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 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!

May 15, 2011: Recipe for a Quick Spring Decorating Change

I’ve mentioned before that I like to take the opportunity, while spring cleaning, to change out the old, heavy, dark fabrics and furnishings for newer, lighter, more spring-like décor. It’s not just a onetime venture, though. I like to add little seasonal touches in my house as I can.

A week ago was Mother’s Day, of course. Our church handed out carnations to all the mother’s in the congregation. Since I picked up the flowers and arranged them, I ended up with a few heads that broke off their stems. Rather than toss them, I placed them in a small bowl with water and put the dish in the guest bathroom, where they are still brightening up the space, as you can see on the left side of the photo.

Another thing that I like to do is change out my pictures. I actually won the picture frame on the right – while we were at the hospital when my grandson Kaden was being born, we just happened to be in the right place at the right time (in the cafeteria eating lunch) when they held a raffle. I won a gift certificate from the gift shop and picked out this frame.

It just so happens to be the perfect size to fit pictures from a calendar my friend Kathy brought back from a trip to Alaska. The scenes are so beautiful I saved them and use them to switch out the picture in this frame to fit the seasons. This one is my spring scene.

See how easy it is to spend $0 and add a seasonal touch to your home?