Merry Christmas 2010

Christmas and Holiday Decorating Articles at a Glance

1. Designer Joanne Fitzgerald’s Fresh & Fun Approach to Holiday Decorating
2. Designer Olga Adler’s Delish Holiday Recipe: Mini Lemon Potato Latkes with Ginger/Avocado Creme
3. Designer Andie Day’s Holiday Decorating & Entertaining Tips
4. Designer Jill Seidner’s Favorite Holiday Champagne Cocktail Recipe
5. Designer Cheryl Clendenon’s Guilt-Free Holiday Treat: Low-Fat Key Lime Bars
6. Kitchen Designer Sarah Lloyd’s Citrusy Holiday Desert Recipe
7. Designer Kelly Morisseau’s Yummy & Nutty Holiday Butter Tarts Recipe
8. Interior Designer Julie Bova’s Holiday Recipe: Peppermint Ice Cream Pie
9. Holiday Decorating – Easy Holiday Wall Decor with Art-A-Peel
10. A Twist on Christmas Traditions
11. Tree Trimming and Holiday Decorating Fun for the Whole Family
12. Holiday Decorating and Entertaining – Appeal to the Senses
13. 7 Ideas for a Memorable Thanksgiving Dinner Party
14. Holiday Decorating Inside and Outside
15. Holiday Decorating Novelty Fun Ornaments: Hippie Chicks, Martini Mermaids and Pink Diva Reindeer!
16. Holiday Decorating on a Budget: 5 Ideas to Get You Started
17. Holiday Decorating Ornaments Angels from Adorable to Artistic Glass Sculptures
18. Holiday Decorating Ornaments Christmas Tree Motifs
19. Holiday Decorating Ornaments for Pet Parents
20. Holiday Decorating Ornaments Snowflake Shapes and Patterns
21. White & Silver Christmas Decorating Theme
22. Pink-tastic Diva Christmas Decorating Theme
23. Silver & Gold Christmas Decorating Theme
24. Retro Christmas Trees
25. Winter Wonderland Decor Idea
26. A Royal Copenhagen Christmas Tabletop and Tablescapes Inspiration
27. Beach House Christmas Decorating Theme
28. Dreaming of a Green Christmas: 4 Eco-Friendly Holiday Decorating and Entertaining Ideas
29. Elegant Evergreen, Red & Green Ornament Holiday Centerpiece
30. Fabulous Holiday Decorating Ideas
31. Ice Sculptures You Can Make At Home
32. Chris Madden’s Secret to Stress-Free Holiday Entertaining
33. Stress Free Approach to Preparing Holiday Meals
34. 9 Super Easy Tips to Relax This Holiday Season
35. Throwing the Perfect Holiday Party

The 12 Days of Design 2009: Christmas Gift Guide {Day by Day}

• 12 Days of Design: Christmas Gift Guide {Day 1}
• 12 Days of Design: Christmas Gift Guide {Day 2}
• 12 Days of Design: Christmas Gift Guide {Day 3}
• 12 Days of Design: Christmas Gift Guide {Day 4}
• 12 Days of Design: Christmas Gift Guide {Day 5}
• 12 Days of Design: Christmas Gift Guide {Day 6}
• 12 Days of Design: Christmas Gift Guide {Day 7}
• 12 Days of Design: Christmas Gift Guide {Day 8}
• 12 Days of Design: Christmas Gift Guide {Day 9}
• 12 Days of Design: Christmas Gift Guide {Day 10}
• 12 Days of Design: Christmas Gift Guide {Day 11}
• 12 Days of Design: Christmas Gift Guide {Day 12}

Retro Christmas Trees

Funky, colorful, unique and incredibly retro if that’s the kind of Christmas you’re dreaming of then we have the perfect Christmas tree for your home.

Shown: Pretty in Pink Christmas Tree, Winter White Christmas Tree, Candy Apple Red Christmas Tree and Black Tiger Christmas Tree. All Available at Treetopia.com. 6′ Christmas tree with lights $299.

Holiday Tabletop Decorating Ideas from Royal Copenhagen

For Christmas 2009, Royal Copenhagen asked six actors and ballet dancers from the Royal Danish Theater to interpret various dances from the classical Christmas fairytale “The Nutcracker” into fantastic, fabulous and magical tablescapes. Each table shown below depicts a specific dance (details below each picture).

Helle Hertz pays tribute to the legendary and poetic Chinese Dance from The Nutcracker in a riot of red, orange and purple. Surrounded by amazing costumes from the Royal Danish Theatre, a tremendous lacquer red table materialises, laid for a tasteful and spectacular Christmas Dinner with White Elements, Royal Copenhagen’s newest service, which has been designed by Louise Campbell. The fine fanlike edging on the plates fits in perfectly with the Chinese theme and provides a beautiful background for the scarlet fans, which contrast with and complement the simple white service.

In one of the loveliest rooms in the building Henning Jensen has laid the table for a majestic Christmas dinner with Flora Danica, the world’s most exclusive porcelain. The imposing table is graced by a regal array of the service’s striking ice cream domes, tureens, bowls and dishes, each of which depicts its own particular Danish plant. The hand-painted service dates from 1790 and was originally created as a gift for Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia, so it chimes with the Russian theme of Henning Jensen’s Christmas table.

In the second act of The Nutcracker Clara, the main character, arrives in the Land of Sweets, where she is received by the Sugar Plum Fairy. In the fairytale Land of Sweets Clara looks for her prince, but everyone she meets is busy preparing for that evening’s circus performance, which has Clara’s beloved uncle, Drosselmeyer, as the ringmaster. Kristen Olesen’s Christmas table recreates in the most marvelous way the spellbinding fairytale ambience in an imaginative scenario with lots of Christmas magic.

In the first act of The Nutcracker one of the places that Clara, the main character, visits on her dream journey is a vast snowy landscape, where she meets the cold Snow Queen and a crowd of dancing snowflakes, who come together in a fairytale snowstorm. Nikolaj Hübbe has chosen to stage his Christmas table with both fairytale and real elements from the world of ballet.

Rose Gad’s Christmas scenario has been inspired by the Waltz of the Flowers, one of the best-known dances from The Nutcracker. In a poetic and personal installation, Rose Gad has chosen to invite the audience behind the scenes into the busy world of a ballerina. It is not unusual for a ballet company to dance all Christmas long, and Rose Gad’s story is about a ballerina touring with The Nutcracker over the festive season. After practice and rehearsal, the ballerina goes back to her hotel room, where she and her boyfriend are to celebrate Christmas Eve together. The table is laid for a delicious Christmas dinner with champagne, caviar, fois gras and rice à l’imperatrice on a beautiful four-poster bed.

Silja Schandorff has chosen to create a Christmas table that pays homage to the Arab Dance, one of the most spectacular in The Nutcracker. In an exotic and personal scenography, which exudes Eastern mystery and the magic of Christmas Night, Silja Schandorff has set her interpretation of the Arab Dance in a luxurious Bedouin tent, where the table is laid for a magical Christmas dinner.

More tablescape design inspiration from Royal Copenhagen: Christmas Tabletop Decorations 2008.

All images copyright of Royal Copenhagen.

Home Decor Shopping Resources: Royal Copenhagen

Holiday Decorating on a Budget: 5 Ideas to Get You Started

Creating a warm, inviting and beautifully decorated home for the holidays is pretty high on most of our to do lists but most of us don’t have the endless buying power needed to create those gorgeous, right out of our favorite shelter magazine, holiday home images. So how can we create endless glamor and elegance this season, even with our tight budgets? It’s simple you just need to: Take Inventory, Be Crafty, Think Multi-Purpose, Be Creative and Shop Smart.

1. Take Inventory and Ask: Before you spend a dime on holiday decor look around your home, you probably have holiday decor, dinnerware and linens you had forgotten about. Anything you can reuse or re-purpose will contribute to a more festive holiday event without the heavy price tag usually associated with holiday decorating and entertaining. Ask your relatives if they have ornaments or decor they no longer use and is collecting dust – they will be happy to pass the heirlooms on early and free their storage space up at the same time
2. Be Crafty : Instead of spending hundreds on mini-ice sculptures make your own. Buy fabric remnants and use them instead of pricey pre-finished table linens. Build your own holiday topiary that’s edible (instructions in Friday’s installment) ! Spray paint inexpensive Dollar store baskets gold or silver and fill them with pine-cones, evergreen tree trimmings and other seasonal decor.
3. Think Multi-Purpose: Buy holiday decor and accessories that can be used at events year round. Choose table clothes and napkins in neutral colors with classical patterns (no holiday specific motifs), candle holders in gold, brushed silver or other “neutral” metallics, table runners with a hint of sparkle and dinnerware in ivory, white, red or navy with gold or silver trim.
4. Be Creative: Upgrade inexpensive pillar candles by hot-gluing pearl and metallic beads and satin ribbons. Create interesting table place cards using seasonal holiday cards (and make sure to personalize them with a special note inside (see #7 on list)). Dust off that old soup Christmas motif soup tureen your Aunt gifted you and turn it into a one-of-a-kind vessel for your floral center piece. Save the money you would spend on a floral centerpiece and create one that will have your guests giddy with excitement: a gift box pyramid and after desert your guests can retrieve their party favor. Don’t throw away that holey Frosty the Snowman sweater, use it to recover some pillows, or to create an eco-friendly gift wrap.
5. Shop Smart: Plan your holiday decorating budget, know what you need and be prepared to take advantage of smart buys. Buy next year’s ornaments, decor, dinnerware,linens and accessories at after holiday sales where you can find great bargains up to 75% off of retail prices. This is also a good time to stock up on next year’s gifts for friends and family – just don’t forget where you stashed the presents Consider eBay, thrift stores and yard sales – they are always great places to find holiday items at great prices.

Eco Friendly Christmas – Resources and Inspiration Guide

Have you been dreaming of a Green Living Christmas? This year it will be easier than ever to lessen your holiday carbon footprint. We’ve searched the internet for the best eco-friendly Christmas decorating tips, advice and shops – so you don’t have to. Sit back, relax and click your way to a healthier Christmas for your home and the planet.

• Julie Deardoff, the editor of “Julie’s Health Blog” at the Chicago Tribune helps reduce the confusion of picking the perfect, and by perfect we mean “Greenest”, Christmas tree. She discusses the pros and cons related to three types of trees: plastic (aka the artificial tree), farmed and eco-farmed.
• BlogHers ACT Canada highlight a couple of eco-wrapping papers (including recycled fabrics) and alternatives to wrapping gifts – like using online gift cards or certificates, donate to charity, and several other great and greener gifting options.
• Who said going Green has to be expensive? Fellow Curbly contributer, DIY Maven, posts “Curbly Recession Busters: Free Alternative Christmas Trees“. That gets you a two-fer! (1) Recycle, Re-purpose and Reuse EQUALS Eco Christmas tree and (2) Holiday decorating on a budget.

Green Ornaments – Where to Find Them or Make Them

• World of Good.com (eBay) – Eco Positive ornaments in categories such as Energy Conservation, Eco-Friendly Production and Environmental Conservation.
• Uncommon Goods has a real conversation starter: Elephant Poo Paper Elephant Ornaments. Seriously. These ornaments are handmade from 100% recycled elephant dung. According to Uncommon Goods, the ornaments are “eco-friendly, attractive and most importantly, odorless”. We would hope so
• Planet Green‘s Kelly Rossiter shares her kitchen recipe for baking up some fun ornaments.
• ecoBites has anarray of awesome, creative and easy to make eco-ornaments. This is a terrific resource for the craft DIYers. Our favorite idea – dressing up old, empty thread spools in ribbon and glue together to create a festive tree shaped ornament. Another one of our favorites and one we’ve been using for years, is repurposing old, costume jewelry found at estate sales, flea markets and garage sales into sparkling, unique ornaments.

Last, but not least, our own post, ” Dreaming of a Green Christmas: 4 Eco-Friendly Holiday Decorating and Entertaining Ideas ” .  Content provided below for easy referencing.

Want to leave the planet a little better than you found it? Then you will love these four eco-friendly holiday decorating and entertaining ideas:

1. Gift Tags That Grow: Instead of buying regular or recycled gift tags do the Green Thing and go Green all the way by purchasing plantable holiday gift tags that are made from 100% recycled materials AND each tag contains seeds which can be planted and will bloom into pretty blossoms.

2. Christmas Tree Lights That Don’t Die: Bid adieu to those old fashion holiday lights that barely survive one Christmas season without burning out. Instead opt for Forever Lights (23 1/2′ string for under $20) which are made from LED bulbs and are very Green since “they last for about 200,000 hours, and use almost 80% less electricity than incandescent lights.” On top of being energy efficient “Forever Lights” will illuminate your tree up to 20 years even if one bulb burns out the rest will keep shining. Just think of the reduction in discarded Christmas Tree lights at landfills and the reduction in carbon emissions and other plastics related toxins that will no longer have to be created to produce another non-Green Christmas light string.

3. Save That Bulb: 3R Living takes recycling to a whole new level with their clever re-use of burned out old light bulbs, giving them a painted face lift and re-purposing them as delightful tree ornaments. Too cute and oh, so Green. Do expect to shell out a little of your own Green as these one-of-a-kind holiday beauties range from $18 to $32. By the way, for our DIY-er readers this is an easy to do week-end craft project if you rather make than buy.

4. Trash to Treasures – The Ultimate Recycle: Instead of buying new holiday dinnerware check out eBay, thrift stores, estate sales or yard sales. When you’re done with the dinnerware and decide you no longer want them you can recycle them by: selling them back, donating them to a food kitchen, church assistance program or break the plates up to make a unique and artsy mosaic project.

Tree Trimming and Holiday Decorating Fun for the Whole Family

Parents can include their children in decorating the home for the holidays as well as participating in the tree trimming.

The day after Thanksgiving is the traditional tree-trimming day for our family. We serve up hot cocoa with marshmallows (a favorite treat of our nephew and nieces ), fill the room with fun and uplifting holiday and Christmas music, let the kids pick out the ornaments they like and then let them go about placing them on the tree – with adult supervision and assistance.

Each child is also given a special ornament that is theirs and theirs alone – and it’s always a treat to watch them search for that perfect spot for their special ornament. Our nieces and nephews love decorating the Christmas tree and their joy defines what is the holiday spirit.

A Twist on Christmas Traditions

CHRISTMAS STOCKINGS

Say good-bye to the traditional stocking. Create new and unanticipated gift containers. I like to create unique, non-traditional stockings by considering the interests or hobbies of the gift recipient. Here are some ideas for the:

• Foodie – Grab a mixing bowl and fill it to the brim with cookie mix, baking utensils and for the gift card – make it a recipe style.
• Beach Gal – Fill a roomy beach tote with a fashionable beach hat, sun block, beach flip-flops, two popular chick lit bestsellers and an iPod loaded up with her favorite beach-frolicking tunes.
• Football Fan – Season tickets, team jersey, subscription to NFL Ticket or Sports Illustrated stowed away in a football shaped box.

HOLIDAY COLORS

Colors such as red, green, silver and gold for holiday décor are steeped in tradition but how about shaking things up?   One fresh twist I love is ornaments in varying shades of the traditional colors. Instead of green, a fresh and tangy lime color. Instead of red, a vibrant hot pink.

THE CHRISTMAS TREE

Add modern touches to the traditional Christmas tree with unexpected ornaments like mermaids, or contemporary art inspired ornaments.

Adventurous decorating divas may want to consider the upside down Christmas tree – that’s definitely turning traditional holiday style on its head!

Colored Christmas trees in colors ranging from soft pinks to Halloween black and orange to sophisticated silver are a fun interpretation of the traditional evergreen Christmas tree.

Eclectic and Fun December Diamonds of the Sea Ornaments

Aquatini Ornament Diamonds of the Sea Collection	Claret Ornament  Diamonds of the Sea Collection
Hula Hula Ornament  Diamonds of the Sea Collection	Margarita III Ornament  Diamonds of the Sea Collection
Cocktail Shrimp Ornament Diamonds of the Sea Collection	Janis Ornament  Diamonds of the Sea Collection

These fun and zany ornaments from December Diamonds will definitely be a conversation starter at your next holiday party. Find a December Diamonds retailer..

All images copyright of respective owners.

Ornaments the Holiday Jewels

Hanging ornament chandelier for Royal Copenhagen Christmas tablescape. 

Large grouping of trees bejeweled in holiday ornamentation (Jacksonville, Florida).

Detailed view of holiday tree ornaments. Shimmering, ornate holiday baubles create a harmonious design-scape  among the rough textured branches (Jacksonville, Florida).

Textured, three-dimensional gold star tree ornament.

Quirky, apple green and candy-apple red ornaments in an interesting configuration.

Silver and Red Ornamental Baubles from Andrew J W on Flickr

Painted Holiday Ornament from Pararutzi on Flickr

Shimmering Star ornament from Flowery *L*u*z*a* on Flickr