Twists on Tree Trimming

The turkey has been carved and the pumpkin pie is all gone, and we feel we’re in the full swing of the holiday season.  Now it is time to turn our decorating attention to Christmas. 

I am a fan of taking your favorite Christmas decorations from years past and mixing them with new pieces throughout the years as you expand your collection.  We often end up with so much in storage that we can pick and choose from our own reserves each year and still give the current Christmas season its own personal touch.  So whether you are bringing out every plastic storage container you own that’s marked “Christmas,” stashing some new selections in your shopping cart, or a mix of both, here are some ideas for what will be trending this Christmas season.  

Traditional red and green will always be a timeless Christmas staple.  If you want to change things up a bit, consider a metallics theme.  Trimming your tree with gold or silver or a blend of both can add elegance to the mix.  Add in some sparkle elements in ribbon you wrap around the tree, glittered or jeweled ornaments, or fancy baubles in your centerpiece, and you take the theme up a notch.  Another popular route is a monochromatic theme.  Choose one color, and make it the primary shade of all your ornaments and the facets of your table centerpiece.  Popular choices aside from red or green include white and shades of blue.  If a walk on the wilder side is more your decorating style, a theme made up of bright shades of hot pink, turquoise, lime green, and purple can be a real pop of color around the tree, over the mantle, and down the dining table.  Straying from the traditional for one year or a few in a row can shake things up and give each Christmas season a new ring to it. 

Whether you pull your beautiful pre-lit tree out of storage or create your own Charlie Brown moment by picking out the perfect evergreen pine on a local lot, it’s what goes on the tree and across the table that can be the icing on your Christmas cake.

 

DesignInMind column; appeared in the Valley Morning Star November 25th.

 

 

 

Pack It Up

Holiday travel can be a whirlwind of packing the luggage, cramming the car, or holding your breath through airport security in hopes that all your liquids do continue on the trip with you.  If you’re like me, you need “all your stuff,” and the desire to be prepared leaves you toting more luggage than you can easily roll.  The key to a great packing job and a smooth start to your trip is all in the prep work.

First of all, start early.  A last minute rush can lead to shoving clothes in a suitcase and arriving without everything you need and with a wrinkled mess to boot.  Making a list of the number of days, nights, and coordinating clothing needed for each facet of the trip allows you to check things off as you put items in the suitcase.  For toiletries, make a master list of everything you use, print it on cardstock or laminate it, and store that in your suitcase.  When packing up bathroom items, you won’t miss a step that way. 

For hard case suitcases that have a zipped-off compartment on the “lid” that takes up half of the suitcase’s interior, I have learned a packing trick for women in particular.  Pack shoes, purses, jewelry bags, hair styling equipment, and cosmetic cases and bags in the main area of the suitcase, and pack the clothing in the top portion that will be zipped closed and folded over on the base to close the suitcase.  The inclination to start packing the clothes first leaves the bulkier items in the lid, and this can make the suitcase harder to close, while smashing your clothing.

When packing, put as many things as possible inside smaller bags within your luggage.  This makes airport security more private should your bag be opened, and it makes unpacking in a hotel room or guest room more organized.  Pack undergarments and socks inside small zipper bags.  Wrap nice necklaces inside tissue paper, and place each inside a jewelry bag to avoid tangles.  Put shoes inside drawstring shoe bags to keep them off your other items.  To avoid wrinkles, roll up shirts and pants instead of folding them, which reinforces creases.           

 For the savvy traveler, consider the extras you can take along to make your stay more comfortable.  If you are staying with family, you may want to bring a digital alarm clock for a familiar wakeup and the ability to see the time display during the night.  If you are staying in a hotel, bringing a small sound machine can help buffer hallway and elevator ding sounds with white noise to give you a more solid night’s sleep.  For an airplane ride, pack comfort essentials in your carry-on like your own small travel blanket, neck pillow, tissues, hand wipes, and snacks.  Taking a tote bag carry-on you can leave under the seat in front of you instead of the overhead compartment keeps everything within reach the entire flight. 

Plan, pack, and make progress for fun, relaxed, ultra-prepared travel this holiday season!     

 

DesignInMind column; appeared in the Valley Morning Star November 18th.

 

 

Cents and Scentsability

The feel of a home goes beyond what you see; your other senses pick up on subtleties that add to your perception.  Thinking back on holiday memories, you may see piping hot dishes surrounding the grand turkey serving tray, or spirals of whipped topping rising above your favorite slice of pie.  And it is likely that the smells of the holidays wafting from the kitchen, the dining table, and maybe even the outdoors play a role in how you look back on Thanksgivings and Christmases gone by.  You can give those scents a boost and play up the holiday fall factor in your home and treat your family and your guests to more than what you dish up.

Wall plug-in scent diffusers can work around the clock for you to spread a light fragrance through the air.  Bottles of room spray can be spritzed in the dining room before dinner or in the entryway before guests arrive, but the scent can dissipate pretty quickly.  Scent warmers have grown in popularity.  There are versions that hold a waxy disc over a burning tealight candle that melts and distributes the fragrance, and there are wall plug-in versions that use a light bulb to accomplish the same task.  There of course is always the traditional route of scented candles to create a warm glow and inviting scent at once.  To pull some double duty, utilize bottles of body spray that are fall-focused and use them as a room spray as well.  At quite the price cut off of perfume and cologne, body sprays and mists can make for a very pleasant addition to any room in the home just by a quick spritz and a little coin.  Any of these methods can add that extra dimension of fall scent as you host guests this Thanksgiving. 

 The scent options are seemingly endless, with various stores carrying a slew of spray options to candle selections.  To play up a traditional fall scent, look for versions that have words like "autumn," "fall," "leaves," and "woods" in the title.  These typically are reminiscent of earthy spice notes.  For the more dessert oriented sweet smells, you can never go wrong with a vanilla based fragrance.  Also see what you think of scents centered around cinnamon, cookies, cranberries, candy, pumpkins, and other fall spices.  You can choose a signature scent and offer it up throughout your home, or pick a couple of varieties that blend well together and use them in different areas for some variety as you move from room to room.

You can also think outside the candle holder and opt for more natural additives.  Pour some vanilla in a shallow baking dish or cake pan, and pop that in the oven on low, or alongside a batch of cookies.  The heated liquid will diffuse the scent right out into your kitchen.  Roast shelled nuts on a cookie sheet to use in a dessert or in candy making, but take advantage of the smell that is generated for a time. 

Play up your sense of smell and indulge in the many scents of autumn, all while minding your holiday cents this Thanksgiving.

DesignInMind column; appeared in the Valley Morning Star November 11th.

Making Your November Plans

We have entered into November!  And it’s amazing to think that Thanksgiving is just three weeks away.  To avoid the last minute struggle to pull off a polished turkey day, now is the time to get planning. 

By now, you likely want to have “the family plan.”  Are you staying in town or traveling?  Which branch of the family is going to another relative’s home?  If these are things that have not been discussed with your spouse, your parents, or other family members you gather with, now is the time. 

If you are traveling, the main details to be on top of are travel arrangements and food.  Ensure your family is well equipped with appropriate luggage.  If the family vehicle is in need of service, beat the last minute rush and take care of things like an oil change or tire rotation in advance.  If you are flying, confirm your flight reservations and collect all the travel documents in a plastic document case you store with your carryon bag.  If you are arriving with a food dish or dessert, plan for your groceries ahead of time and have a transportation plan in mind.  Disposal baking trays can be handy and do not require you to hang on to a glass baking dish for the trip home.  If you will be buying your groceries and making or baking on-site, make your full grocery list ahead of time and remember to take your recipes with you. 

If you will be playing host or hostess this year, plan indeed.  Write out your guest list and start planning for table seating count.  Do you have enough - or will you need to make arrangements for – chairs, chargers or placemats, and place settings?  If company will be staying over, work on your sleeping arrangement to accommodate your guests.  If your children will need to double up to offer up one bedroom, prep for that.  Start putting together guest sheet sets inside the matching pillow cases for easy retrieval, along with gathering and laundering blankets and other bedding.  Stock up on guest toiletries like extra toothbrushes, shampoo, and shower gel.  Have household extras on hand for the influx of guests, like laundry detergent, dish washing liquid, and paper goods.  Coordinate with guests about who is responsible for what dishes and start your menu plan and grocery list.  To make the week-of run most smoothly, write out a plan for tasks to accomplish each day, such as when to shop, thaw the turkey, pick out serving dishes, set the table beforehand, and so forth.   

The more you plan in advance, the more time you will have to enjoy your company and soak in the start of the holidays.  It is a time to celebrate, reflect, and acknowledge all you have to be thankful for.  A good jump start can be just what you need to give you the time and space to do just that. 

 

DesignInMind column; appeared in the Valley Morning Star November 4th.