I love all the entertaining, beautiful holiday décor, and visiting with friends and family during the holiday season. It can be challenging to keep the balance of enjoying the holidays and not stressing over things that need to be done. The to-do list seems to double or triple in some cases. This week, I am offering tips that can help reduce the stress that may occur this fun holiday season, or you find yourself over-booked.
Outdoor Holiday Decorating Tips
As we step into December, it’s time to decorate the outside of our homes for the upcoming holiday. When I was young, we had a family tradition that my mother created, who was fun, and an out-of-the-box decorator. Each Christmas there was a life-sized Santa on a candy cane painted ladder crawling in the window of our second story home. On the roof, there was an elf hanging over the ledge (yes, my father would go up on the roof to hang) with spotlights. It was the highlight of our outdoor decor, and I remember people driving and walking by to take a look. I would encourage you to have fun with your outdoor holiday decorating, and do the unexpected! Do something unique that your family would enjoy and create a new tradition that everyone will remember!
Things to Do Thanksgiving Week
Depending on your holiday vacation schedule and if you have family or friends visiting you this week you may want to come up with some activities to keep everyone happy. In other words, to keep you happy! There are the usual choices to go shopping at the King of Prussia Mall on Black Friday, go to the movies (buy your tickets in advance if you wish to get in), or go bowling (which can be fun if family groups become teams and compete.) For additional ideas in the Philadelphia, PA and surrounding areas:
Enjoy Family Traditions
As next week is Thanksgiving, I wanted to check in with you and hear about your family’s holiday traditions. As a family of six, we never lived near relatives, and we created our own. All my children are grown and scattered, and we are fortunate that we still enjoy engaging in family togetherness. We participate in activities where we are spending time together at home. We play games, laugh, do puzzles, watch a movie, and eat a lot together! I also like to use the time after Thanksgiving to set up the house for the Christmas holiday; this ensures that my kids are involved and that I have help, a double bonus!
Prepare Your Guest Bedroom for the Holidays
My last decorating article, Prepare your Guest Bathroom for the Holidays, offered tips on getting the guest bath ready for holiday visitors. This week, I wanted to provide tips on getting your guest bedroom ready or any area that you plan to put your guests. If you are new to your place of living and want to host guests and have nothing, you can easily and on a budget pull this together.
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Prepare your Guest Bathroom for the Holidays
As we head into November and the time when many people have overnight guests, I wanted to focus my next two posts on tips for getting ready. This week let’s focus on the bathroom guests will use.
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5 Budget-Friendly Ways to Change your Decor
Whenever the seasons change I get that itch to change something in my home, it could be simple, or I want to remodel a room completely. A budget is a constricting factor, and I wanted to offer a few tips on how you can quickly change an area of your home, in a budget-friendly way.
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2019 Color Trends
I love reviewing all the colors that paint companies choose for the upcoming New Year. Let’s dive right in and see what 2019 will offer!
Small Bathroom Floor and Bath Tile Remodel
Recently, I was working with someone who wanted to remodel their guest bathroom. It was your standard builder tub with drab tile in the shower area. She wanted a contemporary but not trendy look, and I decided it would be fun to share this experience with you and offer some tips. The dilemma is how to update a small old bathroom with no window to have a contemporary but not trendy look and easily compatible for resale. Here are a few ideas:
Decorating with Metallics
I was recently catching up perusing all of my fall decorating catalogs and saw that metallic touches are big this fall to winter! With this decorating trend in mind I wanted to offer some fantastic ways to integrate a splash of gold, brass, or copper in your home decorating: