Tag Archives: ribbon

All that Glitters: Easy Holiday Decorating Ideas with Ornaments

I found some great ideas at Better Homes and Gardens for adding shimmer and shine to your holiday decorating with ornaments! If you want to add a special touch to your Christmas table or just make your living room a little more festive when guests arrive, there are lots of easy ways to do that! You’ll find 24 ideas in all at the site, and here are some of my favorites (all photos shown are from BHG.com)…

Make an ornament napkin ring using a wide and narrow ribbon…loosely tie a wide ribbon around a rolled napkin, slide a narrow ribbon through the wide knot (then pull the ends of the wide ribbon to tighten the knot), and thread small ornaments onto each end of the narrow ribbon, tying ornaments in place with knots. Even just using a wide satin ribbon by itself tied around the rolled napkin in a knot or bow would be pretty!

Or, just use one ornament, tied around a rolled napkin with shimmery ribbon…and tie the ends in a pretty bow!

A beautiful centerpiece can be created with ornaments and candles. Just arrange varying heights of pillar candles on a round tray and fill in with a variety of shimmery ornaments. To fill in the smaller spaces, you can even add some glitzy and inexpensive costume jewelry.

Another centerpiece idea…fill a large glass vase with shiny and shimmery ornaments of varying sizes. Any large glass vase will work!

Fill a vase with natural winter greenery and shiny ornaments. If you want your display to last longer, add some water to the lower third of the vase and keep the ornaments nearer to the top.

Using an ornament as a place card holder is a great idea, too! It also doubles as a special gift your guests can take home!

Make an ornament swag, tying ornaments onto a long piece of wide satin ribbon. I have a cabinet in my living room I could do this on!

These next few ideas were in another section of the BHG website and I loved these, too! Hang ornaments from a chandelier or light fixture with ornament hooks…such an easy idea, and so pretty!

Or fill a serving tray with ornaments…how easy is that?

Mix things up by displaying ornaments with fruit, nuts, berries, leaves, or other natural decorative items in a fancy footed bowl.

And here are a few other shimmery ideas that you can add ornaments to, if you like…

Add some bling to your decor with a glistening wreath…just use a hot glue gun to attach sparkling buttons to a thin 9″ wreath form and tie a silver bow at the top. Attach a small ornament or two to the bow for extra bling!

A mirror display or centerpiece using candles, greenery, and crystal or glass also adds a shimmery, glimmery touch to your table. Some ornaments added in would be pretty, too.

Do you have creative ways of your own for decorating with ornaments?

Welcoming Autumn

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It’s hard to believe fall is already here! I’m glad it is, though…I love the rich colors of autumn–bright orange pumpkins, mums that bloom in rusty reds and vivid purples, and changing leaves in all kinds of brilliant, beautiful colors.

I found lots of wonderfully inspiring autumn decorating ideas to help welcome in the season at BetterHomesandGardens.com, some of which I’m posting here. Hope you find some ideas you can use in your own home!

This beautiful Cornucopia Wreath (pictured above) sounds pretty easy to make…just attach leaves, miniature pumpkins, squashes, and gourds to a foam wreath form using wire and a hot glue gun.

Do you have any bittersweet or Chinese lanterns growing in your fall garden? To make this wreath, just strip the leaves from the bittersweet vines and Chinese lantern stems, then bend and twist the vines into a circle. Wrap the vines circle around a wire wreath form, then tuck in the Chinese lanterns, securing stems and loose pods with dots of hot glue.

This Gourd-and-Vine Wreath is made by attaching colorful long-necked gourds to a simple vine wreath with raffia or wire. Add some colorful berry sprays and a ribbon or raffia bow to finish it off.

Here’s an easy-to-make leaf wreath. Use colorful fresh leaves from your yard or pliable dried ones from your local craft store. Cut a slit in the center of each leaf with small scissors (you can cut several at once). String the leaves onto a wire wreath form until full, and hang on a door or wall with an autumn-color ribbon.

Hanging pinecone bunches make a nice fall door decoration, too. Just hot-glue the flat end of some smaller-sized pinecones around a 3-inch wide plastic foam ball, then tie a bow and hot-glue it onto the ball (you’ll also need enough ribbon to make a loop to hang this on your door… you could loop the ribbon around the center of your bow before you glue it onto the pinecone ball). For an extra-special touch, hang your family monogram from a ribbon, too.

I love this idea of hanging a wreath on the back of a chair with an elegant velvet ribbon!

White pumpkins make a nice arrangement with rustic twigs and pretty mums.

What a nice, welcoming display to have in your front yard…a wheelbarrow filled with pumpkins, gourds, and bittersweet vines!

You can make some pretty potted arrangements with a variety of autumn plants and flowers.

And don’t forget the ornamental Kale…isn’t it beautiful?

Last but not least, here’s a great idea for your entryway…fill a decorative container with pumpkins. gourds, Indian Corn, and mums!

You’ll find these and many other ideas at BetterHomesandGardens.com. I don’t know about you, but I’m going to have to run to the store and get some mums and pumpkins now… 🙂

Wrap Up Some Valentine Goodies

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Wrap Up Some Valentine Goodies @ NancyC Valentine’s Day will be here very soon…and after baking some Jumbo Chocolate Chippers, I realized they would make great homemade Valentine’s treats! They’re the perfect size cookie for those smaller-size clear plastic treat bags you can find at craft stores or Wal-Mart. Continue reading →