Decorating for the Holidays

This year we have something special to be thankful for; our first home. This year our blessings were many and as the holidays arrive we are sharing more of ourselves with others inside and out of our new home.
Decorating for the holidays is up to you and your family traditions. Ours has always included warm highlights made inside and out; even when our house was much smaller. Now that our space has grown our ideas about decorating have changed as well. Our favorite decorating ideas come from tradition and knowing how to bring it all together is key to making spirits bright this Christmas season.

Christmas decorating was once not so much about decorating a space as it was a time of reverence to those who had come before and those who would come after. Before the celebration was holy is was holy. The observers of Christmas past decorated with reverence to the environment and some of those traditions still hold true today.

Our holiday presents, spirits and bows are spread among the green boughs of fir and pine. Garland hangs around the corner of our warm fire. The banisters that children will look through to catch a glimpse of ole St. Nick have them too.

We share in these traditions and in our home our decorations show the appreciation we have in the past and the future.

Our hallways have garlands strung over the doorways and more leading guests through the foyer and into the great room. Garlands can be freshly picked in the North East. Look for light green vines that run in great distances over the ground and under the fallen leaves of New England.

Imitation garlands can be purchased for reasonable prices at JC Penny and of course our favorite dollar stores. Getting to the stores first is sometimes key to getting as much of the green stuff as you need. Buy the garland in bulk and decorate later with Holly and berries of crimson.

Windows are great places to hang wreaths made of garland or fir. The choice for us was to hang them inside of the house instead of outside. The fresh pine aroma leaves our house smelling of the forest long after the cherry pie has cooled on the rack. Ribbons of red and bows and balls can be hung from a great window wreath and the theme can move from one window to the next; making the design complete.

Fireplace decorations can include wicker boxes filled with pine boughs and pine cones dusted with glitter. Silver glitter and glue dabbed on the tips of each cones arms make them shimmer against a fire of warm lighting.

Decorate with lights for the holidays. Christmas lights come in every color of the rainbow and then some. White lighting inside the home brightens up corners when the main lighting is dim. White lights around picture frames and mirrors give each design element a new feel. Holiday decorating yourself is easy when you combine a few elements into a cohesive design.

Fill a fresh tree with hanging decorations and lights that match the rest of the traditional fresh-cut design. Tip your hat to your neighbors and invite them over for some friendship this year. Be inspired enough to inspire others.

Let your inspiration come from your tradition and revere the season with your decorating effort. Enjoy the rewards of gathering friends and family together during the best season of the year. Use these tips throughout the house and make your spirit bright this year.

Thank you to 1800flowers on YouTube for this video:

Geng Yin

Gen Yin

I sometimes find myself researching myself. If anyone should know me as well as the internet does, then I decided I would like to know what the internet knew. The internet knows that I was born in January, 1968. The internet knows my address and my telephone number ("well it thinks it does anyways."), and its advertisers know what my preferences are better than me.

If I was an alarmist, I would be scared about how much those nasty advertisers know about me. If I were "average", I wouldn't have to really worry, would I? The average person spends 4 hours a week online, while I toil years away trying to figure out how to turn this keyboard into an ATM. If I'm not worried about those damn advertisers than really, why all the hoopla about who knows what?

This whining is brought to you by the government, who at this very moment is planning on inking the next set of advertising regulations that can place your private information in more danger than it is right now. The truth of the matter is, than when you have to sort through information to decide what is "right" or "wrong", you are analyzing that information more than any algorithym that produces your advertising results today. The idea is "progressive", and you should know that the government could be planning to overwhelm the internet so that they can "fundeamentally" change it. "It's what progressives do when they are hard at work doing what they do".

So who knows me the best? Me? You? The government? I can safely say "nobody" knows me better than my own natural profile of dates and times and the freekin stars, I say this because this year is Gen Yin, "The year of the White Tiger" and this year is the perfect year to get what I want the most, productivity that pays.

The Year of the Tiger begins on February 14th 2010. It is a metal year. and as the stars will have it, if you want to accomplish something big, then this is the perfect year to get it done. I know more about myself than I did before I started this morning, so here is my Chinese New Year Resolution for Geng Yin 2010, the Year of the White Tiger. I will create enough of my own content ot begin my personal library of fiction and non fiction books and articles that will continue to produce revenues long after they are written.

How to Plan a Halloween Party

Halloween is the first test of your holiday event planning prowess. As more families use Halloween as their 'family friendly' gathering, most Halloween gatherings have the fun, the food, and the guests, but many do not have the 'wow factor' a party like this deserves. If you want to learn how to plan a Halloween party like the pros, you need to think like a pro, and get the help of those local businesses that supply the best parties with equipment, services, and designs for any occasion, holiday or not.

Step 1

Get your guest list in order. The most wasteful thing you could do is plan for more guests than will actually arrive. imagine the bride and groom who pay for a reception of two hundred and only 75 guests arrive. Think of how much money goes to waste from such a little detail like guest count. Do not let your expectations get away with reasonable results. Know how many guests to expect and begin to plan a great Halloween party around that number to spend the right amount on a great event, but not too much.

Step 2

Plan a menu. Food and drink is what your guests rely on to get them in the mood. Great menu items, snacks, and drinks will keep your guests happy as they mingle through your other guests. Food and drink is what most parties are centered around. Whether its a full menu, a snack or two, or Halloween candy. The easiest way to let your party guests know you care is to provide them with high quality goodies and foods. Plan per head. Know your guest count. Move on to designing a visually exciting room or gathering space next.

Step 3

Design is in the eye of the beholder. Well, most of the time. If you are planning to host a party during the Holiday season this year, your guests will love you for it. Be ready, be smart, and be creative in getting the right decorations for the room, the tables, the chairs, the walkways, and the venue. Because the holidays are designed to party around, realize that your decorations can make the difference in having a good time and an absolutely fabulous time for your friends, guests, and family.

Step 4

Rent party equipment that enhances your menu, your design, or your guests. Drink machines, popcorn machines, table linens, and flatwear are things you will want to have. Can you afford to have them? Are you needing to design and decorate for a few or a few hundred? Think like a guest and you will be able to understand what your guests really want when they attend this season's holiday parties.

Step 5

Make a schedule of important dates on the way to the event. Mark each one off as they are crossed. Keep track of the budget and adjust where needed. Meet with party services that you do not control. Make your vendors give you the best rate or find another vendor. If you plan on planning your own party then you are the one in control. Take charge, plan well, design fun holiday parties this year and then leave next year to someone else if that's what you want to do.

Tips

Contact event planners in your area. Get them to divulge the best deals in town. get them to help you even if you are not planning onhiring an event planner for your Halloween or holiday party. The resources are there for you to use, use them.

Warnings

Event planners have no set fee for services. Many event planners hide extra harges and fees in their equipment and third party services. Go over each fee and how the cost was figured into the over-all budget. find out where your party planner is taking more than they should and then keep them going in the right direction.

Halloween is Coming.. Can you say 'Trick or Treat?'

That's right ladies and gents, Halloween is almost upon us. You can go right now to our Halloween Store to connect with some great costume deals. Our party and event planning would not be nearly as extra special if we did not throw our creatives into the mix. Costumes, party tricks, ideas, and skits are what make gatherings special. Create the perfect Halloween atmosphere with a few of our event and party ideas.

Contact an event planner even if you don't plan on hiring one.

Let's say you want to throw your own special Halloween event but you are not a very good organizer or have ever thrown together a themed event before. Learn from the experts where they go for the best deals, what their idea of a perfect Halloween party is and so much more. I know because I'm an event planner. I get at least five calls a week from consumers who never plan to hire me as an event planner. They don;t hire me because they never planned on hiring an event planner, just wanted some good ideas from an expert. It works if you find someone like me, someone who is willing to talk to the public and let go of some of their best ideas for free. I have had clients come back to me years later to hire me because a conversation we had earlier. I help becasue I like to help. I get hired because I know what I'm talking about, and in Houston, I'm one of the best.

Always consider who's coming before you set your plan into motion. Why would you do a 'Devil may Care' party when the guest list is filled with arriving nuns? "You wouldn't" Know your crowd, jump into their skin, find out what makes them happy, excited, scared, and hungry, becasue for the perfect Halloween event, you need a blend of all these. And you need to know how to have a frightfully good time too. Take your task seriously before the big day so that you can enjoy what you have planned for your guests as if you were a guest to your own party.

Halloween is Upon Us - Where's you Spirit?

It's true, Halloween is almost here and now with the kids back in school, you can begin to start making plans to get the most out of the season when it arrives. The 4Seasons Holiday Letter has always had a great selection of Halloween Costumes available to our visitors. This year we hope to do give you the same service as the past three years have been a great success for the team here at A.W.E.

How to Buy a Halloween Costume

Halloween costumes are more than just some fabric and disguise. For the true believers of the season, now is a perfect time to get ready to take over the personality of your Halloween Spirit. Costumes let you forget about the old perceptions people may have on you. Now is the time to expand your horizons and just let loose during the Halloween parties you're sure to get invited to. Finding the perfect Halloween Costume takes more than just a smart shopping style. You want to find the perfect persona for a wonderfully eventful evening.

Send a Letter to Mom

Thought this time of year does not evoke thoughts of holiday cheer, this is the perfect time to write home to mom to tell her how much she means to you.

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There was a story about one mom who received a regular letter from her don every month. She knew that when letters would not come that something was wrong. Sure enough, the times that would cause her to call out to her child would prove to be the times he or she needed their mom the most. Why so many of us forget to write our mothers is something that cannot be explained. They are, after all, our moms.

My mother raised the four of us kids the hard way...she lost her husband to an untimely death and had to learn about life the hard way. She did everything she could to give us what we needed, even of that meant we had to go without some of the little things. Her time was better spent working and surviving and we missed out on some of the special times between children and mom that cannot be given back.

So here's to my mom. The one I love, the only mom I have. Now how about you> is your mom ready for a nice letter from you? Even if things are going great. Even if times are hard. We need to surround ourselves with love. It works.

So the holiday of the season this time of year is the holiday of mom. Give her something she'll love. A little time with you.