stole it! We put up a living tree with little white lights and a dove on top, then we hole punch/string a ribbon on each card as it comes in. The cards alone hang on this tree, no other ornaments. I've loved that tradition, and it fills up quickly with faces of those you love!

The family room tree at Val's (the originator of this tradition)

But, I'll admit, I simplified this year and stranded the cards into a paper garland of sorts. If you hole punch the card corner or middle (about an inch down) and cut a slit with scissors from hole to the card edge, you can slip the ribbon into the hole. It isn't heavy, so it will stay put.

Our paper garland makes the room festive. Not as festive as the tree, but it is a snap to do

Wooden clothes pins also work well attaching cards to garlands and wreaths.

Clothes pins are a great way of attaching the cards if you dont want to hole punch.

Can't go wrong with the back of the door!Another cute door treatmentOr save your old Christmas cards and let your children cut/create ornaments out of them to decorate their own tree the following year. Give them glitter, scissors and glue. They can cut shapes around their friends' faces and glitter the edge to make "frames".

Make your own 2nd tree decorations using last year's Christmas cardsHere are a few examples I just made. I'm definitely going to do this with my kids next year!Happy card collecting!

An Enchanted Morning

I've just returned home from the most fun Christmas party! My friend Mary-Kay hosted a get-together/floral arranging lesson. Not only is this a most useful art to learn, you don't have to clean your house to host this soiree! I went stressed, thinking of all the chores I needed to do today, but I left enchanted.

We gathered at an amazing floral designer's studio/shop, Cindy Glover's Fireflies in Jacksonville. After catching up with old friends, Cindy gave us a lesson in making a sweet nosegay type arrangement using grocery store flowers. Instead of a bottle of wine, Cindy recommends taking this as a hostess gift.

Here are the tips:

1. Starting with 3 flowers (we used carnations), hold the stems together, close to the top-pinching them with your left hand (or if you are left handed, with your right.)

2. One by one, add each stem to the bunch, turning or "twisting" the bunch away from you as you add another, so that they are added in evenly all around the bunch. You are done when you have a nice full, round ball (much like a bridesmaid's bouquet.)

3. Add leaves to the bottom if you desire or carefully insert them in between the stems. You are the judge on what looks right.

4. Tie the stems tightly with a ribbon or secure with a rubber band, twisted around enough times to hold securely.

5. Trim the stem ends evenly at first so they are all the same length, then go back and cut the stems in the center a little shorter. The stems should be able to stand up on a tabletop once they are cut evenly. They create a self-tripod effect.

Cindy said in Europe, arrangements like these are put directly on the table, without water. I prefer mint julep cups and small glass vases.We used carnations, a much under-rated flower. Cindy says they last over 2 weeks but I've had them last longer!Cindy ended with a lesson on big bows, which is another artform where there is wrong way to go about it. We all swapped our experiences, good and bad.

Mary-Kay, thanks for a wonderful day! I left with a giant bow, a pair of clippers, a festive arrangement and a lot of Chritsmas spirit. What a great party idea! All the time spent selling invitations for Paper Concierge must have inspired you! Check out MK's page and see her favorites from their cute stationery and gift offering.

Christmas, Hand Made

We are almost done decorating this year! A Sharp first: we got the tree over Thanksgiving weekend. Despite a 7-3 win/loss record on tree life till Christmas, we adopted a new theory: we'll be buying from the same batch of trees next weekend, so why not get it now and put it in water. I'll let you know how this turns out.

And, I'll answer the question that I get asked every year... what kind of tree light people are we?

Answer: Giant colored, all the way. Aka: Old School; Kickin' it retro. I decorated trees for Martha Stewart. I appreciate a well-styled tree, but I'll take the family fun tree, any day.

My kids and I equally get excited to see all of the fun decor and family traditions as we unpack them. With my brood getting older, I am becoming ever bolder in letting them unwrap and set everything out themselves.

Among my most favorite decorations are our handprint artwork. A number of years ago, we started a tradition making a Christmas handprint for each year. My friend Kristi started it off by painting small canvases blue and making Santa handprints for both my children.Those reindeer are my son's thumbrints.We've added to our collection every year with a handprint to commemorate the year.

We also added Christmas plates into the collection.

When I stop and think about it, the ornaments that I love best are also handmade, especially photo ornaments. Beautiful and festive glass ornaments like Radko or my personal favorite brand, Old World Christmas (because when they break your heart and bank account doesn't) are a close second. But there is something magical about seeing the old handmade ornaments again after they've been stored for the past year. The same can be said for cross-stitched and pottery ornaments I treasure. They just fill you with the awe and sentimentality that is Christmas.

Paper, glue and glitter.... it couldn't get any simpler, but these are my favorites!There's nothing like seeing your dad as a kid!These beaded egg shell ornaments took hours to make and I treat them like gold Love my parents faces too..One boring saturday project... and now my daughter's angel eye lashes make me so happy!My mom saved that dress of mine. It is in my daughter's closet.The year she cut all her hair off... what a memory!So, before you take your decorating too seriously, enjoy the ornaments that your kids make in school. Hang them front and center on your tree. Cherish the traditions that are handmade. Their creation is a memory, their existance year after year is another. Before you know it, you will be giving them back to your grown children for them to put on their own tree. It's not materialistic. It's priceless.

Do your homework! And set the TABLE!

Next week is Thanksgiving! While its been a few years since I've hosted a Thanksgiving dinner and set our table, I love looking at the inspiring pictures of great holiday tabletop. Thanksgiving these days means visiting all of our family in a manathon of driving/eating/visiting. Starting with a breakfast at one set of parents, we never slow down.

Before we moved back to our hometown, we hosted smaller gatherings around our own table. There is nothing like trying to figure out how to use what you've got when you are first married and trying to set a pretty table. Really quickly you can name 10 items you wished you owned! My first Thanksgiving married, I used a doily-like lace tablecloth that could not look less like something I'd own... but it was all I had! (A wedding present, of course.)

The magazine images of beautiful tabletops usually involve stylists displaying china and centerpieces that look like fall harvest. But how many of us actually have suitable fall themed tabletop in our cabinets? My own mother has probably 7 sets of china, but I do not recommend it. That's a lot of dust collecting for one gorgeous meal! My best china is blue. So I am always looking for non-traditional tabletop ideas....

I like the fall colors embraced with the blue chinaI tend to simplify everything, but this is a color story I can repeat.Gilded fruit is an easy, beautiful solution. Works with any color scheme you've got!Real Simple has an article that walks you through how to gild fruit. (Admittedly, I'd just use spray paint, maybe throw some gold glitter on it while it is wet. Who can tell by candlelight?)

Probably my favorite: Sugared Fruit. Any holiday is more sparkly and festive with a little sugarded fruit centerpieceArticle on how to make sugared fruit from ehow.com

I also like the idea of making pumpkins into vases and using flowers that match your specific china.

Any gourd can become a vase for florals that match your unique decor.Or bring fall into the table top with pinecones or leaves mixed with other colors that do match your table top.Even if you don't have the time and energy to go all out, a few tricks I've learned over the years:

1. Anything on a pedestal looks more charming. So, if you have a cake stand, a footed urn or anything with a little height, build from there. Even a simple pumpkin on a pedestal with some leaves from the yard will work.

2. Play with the napkin. When in doubt, tie a ribbon on the napkin. Or here are some napkin folding tricks (from a vintage promotional card for Belgian Linens) my friend Amelia gave me.

3. Sometimes the imperfections and irregularity of the table make it the most charming. So if you dont have enough of the same goblets/plates, embrace it and make every other place setting match.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all. Go set the table! Or in my case, drive all over town!

Authored with love

It's that time of year! I've got Christmas presents on the brain and am trying to think up new ideas for the grandparents and other hard to gift relatives.

The Family Cookbook: Long gone by are the days when I hand-wrote recipes on recipe cards and gave it to my brother for Christmas. I went to a Shutterfly home party this week and was shown the latest advancements in custom photo books. Turn a photo book into a cookbook with some of the cool text box editing features in their custom path books. Not only can you use the same text for a variety of relatives, you can switch the pictures out to customize it for a different set of family members. If you are like me, you exhausted the photo gift options when you had your first child and haven't revisited that genre... until now! Wow! Today, this book with a hard cover is $15.99!

Shutterfly Custom Photo CookbookA Family Love Story: Imagine the delight of you parents/grandparents if you retold the story of how they met/fell in love and had your own children illustrate it! You can produce a 7x9 hard cover book especially for someone you love, and you can order extra copies for other family members. You can have kids write the text in their own handwriting or you can have it typed by the company, Creations By You. There is also online production if you do not wish to mail in the artwork. This book kit costs about $21 and takes 3-4 weeks. Don't have a love story? What about another fun story, like the year the dog knocked over the Christmas tree. Or the infamous road trip that went wrong...

Illustory makes for an amazing keepsake giftChristmas Photo Cards: I'm surprising my mother with some custom Christmas cards with all of her grandkids photos on it. My parents are not the "photo card every year" kind of people, so this is a great way to help bring them into the modern era. It is also something disposable, as my parents are quick to remind you that they do not want any more clutter in their lives! (Yet this is more fun than coffee and other perishables!)

Find Photo Cards with multiple photos to fit all the grandchildrenGood luck with your holiday shopping! Send me ideas if you have any great family ones to share!