Tag Archives: Holiday

Pinterest Favorites: Valentine’s

  Love is in the air! Valentine’s Day is one of the year’s more festive and tasty holidays. So many bright, warm colors! So many tasty treats! Pinterest is the perfect place to find heart-studded inspiration, whether you’re looking for crafting ideas or just want to drool over red and pink cupcakes. Check out these fun pages for Valentine’s ideas. Will You Be My Valentine? Cards, cards, cards.  Cut-paper collage is the most charming way to make a Valentine. The wonderful, intricate cards on this page range from Angry Birds-themed to hearts sporting handmade paper roses. A range of materials can be applied to Valentine’s cards, including scrap … [More]

Do New Years in Style: Party Ideas from Around the Web

  Is this finally the year you throw a really great New Year’s party? You’ll need to be organized, but more importantly, you’ll need eye-catching ideas. The Web is swimming with creative inspiration about how to ring in 2013 in style. Here’s a brief tour of some highlights. Brainstorm Start by browsing fun party ideas. There’s no place better for this task than Pinterest. Check out these pages all about planning New Year’s festivities by Lindsay Evans, Courtney Whitmore, and Kathy Sheffer. Invite Get your guest list together and find some neat invitations to send. Here’s a cute one featuring a pyramid of champagne flutes, and here’s one … [More]

Crafting Realistic New Year’s Resolutions

  Do you make New Year’s resolutions? Do you keep them? Come about the third week of January, I start hearing from folks who have already broken their resolutions, and in many cases, these folks actually sound relieved. The relief, I suspect, is the result of no longer having to meet their own unrealistic expectations of themselves. Of course, this also means that they may no longer be motivated to affect significant and necessary changes in their lives. To avoid this foolishness (and making resolutions that you can’t possibly keep is foolish) let me offer a modest proposal: Take a little extra time when crafting resolutions for 2013 … [More]

Gift Wrapping Tips from the Experts

If you’re doing it right, gift wrapping is so much more than slapping some paper and tape on a box and calling it a day. I find there’s nothing so satisfyingly thoughtful as a well-wrapped gift Not sure where to start? I’ve collected some tips from wrapping experts to help you up your game. Supplies Of course the basic things you need are a sharp pair of scissors, a roll of tape, and some wrapping paper. But a few other items can really help you make the job easier and better. Martha Stewart’s gift wrapping supplies  include using a T-square, a rotary cutter with straight and decorative attachments, … [More]

15 Holiday Foods to Make Ahead

  The last mad dash of holiday preparations always has my hair standing on end. There’s so much to do in those last few days before the guests descend and the actual merry-making begins that the lead-up to Christmas can feel somewhat less than merry.   I’ve decided to take control this year by thinking about what recipes I can make ahead of time by a day . . . or three. Plenty of the food I want to serve will keep for a bit, and might even improve with the aging. So this year, my dinner table might well sport some of the following make-ahead options. Side … [More]

DIY Holiday Gift Guide

  The holiday season is my favorite time of year. That cheery spirit’s in the air, and there’s always an excuse to eat cookies. So it’s a shame that the need to spend so much money on gifts can cast a pall over things. To protect my wallet this year, I decided to find fun gift ideas I can make myself. I started out dubious, wondering whether I’d just end up giving everybody lame handmade cards. But I found a treasure trove of possibilities. Here are some of my favorites:   Things to wear These floral shoe clips liven up even the most staid flats. What to make … [More]

10 Heartwarming Holiday Pinterest Boards

The holidays are upon us! The feasting season has begun!   Before you get out the decorating supplies and fire up the oven for your first batch of cookies, check these lavish Pinterest boards for all sorts of beautiful sights and fun ideas. I dare you to browse through these pages and resist the holiday spirit.   Stay snug and happy with these warm and cozy holiday decorating ideas Tickle your holiday taste-buds with wintertime food Preheat the oven for some holiday cookie inspiration Feast your eyes on these beautiful Christmas cards Get out the scissors and get down to some Christmas crafts Find your youthful spirit with … [More]

Staying Organized During And After The Holidays

The holidays come with a lot of accoutrements—ornaments, wrapping paper, cards, baking gear. Honestly, it seems like my Christmas lights alone could fill a steamer trunk. And don’t even get me started on the cookie cutters. Here are some organizational tips to keep all your holiday paraphernalia in line so you can spend your mental energy elsewhere—like on wrapping all those presents and preparing the best egg nog you can muster. What to do with all those ornaments Ornaments are challenging to store because they’re so fragile and oddly shaped. Of course you can always stuff them in a box with a bunch of newspaper or buy expensive … [More]

DIY Thanksgiving Centerpieces

  Thanksgiving gives you an excuse to try new crafts projects. It’s easy to make your table sing—here are some of the Web’s niftiest ideas for DIY Thanksgiving centerpieces. Stacked gourds in vases: Nothing says autumn like gourds of all colors and shapes. Incorporating gourds into your table centerpiece is a go-to idea, but have you ever thought about using vertical space to display them dramatically? Here’s a way of filling tall glass vases of various sizes with gourds of various sizes for a neat, Thanksgiving-worthy look. Green apple displays: There are many ways you can arrange Granny Smith apples to give your table a beautiful splash of … [More]

Beautify Your Thanksgiving Table

Creating a lovely Thanksgiving table setting doesn’t have to be complicated, time-consuming, or expensive. With a little bit of attention to detail you can give your guests a lovely autumnal dining experience they won’t soon forget. I’ve found the following tips useful when planning my decorations. Getting creative and trying new ideas each year has become one of my favorite things about this holiday. Seasonal centerpiece The sky’s the limit for you table’s centerpiece; the only requirement is that you celebrate the season. I find an array of gourds always makes a nice starting point. Go heavy on the pumpkins for that bright splash of orange. Add some … [More]