Christmas 101: Big Glass Balls
Some of you have asked where I got my big glass balls… and i want you to know that i got them at the dollar store, more specifically the DOLLAR TREE. I love me some good dollar tree shopping. And several of you have emailed to ask more specifically how to make them.
Photo ornaments — nothing creates a memory like a homemade ornament, especially if it is a framing capsule for a favorite snapshot.
Supplies: clear glass ornament, vellum, scissors, printer
1. Like everything else, theres no one right way, play around with it.
Christopher Culmone (in my book MERRY CHRISTMAS, AMERICA) did them on his family tree using old family photos. It’s fantastic.
2.Upload or scan in your favorite picture to your computer, sizing it to the diameter of the ornament.
3. Print on translucent vellum paper appropriate for your printer (inkjet or laser) and use scissors to cut the photo to size.
4. Carefully remove the wire cap, exposing the hole at the top of the
ornament.
5. Curl the photo into a small straw shape and insert into the ornament, adjusting as necessary to make the photo hug the front of the ornament.
6. Reinsert the tension wire and cap.
7. Hang it a branch near a light.
8. (The pay-off for your patience) Watch it glow.
Oh, Christmas Tree
The Christmas tree was popularized in England in the nineteenth century, by Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s consort. Having grown up in Germany where there is a strong tradition of decorating trees, Albert brought along the custom when he married Victoria.
In 1848, an engraving appeared in the London Illustrated News of the royal family gathered around a tabletop Christmas tree at Windsor Castle decorated with candles, ribbons, and trinkets. In perhaps the first case of strategic photoshopping, Godey’s Lady Book magazine altered the engraving by putting a portrait of George Washington on the wall, an eagle on the tree, and removing Albert’s sash and Victoria’s tiara. Suddenly, they had what appeared to be an ideal upper middle class American family, and the Christmas tree came to America.
Today, the Christmas tree is BIG business. According to the USDA, each year there are approximately 21 million Christmas trees cut in America on 21,904 farms, accounting for $506 million in sales.
So, how do you decorate it once you tote it home and get it in place? In my new book, MERRY CHRISTMAS AMERICA I give great tips to the easiest, most beautiful tree you’ve ever seen – from real to aluminum, from theme to every ornament ever-made. But to get you started on the path to the easiest, happiest, merriest Christmas ever…
My FIVE STEPS TO A GORGEOUS TREE:
Creating the perfect Christmas tree is an art that can be broken down into five easy steps:
1. Decorate Away from the Wall
You need to be able to access all sides. Pull it out and place a few chairs around it to stand on while reaching the top branches.
2. Hang the Lights First
Start at the top and work your way down, keeping the lights plugged in if possible. Rather than strangling the tree with the lights, go in to the trunk and out along the branches as you work your way around. This will give the tree depth.
3. Hang the Garland
Again, start at the top and work your way around and down the tree, weaving the garland in and out and giving it swag.
4. Hang the Ornaments, from Big to Small
If you have a lot of any one type of ornament, put these all on first, spacing them evenly. If you have large ornaments, put them on early in the process to prevent the tree from looking unbalanced. Fill in with smaller ornaments, making sure not to ignore the inner branches of the tree as well as the tips.
5. Top it Off
The final touch is crowning the treeotherwise it will look unfinished. Choose something that makes you happy, whether it be a big bow, a star, or an angel.
Thanksgiving – Garage Sale Style!
The holidays shouldn’t send you over the edge. We need to grab hold of them and make the adventure easy, breezy, and fun. For the next few weeks, I’ll be offering how to put the “celebrate” back into the celebration… as well as other tips and tidbits from MERRY CHRISTMAS AMERICA, my eye-popping look at the holiday. (In case you haven’t heard, it’s the book that Santa says, “Should be in every stocking!”)
Thanksgiving 101.
Tip 1. What you can’t cook (or the thing that turns you into a turkey)… order in! Many grocery stores, restaurants, and caterers will help you prepare the bane of your existence—from the simple (cranberry sauce) to the dastardly (the stuffed turkey)—at prices that are competitive with the cost of doing it yourself. If this is embarrassing, feel free to put said items in your bowls to heat and serve. This will bring a smile to your face… Rule number 1 at any occasion is that if the host is happy and having fun, the guests are happy and having fun.
Tip 2. Make your table gorgeous the day before. A special table makes for a great party and the “day of” might prove too hectic. A few of my simple ideas: Centerpiece. How about a collection of old bottles with sprigs of greenery and stems of flowers, interspersed with candles? Perhaps sprinkle your collection of antique buttons in the center of the table beneath the bottles. Or even easier, just fill your favorite bowl with red pears, cranberries, nuts, and sprigs of pine. Placemats. Instead of placemats, how about covering the table in colorful leaves. (If you’re really ambitious, you can use a dehydrator and preserve them for months. I’m personally not bothered by a little crunchiness.) Tablecloth. Get a fabric remnant from the fabric store or find an old tablecloth at a thrift store or garage sale and let your children finger-paint. Or help them make handprint turkeys at each place setting. Napkin rings. Tie colorful vintage ribbon or raffia around your cloth napkins, and then attach a pinecone or two with floral wire. (If you have the time, get out a can of gold spray paint and gild the cones. But do it atop newspaper outdoors – spray paint is not only messy, it is also fume-y.) Placecards. Use a Sharpie or paint marker to write your guests’ names on a walnut, a leaf, or use the back of a recipe card of your favorite dish that each guest can take home.
Tip 3. Make your guests feel special. Flowers. Place a little bottle at each place setting filled with a flower. Let each guest take one home. Icebreaker. Plan something fun and different for the table to do as you sit down for dinner. I like to give each place a notecard with the phrase “I am thankful for…” and let each guest fill in the blank. Then, put the cards in a hat and pass them around the table, letting each person read one. The goodie bag. My dinner parties are notorious for “the goodie bag” at each place setting. Filled with things from gag gifts (whoopee cushions) to the practical (nice soaps or candles), these bags get the party started and get people laughing and having fun. The fun of this will surprise you. Guaranteed. To go. At Thanksgiving I have on hand take out Chinese containers so that guests can take a few of their favorite leftovers home. Sometimes, if I’m extra ambitious, I pack up cookies and chocolates. Nothing says “I’m thinking of you” like a to go container of yum.
Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful for the blessings we have, not what we don’t. Celebrate the family and the friends that are in your life. Let them know how special they are by taking the time to make it a real celebration. Gobble, gobble. More fun ideas coming soon….
Life 101
Just returned from a magical vacation swimming with wild dolphin. If YOU ever have a chance to go swim with them in the open ocean… it’s highly recommended. Really helps bring life into perspective! The organization I always swim with is www.wildquest.com… very kind souls. Once on tiny Bimini Island in the Bahamas, you climb aboard a catamaran each day and go out looking for dolphin. Once discovered, if they stay around and invite you in the water… you hop in and have “an encounter.” It is as exhilarating an experience imaginable, similar to being in space and meeting an alien that you realize is as smart as you and as cognizant. An alien that is checking the inside of you out with a full sonar scan! Did you know dolphin use 95% of their brain, which is the largest in ratio to body size of any animal on earth?
Moo Crew
I’m getting fun things from all over the country… this was sent from people in milwaukee… who listen in on FM106.1 continuous country favorites. Had a great time with them this week, and I’m going to be dropping in on their hilarious “Moo Crew” this summer with som garage sale guru reports…. seems they think i’m a spitting image for Joe Don of Rascal Flatts. What do you think? Go to their site and see: http://www.themoocrew.com/pages/MooCrew.html
(look on the right side of their web page… hilarious!) 
Secrets
We garage sale in droves. Every 15 seconds in the United States a garage saler puts out his arrowed sign, and conservative numbers put lookers, pickers and choosers making around 500 million stop-and-shops a year. The mostly off-the-book industry is estimated to be around $3 billion a year, but shhh, let’s keep that our little secret. \r\nThis is the site to find out how to spot a treasure, how to steal a deal, and how to find your unique American style and then use garage sale finds to decorate cheap chic. Look around and tell us what you know.
