December 1, 2011: Christmas Decorations on the Cheap

Ah, December…the month best known for its Christmas and Hanukkah celebrations. Since I’m a Christian, I can’t really comment on the Jewish holiday, but I can say that every year I look forward to celebrating the birth of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Sure, I get caught up in the secular version of this holiday just like anyone else. I love shopping for presents for my loved ones and decorating my home and especially baking all sorts of goodies to give away and present at parties. But I try to always slow down long enough to read my Bible and sense the anticipation Joseph and Mary must have felt as they awaited the birth of the Christ child. And I especially enjoy Christmas Eve service at church, enjoying the fellowship of other Christians and seeing the wonder in the eyes of the littlest congregants.

Do you need some help with your Christmas decorating this year? Even if you’re on a very strict budget, there are lots of cheap or even free ways you can dress up your home for the holidays. Here’s just a few of the things I recommend:

Baskets are great and work well for decorations during any holiday. Although the basket I’m showing here is red and green, you can use a plain one dressed up with a big bow or ribbon in the right colors. I added pine cones I found in my yard and spray painted with gold paint, a silk poinsettia, and a piece of pine bough from our (real) Christmas tree.

This is a little decoration I added to my bathroom window sill. The base is just a plastic tray I found in my kitchen and covered with aluminum foil; then I added several colorful ornaments and another spray painted pine cone.

One thing I never do is throw away a pretty greeting card. This is one my DMIL made for me last year at Christmas. I just put it in a frame and voila! Instant Christmas wall décor! BTW, I’ve done much the same in other rooms of my house – wherever I have a small picture frame, I’ve replaced the photo with a Christmas card or scene for this month. Absolutely free and pretty to boot!

I’ll bet you’ve got some holiday-themed cookie cutters around the house (and if not, head over to your local thrift store and find some for pennies!). Arrange them with a selection of holiday cookbooks and you’ve got an instant decoration that looks right at home in the kitchen!

November 24, 2011: Last Minute Decoration Ideas For Your Thanksgiving Dinner Table

Have you got your turkey in the oven? The stuffing made? Dessert ready for the table? What about a centerpiece and decorations for your Thanksgiving table?

If you’ve thought of everything but how your table is going to be decorated, don’t despair. Chances are you’ve got the perfect decorations to make a last minute centerpiece right in your own home or yard.

Take a look at these ideas to make your Thanksgiving table a bit more festive:

*Take a walk outside and gather up pinecones, cattails, wildflowers or leafy plants. Take a large glass vase and fill it with apples or oranges, then stick your outdoor plant items in between. This makes a lovely, natural centerpiece.

*Core several apples and brush insides with lemon juice to prevent browning. Place a votive candle inside the hollowed out opening. Line them up on a mirror or pretty platter and light just before eating.

*Don’t have enough napkin rings to go around? Use a pretty ribbon tied around each napkin to place on dinner plates. This makes even paper napkins look nice!

*Head to the pantry for centerpiece or décor inspiration. Use cinnamon sticks, whole allspice, herb sprigs and cinnamon candies to sprinkle on a platter with a candle or flower arrangement in the center. Or stud oranges with cloves. Not only do these look nice, they smell good, too!

*For an even more festive dining room, use your scrapbooking skills to make Thanksgiving pictures like this one.

And, as a special Thanksgiving bonus for my readers, I’ve included here a free Designer Pack courtesy of My Memories software. To download it, just click on the picture below; this designer pack is compatible with any type of scrapbooking software. If you want to order the My Memories Suite (the latest version just came out!) use code STMMMS98943 at checkout to receive a $10 discount, courtesy of me!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

November 9, 2011: Share the Memories Scrapbooking Software

I recently got some really cool new software, MyMemories, that makes it easy to create a digital scrapbook. If you’re not aware of how that works, you use your computer to create scrapbook pages. You can then share those pages electronically, or you can print them out and add them to an album – or have all your pages turned into an album through a printing service.

The beauty of digital scrapbooking is that it’s fool proof. If you make a mistake, you can just delete it! I used it to create the page above, which took me only a few minutes. It’s intuitive and easy to use – if you use Microsoft Word or Publisher, then you won’t have a problem using Share the Memories. The possibilities for customizing your pages are nearly endless and if you want more papers and embellishments than the basic software comes with, you can easily order additional Designer Packs.

I thought my readers who enjoyed my post on Tracy’s holiday scrapbook pictures would be interested in giving this MyMemories software a try. Go ahead and download the free Designer Pack shown below by clicking on the picture which you can use with any kind of software. And if you want to order the software (it makes a great gift!), just use code STMMMS98943 to receive a $10 discount, courtesy of me!

If you love scrapbooking at home, you're sure to love digital scrapbooking. Give it a try and tell me what you think.

November 4, 2011: Seasonal Decorations With Scrapbooking

I’ve noticed something about my darling DDIL – not only does she love scrapbooking, but she uses her passion to make seasonal decorations for her home...and she's very creative! I just had to share the pictures she had up last month in anticipation of her favorite holiday, Halloween.

Tracy's "Holiday Frames" ready for Halloween.

Tracy uses the same two square black frames but scrapbooks two new pages for each seasonal/holiday change. For instance, last year before Christmas she had two adorable pictures of my grandson in a red Santa suit pasted on a forest green 12 x 12” scrapbook page.

Sometimes she uses photos of the whole family and sometimes she just features my adorable little grandson but she does an incredibly creative job of changing what’s inside the picture frames for each season. If you’re already an avid scrapbooker, you’re bound to have lots of supplies already on hand; why not turn use them for décor, as my DDIL does?

October 6, 2011: Squash Recipes

Of course, one thing you’ll see a lot of at the grocery store and farmer’s markets at this time of year are various types of squash. Personally I love squash of any kind (if you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m not very picky when it comes to food), however my husband had to eat it daily when he was a kid and his mom grew it by the truckload in their garden so he doesn’t get quite as excited as I do about the colors and shapes and textures of squashes.

I have a good friend at the grocery store, Brian, who manages the produce department. He let me know of some amazing, beautiful squashes that were available and I couldn’t resist buying some! So far, I’ve just used them as decorations on my fall table, as you can see here - but they should last for months so I consider it a very frugal way to decorate for autumn.

Brian recommends that when making squash, you use really good quality ingredients. His simple recipe:

Baked Squash

1 squash, your choice of variety such as acorn, spaghetti, butternut

Extra virgin olive oil

Sea salt (according to Brian, sea salt really brings out the sweetness of the squash)

Freshly ground black pepper

Basically, you just wash the squash and cut it in half. Scoop out the seeds and strings. Place the halves cut side down on a rimmed baking sheet greased with olive oil. Bake for 45 – 60 minutes, until soft. Scoop out the cooked flesh and add olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.

If you want a bit of variety you can add a tablespoon of maple syrup or substitute butter for the olive oil. A firm, tangy cheese like shaved Parmesan or a handful of toasted pecans or walnuts are also great complements to the slightly sweet flavor of squash.

October 1, 2011: Cookbooks Are For More Than Just Recipes

Welcome to October! Are you ready for this month that epitomizes autumn? I love it when the mornings are crisp, the days are short and warm, and in the evenings a faint hint of wood smoke wafts through the air. Plus, October means we’re just one month closer to my very favorite holiday of the year, Thanksgiving!

October is a busy month when it comes to celebrating things. October is, among other things, National Cookbook Month, National Cookie Month, National Pasta Month, National Apple Month and National Dessert Month. In honor of all these food-related celebrations, the bog this month will be focusing on the above mentioned items.

Just some of my collection of vintage (and new) cookbooks.

Let’s start with cookbooks. What can you do to honor your cookbooks this month? For one thing, you can use them for more than just great recipes. Personally, I collect cookbooks – the older, the better. Some of them have some really super graphics on the cover, which makes them perfect for displaying in a prominent place. In fact, at this time of year, I put my cookbooks out turned to the appropriate pages that show off Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. There’s just something warm and homey about a kitchen that is full of cookbooks.

My fall display of cookbooks on the kitchen counter top. The little teapot actually holds sugar (my husband uses LOTS of sugar in his coffee).

Here’s a quick decorating idea: Take several pretty cookbooks and prop them in a corner on the kitchen counter top; use an old coffeepot or vintage appliance as a bookend.

I put these large cookbooks in a corner of the counter because they're pretty - and they're green, just like my kitchen!

If you’re not too attached to your cookbooks, you can also remove some of the pages with the best pictures and frame them as artwork for your kitchen. If you’re really ambitious, you could compile a whole stack of beautiful cookbook pages and decoupage them on an entire wall of your kitchen.

And finally, cookbooks can be the theme of a party. Why not get together with your friends and do a cookbook exchange/tea party? Use recipe cards for invitations. Serve different types of hot tea or cocoa along with appetizers to munch on while everyone looks over the offerings. If you don’t have enough cookbooks in your collection, a quick trip to the thrift or used book store and a few dollars will instantly add to your inventory!

Happy National Cookbook Month!