Coming Home for Christmas

I just got the best X-mas gift anyone could ever get.....a new house back home. My husband and I finally gave up selling our last house and decided to just keep that one off the market for awhile until things improve. Then we started over with a new mortgage ( geezzzzz, now that's a process anymore) and went and bought a house while prices are down.

It is so good to be back where we're from.....back to where the kids and grand kids are. Our kids have been dropping in and it's great to see old friends as well. There is a moral to our story and that is think twice or more if you decide to retire and move away. It just didn't work for us, I missed everything about our old life and really grew to dislike the town we had moved to.

So, back to the blog.....ok, I didn't get 10 days of wreaths, in fact due to moving this is the first year that I don't have a wreath on my front door in, well forever I think. No tree or lights nor any other decorations, they are still at the other house. But that's ok, I've got big plans for next year.

Merry Christmas to all......

And For Those Who Like To Be Unique.....

There are times when I want to go outside the "everyday", when I want to make something that no one else has.

This tree wreath is really different, but still imparts the feeling of the holiday. Since this tree is made from fresh bay leaves, it would also go perfectly inside the house, where you could smell it's fresh scent, like in the kitchen.

For really different wreath forms, you can look online, just google them. Or make your own as I usually do, use wire hangers which can be shaped into any form you like. Wrap the wire with wicker garland, small branches, like willow or even fresh juniper.

These wreaths make great gifts, many women just don't have the time for creating projects like this one.....so make up a couple and give one to a friend, she'll love it.

And to Hang That Beautiful Wreath.....

Wreath hangers have come a long way from the simple hook that can only be described as functional. Take this beautiful hanger, it's metal with lots of flourishes that add alot to the look of the wreath.

These new hangers come in a variety of styles that allow you to match the decor of your door or your home in general. These hangers I found on e-bay, and range in price from $18.00 to $21.00.

If your like me, you might look around your house for something you may already have that could be turned into a "wow" hanger. These hangers remind me of all those metal wall items that you would hang above a door or to add to a collection or grouping. I have seen them at the craft stores for several years now and they can be very inexpensive. Simply add a S hook to the bottom of a metal sconce and you have a very attractive new hanger.

A Wreath You Can Eat!

A Candy Wreath

This is one that you and the kids can create together and have alot of fun doing it. Start with a plain metal wreath form as it makes it easy to actually tie the candy on the form.

Buy hard candy that is wrapped in plastic, you can find candy now that has X-Mas prints on it. Tie a 5" piece of the thin ribbon to an end twist and then tie to the wreath frame. If you just tie a knot and leave long tails, you can use the edge of the scissors to curl the ribbon. Fill the form really full and attach a pair of scissors to cut a piece of candy off.

You could really personalize this wreath with toys, old X-mas cards cut into strips and strung together for a garland and then wrapped around the wreath or use gingerbread cookies with your kids names on them.

This is a fun wreath to make and take to your place of business so all your customers can leave with a piece of candy. Or how about making one to take to all those great people who work at your kids school, they all deserve a sweet treat.

And Another Wreath

This wreath starts the same as all my other's, with a grapevine form and lots of greens. I used juniper here, which is somewhat flat and can be poked into the form in all the same direction for a swirled look. If you have any other shrubs in your yard that you like, cut small pieces, about 4 or 5" in length and add to the juniper.

Next comes a berry garland which can be found at your fav craft store. These garland's come in all colors, I also have a pink one that looks so nice with the greens. Simply begin to twine the garland around the wreath form and secure with a small piece of paddle wire.

There is almost no end to what you can do with this wreath, add pine cones, a ribbon or I have added whole oranges, which contrast so well with the red berries. Or just leave it as is for a pretty and classic look.

A Pomegranate Wreath

Quite possibly my favorite wreath, the combination of greens and fresh pomegranates makes for a stunning arrangement for the front door. Whether your X-mas decor is classic or country or even Victorian, this wreath works with everything.

I always make my wreaths on grapevine forms, it's easy to insert the greens in the groves of the form and you can easily wire cones or your decorations on them. If you decide to use pomegranates on your wreath, use a strong thick wire to attach them. Since this fruit is very juicy you will want to cover the hole where your wire goes thru the flesh or it will drip all over. I simply take my glue gun and put a small dollop of glue around the wire to seal the hole.

Any fruit looks great on a wreath of greens, try apples, pears or oranges studded with cloves. Please note that if you live in a climate that freezes, you will want to bring your wreath in at night or your fruit will not last thru the season.

A Toy Wreath

If you have children in your house, they will love having this playful wreath on the front door. It all starts with a simple grapevine wreath form, add to that toys that have a X-Mas theme. Here we have small stuffed figures, all ones that you see during the holidays. These toys all can be found at stores like Michael's or I have great luck at Joanne's for finding small X-Mas items to attach to a wreath.

This wreath has artificial greens and berries although you could use fresh if they are available to you. Hint: save those branches you cut off the bottom of your tree, you can use them for decor just like this wreath.

If the toys you find have long legs, let them dangle over the front of the form.....it will look like they are just sitting there! Attach a small piece of trim board (like a paint stirrer) behind the toys so they will sit straight. Cover this strip with the greens to make it invisible.

Be sure to save this wreath after the holidays by storing it in a box specially made for wreaths. I found them last year at Walmart for about $3.50 for a 16" size.

Ten Days of Wreaths

Want to try something a little different for your door decoration this year? You can start with the traditional wreath made of evergreens, but then go with a motif that really says something about your family.

For the hunters among us, how about finally doing something with those antlers your husband keeps dragging home or those beautiful pheasant feathers you keep finding along the trail. Just these two items along with a few pine cones make for a dramatic showstopper for your front door.

Have more of those antlers? Try laying them along your fireplace mantle with some scattered greens, or place point side up in a large basket with other items from nature; dried grasses, cones, lichen covered branches. If you happen to have any of the wicker deer that are meant for yard decor, how about wiring a pair of antlers to each side of the head.....how authentic would that be?

Make A Dried Apple Wreath

With Christmas less than a month away, it's time to start making those gifts for your favorite family and friends. How about making this pretty dried apple slice wreath, either to replace that traditional evergreen one or for an inside holiday item.

I made this wreath on a wicker or branch form, although you could certainly make it on a circle form or really any form that you already have.

Dried apple slices can be great for many uses during the holidays, put extras in your existing potpourri, add to other decorations such as swags, garlands or for using fresh in punches or decor on desert plates. A garland of apple and orange slices mixed with Cinnamon sticks makes a wonderful aromatic accent for any public room in your home.

For complete directions, please visit: http://www.ehow.com/how_4516248_dried-apple-wreath.html

Thanksgiving Pear Pie

Have you ever eaten Pear pie? Have you ever even heard of Pear pie? Well, I hadn't until I moved to the Pacific Northwest, where we grow some of the best fruit in the world.

I love this pie, as does everyone who tries it, it makes a wonderful addition to Thanksgiving dinner along side the pumpkin pie. It's relatively easy to make and if you take a little time with the top layer of pears, can make a beautiful presentation. This pie can be dotted with fresh cranberries to really make it a part of the autumn harvest. Give it a try, I'm sure it will become part of your dinner every year.

For complete instructions:

http://www.ehow.com/how_4582618_thanksgiving-pear-custard-pie.html

Making A Fall Nut Wreath

We can probably all agree that the summer wreath has passed it's prime, but it's really too soon for that evergreen X-Mas beauty we all love to hang on the front door. A terrific fall wreath is one using all the harvest of the nut tree's, walnuts, almonds, hazel nuts just to name a few. But there are also all the wonderful seed pods that go so well with the whole nuts and can make a unique and interesting wreath.

I made this wreath years ago and drag it out every year just prior to Thanksgiving and it's always a pleasure to hang it on the front door with all the other fall decor. Give this wreath a try, no experience required! For complete instructions, please click on this link:

http://www.ehow.com/how_4513935_fall-nut-wreath.html

Fall Decor For the Porch

Does your porch still have the remains of summer, you know, the pots of annuals that bit the dust weeks ago or a pile of toys the kids left laying around? If after taking a good look at your porch, do you feel as though you'd never want any of your family or friends coming into your home that way? Well, here's your chance to turn that neglected piece of real estate into a porch that says welcome to fall and all your visitors.

First gather up all the dying flower pots, toys and the summer chairs. Give the floor a good sweep, please check for cobwebs above your head, they look awful and tell folks that you had more than your fair share of spiders last summer. Does your porch light work? If not, check the bulb and wash the fixture if necessary.

Spending an hour or so now giving your porch some cleaning and a little fall decor will have all your neighbors looking at your porch for inspiration for their own.

Please read an article I wrote on jazzing up the entrance to your home for Thanksgiving or just to looking good before the X-mas season.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4551498_decorate-porch-fall-color.html

Inscribe a Pumpkin

Looking for a inexpensive but great looking grouping for your Thanksgiving Day decor? Try these pumpkins with a special message you create yourself. All you need are some sturdy squash and they are still around, left over from Halloween. A group of inscribed pumpkins look great on the table, the kitchen counter or even on the front porch. For ideas and complete instructions:

http://www.ehow.com/how_4552312_use-pumpkins-as-indoor-decor.htmlor.html

Thanksgiving Decor

Are you having the family over for dinner on Thanksgiving? If so, you'll want to dress up the house in all the best of harvest decor. I love this time of year, it is so easy to decorate with all the best of the harvest. Big bowls or baskets of apples, pumpkins by the doors, dried flowers and grasses, just to name a few.

Decorating the dining table is, for some, a wonderful opportunity to bring out the best in linens and tableware, but it's also the chance to decorate it. Some will go for the formal look with a big bowl of chrysanthemums and autumn candles, others may like the casual look of a cornucopia basket. These baskets are shaped like a horn, open in the center as to allow you to fill the opening with fruit, leaves, mini pumpkins or anything you feel delineates thanksgiving.

I have many articles on e-how which give detailed instructions on all that matters to making your home look it's best for when company comes. Please stop by.....

http://www.ehow.com/how_4551008_decorate-cornucopia-thanksgiving.html

The Greed of A Realtor

My post from the other day talked about my husband and I searching for a new home. Dave has been working "out of town" for just shy of a year now, and we decided to put off selling our home until the market improved, but buy now while the prices were down. After what seemed like months, we finally found our perfect home. It had everything we wanted in a tranquil neighborhood. Last Monday we made our offer, and after a couple of days a deal was struck. Dave went to the bank and got a cashier's check for the required 3,000.00 in Earnest money and had it delivered to the title company. He ordered inspections while I called and got an idea what homeowners insurance would cost. Now, Dave had signed the paperwork the same day that our offer was accepted, but my signature had to wait until he came home Thursday night and then we were to fax it to our realtor the next morning. But, something happened in the meantime that really destroyed my faith in almost all realtor's.

The same day that we delivered our Ernest money, the sellers agent showed "our" new house. These people made an offer, higher than ours as it turned out. The sellers realtor had the seller reject our offer and accept the new one. So, the day after the seller accepted our offer, we were out. I was so disappointed, I really loved that house.

Our realtor told us that what the seller's realtor did was in fact legal, but incredibly dishonest and unethical. We weren't even given a chance to raise our offer. What kind of agent does something like this? Someone without any scruples is my guess. Oh, we could threaten to sue, or at the very least, cause lots of problems for the seller and his realtor, but what would that gain us? I don't have the energy to fight a losing battle.

I'm somewhat surprised at my attitude.....in years past I would have never let this go. I would have called that realtor and given her my best in "shame warfare". Nowadays, I think I'll just drop her a nice little note and let her know she's working in the wrong state.....she belongs on Wall Street.

From The Tundra To The Valley

Wow, it sure has been a long time since I've written here, but I've had a good excuse. First of all as a gardener I've spent my summer outside, every minute of it! You know the more you plant, the more time you must devote to taking care of all of it.

Then we have been on the market all summer, again. That makes 2 years in a row that we've been trying to sell our home, I know many are in the same boat. We finally gave up the ghost and took it off the market a month ago, I hated to do it, I desperately wanted to move back to our hometown. And my husband lost his job here almost a year ago and has been commuting back to our old neck of the woods. That's a 3.5 hour drive and the cost of fuel has been killing us, not to mention that he's over in the valley with the rest of our family.....and I'm here.....by myself. BooHoo I know, but it's been rough.

So, when there wasn't a buyer in sight for the house, we (ok, me) moved to plan B. We made the decision to hang on to our house until the market improves, we had dropped our price 150 thou, yes thousand, and still couldn't pull in a buyer. So, we pulled the equity out of this house, it was payed for, and started all over with a new mortgage and a plan to buy another place while prices were low. We just had a offer accepted and am thrilled.

The new place needs a little TLC, a few things, but I can live with it until we sell the other house. The great thing about this new place.....my new garden. There are numerous old growth firs, the butts must be 5 maybe 6 feet round, and moss is growing up the trunks for many feet. The previous owner was surly a gardener as there are many beautiful shrubs, flowers and vines. There are pink begonia's growing everywhere. There are 3 Acer Maples that were a brilliant red/orange when we toured the place. There is a boxwood hedge that is taller than me and about 100 feet long. I am thrilled to have been given this small piece of wonder to make my own. And that's just the front yard.

I am going to make an effort to write everyday, and to catch up on all the blogs that I once really enjoyed. Hope you come along with me.....

The "Don't Do It" of The Week

When is yard art.......not?

Maybe you consider yourself eccentric or perhaps you give new meaning to the job of recycling. If so, I have a bit of advice for you...less is more!

I have known people who take recycling very seriously, and I applaud them for it. But I also believe that trying to use every bit of scrap that comes your way is sometimes the worst of two evils. The best example of this is in trying to use every bit of metal scrap as yard art around your house. It seems as though some folks just don't know when to stop!

I'm pretty sure most people would not care to live next door or even on the same street with what some would call "scrappy heaven". You all know what a scrappy is, don't you? A guy (usually) has a flatbed truck and drives around collecting free metal, which is then usually sold to a commercial recycler for money. Sometimes though, free stuff is really hard to get rid of, and so it gets carted home where it either piles up or end's up as "art".

Just remember that old saying.....Less is more!

Frazzled Nerves Are A Given When Selling Your Home.....

Well, here I am, back on the real estate market....I'd almost rather have my nails pulled out with a pair of rusty pliers! Although that would be a feat in itself as I've worked so hard I have no nails left. You know the drill, clean every inch of the house, then head outside to repair damage the winter left in the yard. I haven't had time to even shave my legs or rather haven't had the energy to do it after the end of weeks of back-breaking labor around here.

And then we get the realtor over to work out a strategy for selling. Now we tried last year to sell, went thru the whole nine yards keeping the house ready at a moments notice to exit and let a group of strangers look in my closets. In the 6 months we were for sale last year we had.....one couple look at our house! Talk about despair. So hearing that the market was improving we once again called the realtor. We had a sit-down with her to talk about a new price, we were being realistic, we knew that prices were at rock bottom in our state, so we knew that we'd be in for a shock. And geez, we got more than that. Last year we priced the house for 439,000.00. In order to sell this year the realtor said we'd need to price at between 250,000 and 299,000......might as well have poked me in the eye with a sharp stick because it didn't hurt any less. The part that hurts so much is that our price isn't based on years of equity that we'd built up, but the actual money we'd invested in remodeling this fixer-upper we bought 3 years ago. We only want our money out of it.....is that such a horrible thing? I'm not trying to make a huge profit here, just want a little something to repay me for 3 years of back-breaking labor.

So, to make a long, boring story short, I've been so busy I have neglected my blog. Stay with me friends, I'll need you to help get me thru these days of nerve-racking craziness trying to sell my house. Till later.....

The "Don't Do It" of The Week

I love the old brownstones you see so many of, especially in the Eastern parts of the U.S. These brick or stone houses were built to last, and included many architectural features you just don't see anymore.

So why would anyone paint these lovely old stone buildings, especially such an outlandish color as this bubble gum pink. I simply don't understand this choice of color, it is garish and harsh on the eyes. There are certain color's that don't lend themselves to blending into a neighborhood, and pink is one of them.

So, if you are fortunate enough to own a brick or stone home, please think twice before painting it....there is probably a better way to update, refresh or accent it without adding paint to the stone. I'm just saying.....

Grow Your Own Bay Tree

One of my favorite trees to grow is the Bay Tree, I use the leaves for cooking but the tree itself is such a pretty one that it can also be used for an ornamental.

The Bay tree is one that must be pruned unless you want it to grow to it's full potential, which is 40 ft. high by 32 ft. wide. The tree is best pruned in the fall, although I snip off leaves whenever I need them for cooking. The Bay loves a hot, sunny spot so anyone with a southern exposure should do fine with this tree. However, if you live where the wintertime weather has a hard frost you will need to move it inside.

The Bay loves to be pot bound, so planting in a 12" pot will hold for 6 years.

Use a whole bay leaf for all kind of soups, stews or sauces. Discard the leaf after cooking. The leaf also can be used for pickling, in seafood dishes and marinades.