Re-using Halloween Trick-or-Treat Baskets

Don't throw away those old Halloween trick-or-treat baskets and bags. Re-use them. Here is one I designed this year. This basket is a little nicer basket than usual and I couldn't throw it away and didn't want to sell it. This first picture is the basket and what I plan on putting in it. 

The first thing I did was place the 1/2 Styrofoam ball into the basket. I never glue anything down if I can help it, because I like to change things around every so often. 

After I place the Styrofoam in, I add the flowers. I bought the flower in one bunch, so I used wire cutters to cut them away from the main stem. I push them into the Styrofoam which holds them in place. 

Lastly, I put in the scarecrow on a stick in the basket. Because it was on a stick it pushed into the Styrofoam just as easily as the flowers. This is quite easy, and very cute to use in a Halloween display and continue it over into Thanksgiving.

After the holidays, you can cover this with a plastic bag and keep till next year, or take it apart and remake a different variation for next year. Fun and cute!

2011 Fall Wreath with matching floral arrangement

Well it's been a little while since I added anything new to this blog. I have been working at a new job and haven't had as much time. I did decorate a little for Halloween and the Fall season so I went ahead and took pictures as I worked. Completely new this year is a Floral fall wreath and matching flower arrangement. 

 

To make this wreath I used a grape vine wreath I purchased at Wallmarts. I believe it ran $3.50. In fact, everything on this wreath is from Wallmarts except for the ribbon. The flowers were on a large pick. The leaves were also. I used wire cutters and cut off what I needed in the wreath. The first thing I did was wrap one of the ribbons around the wreath. Next, I put in the eucalyptus leaves. They came in fall colors and it was $5.00 for the batch. After the eucalyptus leaves, I put in some silk fall leaves, both maple and oak.

After the fall leaves I put the flowers in. When you use a grape vine wreath, you can push the flowers and leaves right into the wreath and they will stay put. Hot glue is not necessary. I left an area right in the middle for the bow. I used two ribbons and made one bow. To learn how to make a bow you can find directions on my blog http://christmasknight.blogspot.com/2011/08/decorating-for-halloween-making-bows.html Finally, you can put a wire on the back of the wreath so that you can hang it up. I spent approximately $20.00 for the supplies to make the wreath and flower arrangement (with the exception of the ribbon, which I already had).

After the wreath was finished and hung up, I took the left over eucalyptus, leaves, and flowers and put them in a large crystal vase. I made a matching bow, tied it to the last leaf I pushed into the vase and voila, I was finished. Here is a picture of the flower arrangement.

 

I hope you have enjoyed this blog and it probably took me as long to write and publish the blog as it did to make the wreath and flower arrangement. They both are extremely easy to make and bring a Fall look to your living room with class.

What goes under the Christmas Tree? Not just Presents!

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What goes under the Christmas tree besides presents? Many different things. Just think outside of the box. These pictures will show what I used to decorate under the Christmas trees to give them a unique look. In previous blogs you may have seen some of the same things, but as you decorate a tree you can change the look just by what you put under the tree and behind the tree. I will address the "behind the tree in another blog". 

This is very basic for under the Christmas tree. I had a wooden box made that was approximately 4 foot by 4 foot. It was about 1 1/2 half foot in height. This is done to make the tree appear taller than it actually is. The tree used in this display was a 7 foot American fir tree, but once it's placed on the box it get a lift to almost 9 foot. There was a lot of gold in this tree so I used gold Lame fabric to surround the box and be the tree skirt.

This tree had decorations on it that were harvest ornaments. To tie the tree into a theme, I used ribbons that matched in color (burgundy and gold). I added in some harvest fruit in assorted colors and for the bottom of the tree, a large horn of plenty filled with the same fruits as were put in the tree. The bottom of the tree turned out to be the focal point instead of the top. To add to the harvest look, I used real pine cones in the tree. If you liked this tree well and used the same ornaments for several years, just place the horn of plenty in different places in the tree. It would be quite beautiful in the center.

 

This tree had a very distinctive country Christmas look so I placed it in an old barrel. The tree had the colors of pink and red. There are red wooden apples and cinnamon stick bundles with pink ribbon. Tie in some pink and red paper mache Santas and other country looking ornaments and you are finished. This is a very country Christmas looking tree. 

 

This tree had ornaments the signified the twelve days of Christmas. The ornaments were made of wood and are very collectible today. Red poinsettias were placed all over the tree, and a tree skirt with the twelve days of Christmas design is used under the tree.

 

This Christmas tree was one that was placed in the entrance of the Christmas department. It was a tree representing the harvest. I mixed Angles with the same colors in with harvest ornaments. To make it feel real grapevine wreath was made into a garland and placed hanging from the ceiling and around the tree itself. To give the feel of the tree sitting in the outdoors a brick patio was placed under the tree with green moss placed to look like grass growing up through the cracks. So as not to ruin the carpet, be sure to use a heavy plastic tarp like painters would use under the bricks.

This wasn't one tree but many used to create a whole rustic Country Christmas scene. Here I used 5 trees of various heights. To increase the height and dimensions, I placed some on top of barrels, and stuffed some in behind barrels and wagon wheels to create a variety of heights. Old barn window and siding are used behind the trees to give a rustic look. Large stones were brought in and added around the bottoms of the trees, and matching garland was wrapped around the bottoms of the tree and through the wagon wheels. Rustic wooden ornaments and painted wooden Santa faces make the trees festive. Lots of ornaments made from mushrooms and mushroom picks are used in the display and well as lots of sprinkle snow. When you look at this display you really feel like your in the great outdoors.

This is a small 5 fit slim tree placed in a black planter that looks like an urn. The tree had lots of Angels with glitzy burgundy ornaments with gold icing trim. It's hard to see but there are two large Angels at the top of the tree that look like the Angels are placing the tree into the urn. The urn helps to lift the tree making it look taller than it is. This is a very beautiful tree to fill a very small space.

If you haven't read the blog about my signature tree, then you haven't seen this tree. You can read the entire blog at http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5339108141972402843&postID=966573295112014709  What is unusual about this tree skirt is that I used the same material to make the tree skirt as I used to hang on the wall behind the tree. This was also the main entrance tree to the Christmas department. You can see that I also hung the same material in the door frame to frame the entrance to match the tree.

  

This last tree again used an urn under the tree. To give it an usual look I brought the ribbon garland and bead garland right down out of the tree onto the floor. Along with the ribbon and garland I added in some beautiful cream and pink poinsettias and brought the lighted candles down to make an arrange right on the floor below the urn. This picture doesn't do the tree justice...it was quite beautiful, one of my favorites.

As you probably learned from reading this blog, you can place anything under your tree. I placed a tree in an old fashioned covered wagon without the top. Look for it in upcoming blogs about decorating for Easter.

Decorating for Halloween (inside and out) Part II

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Okay, so in the first post of decorating for Halloween (inside and out) I was getting tired so I left out the outside part. So, here is part two that will show some unusual things to do outdoors. I am one of those persons who absolutely hate waste. I also hate throwing anything away. Well, there are lots of old Halloween costumes hanging out around the house that are to small for anyone to wear. These are a couple of ideas I had for giving them new life.

For this Halloween outdoor decoration, I used an old rubber mask to cover up the lamp post in the yard. I used a coat hanger to make a small vampire cape look like it was covering a body. At night with the light on it looked like a scary light up monster.

For this yard decoration, I just hung a skeleton on one side of the awning. On the other side I used a Scream mask and outfit (again on a hanger ) and hung it under the awning. The spooky candle holders are inside the house, but can be seen in the window.

For this yard decoration, I used an old vampire costume with hood. I used a skeleton mask and a bloody chest plate and put them on a tree. I used green iridescent spiderweb to make it glow and attached lots of spiders scurrying all over the tree.

This yard display is different because many people use electric light-up decorations. I used Halloween candle decorations. If you use scented candles your yard not only looks pretty but smells nice too. Hang Halloween decorations from the roof and a few yard signs and it's a cute simple decorative yard.

This is a closer look at some of the yard candles.

Making Bows, Bows, and more Bows!

The last blog explained the basic how to for making bows. After learning to make a regular 4 loop bow, and getting really good at it...it's time to have fun! Let your imagination soar. There are so many different kinds of bows and loops you can make from ribbon...the only limiting factor is your imagination. Here are a variety of ways I have used ribbons and bows in Christmas trees and arrangements.

 

In this first picture I wanted to use ribbon in the tree but not bows. I wanted the focal point to be the Easter baskets. I used pink raffia ribbon (paper) and just made a bunch of loops. Each loop larger than the last, with 5 loops and then placed them at strategic points in the tree. By doing this...the tree didn't blend in all the ornaments together. The variety of ornaments and baskets stood out from each other. This is a way of adding dimension to the tree. 

 

 

In this tree I wanted the bow to be the focal point. Most people think of a tree topper going at the top of the tree. I sometimes decide to move the tree topper (the focal point) to the middle of the tree. This affect makes the tree look like a Christmas package. A different look that's glitzy and elegant.

This is a very simple stairway decorated for Christmas. The bow on the newel post is made using three different ribbons. The more ribbons you use the harder it is to make, but well worth the effort.

 

Although there is no lack of ribbon on this tree, there are no bows. I wanted to create a unique look for this tree because the ornaments on this tree were exquisite. I used an assortment of lighted Angel tree toppers going down the tree in a spiral. Under the spiral of Angels I used three different ribbons. One wide cream ribbon, one regular sized ribbon with a gold and cream pattern, and a tiny gold ribbon that looks just like a bead of garland. I strung them together to form a horizontal loop, and then a vertical loop all the way down and around the tree. The most difficult part of this is keeping the ribbons tight so they don't droop to much and loose the effect. I think it was well worth the effort.

The bow is made from french ribbon. It's very easy to work with and very flexible. This bow is a bow with a center button. The loops are varying lengths and there are two nice long tails. It really added to the Christmas basket. 

Just remember, most of the ideas here can be used with an assortment of different ribbons and made in all sizes. You can take any idea, tweak it and make it you own.

Decorating for Halloween: Making bows!

In this blog I want to show you how to make a bow. The photo's I am showing are photo's of how I made two different bows, placed them together. It may be difficult but keep trying. It's like riding a bike, once you learn you never forget. The more practice you have the better you get. So...on to the bows.

Making bows are easy if you know how. There are many different types of bows, but they follow the same basic rules for making them. They can have a button in the center. They may not have a button. They can have from two loops to 10 loops. You can use one ribbon or more. I know I said this before but your imagination is the only thing stopping you from making some very beautiful and unusual bows.

Choose ribbon with wire edges. This is much easier to use to make a bow.

If both sides of the ribbon are the same there is no front or back. Make one loop and pinch between your thumb or forefinger. If you twist the ribbon once it is easier to hold.

Make your second loop going the other way and again pinch or twist between your thumb and forefinger. Repeat this until you have as many loops as you want for your bow. I would suggest starting with two or four loops until you feel more comfortable with your new skill. 

After you have your loops finished (keeping them on the correct sides), push a green floral wire to wrap around the ribbon loops in the very center where you have pinched or twisted the ribbon. (Make sure you are in the center or your loops will be smaller on one side than on the other.) Twist the wire so that it is tight. Be careful not to break the wire or your bow will unravel.

The last step is to pull and fluff your loops to where you want them. Now you can use just this bow in an arrangement or you can go a little further. Make another bow slightly smaller and place it the center of this first bow and place it in your arrangement. Here are a series of pictures in which I made a four loop bow and added another. I didn't fluff the loops out to much. This is a smaller bow. The same principle for making the bows remains the same no matter what the size.

Stay tuned for upcoming articles showing and describing a variety of bows.

Hi, it's 2 years since this blog...I'm inserting a how to video. No sound, but with written directions from above and a video you should be able to make a bow! Feel free to turn sound off. Hubby was making me nervous.

Adding a little Christmas to your furniture!

Not only can you carry Christmas throughout the house using wreaths, mantels, and stairways, you can decorate your furniture with Christmas. Antique furniture looks beautiful when decorated for Christmas. The secret is to leave room so that you can still use the piece of furniture the way it was meant to be used. If it's a piece of furniture that sits up against the wall even better. Then you can add lights. Nothing looks more sparkling and elegant than a room lit up in the evening with Christmas lights. Turn off those lamps and plug in the Christmas lights, and savor an entirely different atmosphere.

This piece of furniture was located in a bedroom of a bed and breakfast. There were not enough pieces of furniture to have surface areas for use so I kept the decorations at a minimum. Here I used blue spruce with sprays of tiny pink roses for decoration. Some feathered bird ornaments add a natural look, and a white and gold santa (to match the gold candlesticks) is present for the holiday. Tall pink candles the exact shade of the roses are in the candle holders. Simple but elegant look that still leaves the furniture functional.

This is an old study...this piece of furniture didn't really serve a purpose so it had more elaborate decorations. This piece of furniture was located in one of the dining rooms. The decorations used were the same as those on the tree. Victorian sants and doves are used along with matching pink balls. A variety of silk and dried flowers were used in this arrangement adding to the victorian look.

 

This is the same piece of furniture decorated another year. This year was one of my favorites. I used a variety of blue, green, and very dark (almost purple) blue grapes and berry sprays. To give it glitter and glitz... lots of blue glass balls are added. Again, notice the matching shade of candles in the candle holders. 

This is an antique buffet used in a dining room of a bed and breakfast. This was kept simple because the top was used to hold dinner rolls and water glasses during the evening meal. I just used a beautiful pink crinkled ribbon. I placed a pre-made flower corsage in the center and place some greenery around and under to hold the flowers and ribbons and create a contrast. Again simple, elegant, and neat.

So, there are many ways of celebrating Christmas and sprucing up your living area without necessarily having a Christmas tree. Don't forget Christmas flower arrangements in baskets and pots that can be placed around the room at to the festivity of the season.

Giving Credit where Credit is due: My Mentors, Charlie and Bill

Many people have asked me how I learned to decorate. This blog and the pictures are dedicated to my

teachers. I don't know if they knew they were teaching me at first or not...but I was like a sponge. My teacher's names were Charlie and Bill. I will not use last names because they are not around anymore to give me permission. Since those days, Charlie and Bill have both passed on. I do not know their family members to ask permission. In this blog I will refer to them by their first names and not show their facial pictures...only their work. I first met them when the gift shop I worked at decided to open a Christmas department. Charlie and Bill were the sales representatives for the Silvestri Company. They not only sold us the product from Silvestri, but provided the services of setting up all the Christmas trees and displays. At that time we only had one room in the department. It was about the size of a Hallmark store found in most malls. They waited until all the trees and lights were shipped and then came out for a day or two and taught the employees how to light christmas trees. This was before you could buy them prelit.  They showed us how to light the trees and then left. The employees ended up putting close to thirty sets of lights on each tree. Way to much...but then we were new at it. They had us start at the bottom of the tree and wind the light cords around the base and up the tree. The trees looked great...one slight problem, we couldn't get the light strings off when they needed replaced. After about three years of having to cut light strings off trees so we could re-use the trees, I came up with the method of lighting each section of the tree. If you would like the directions, this is the web address. http://christmasknight.blogspot.com/2011/05/lighting-your-christmas-tree-so-you.html  The employees had to have about 20 trees of various sizes lit for Charlie and Bill before they came back. This took about a month.

By the time the trees were lit and set up...the rest of the product had arrived. Charlie and Bill would come out for about a week. We started in the morning about 9:00am and sometimes work until 2:00 am (then come back and do it again the next day). They taught us how to make bows and unpackage enough merchandise for them to put on the tree. The employees put solid colored bulbs on the inside of the trees. Charlie and Bil lcreated the themes and decorated the rest. I watched and learned. At the end of every year those trees had to be taken apart and taken down. That was my job. By doing this I learned how they put their trees together. What did they use first? What came last? I learned all the secrets by dismantling the trees. By the third year the gift shop had opened a second even larger room in the Christmas department. At least ten more trees and a huge area for collectables was added. Charlie and Bill were no longer able to finish all the trees. I finally had my chance. I wanted to show what I had learned. Under the tutilage of my boss who was also very talented I started decorating what Charlie and Bill couldn't finish. With each tree I designed and decorated I got better and better. As Charlie and Bill came to visit to sell more product they would see my work and spent less and less time there. As the department manager, I saw a lot of waste and over-usage of product and made some changes. The gift shop brought in product from a larger variety of wholesalers and the days of Charlie and Billcoming to the gift shop to decorate came to an end. Although the gift shop no longer used their decorating services, it continued to buy product for as long as Charlie and Bill worked there. This is how I learned to decorate...the ideas for the trees that came later...I guess it was a gift. I feel blessed to have been able to do a job for so many years that I loved and was inspired to do. There was never a great deal of money but...it made me feel good about being able to create something beautiful. I would see it in my mind and recreate it with my hands. So, this blog is dedicated to Charlie and Bill, to their creative style and generosity in teaching others about their finest work. The photo's in this blog are the work of Charlie and Bill, and I will include a brief description of each. Although they are gone, the memory of their work lives on...Thank you Charlie and Bill

 

This tree was to symbolize marriage. They used an antique curio and used decorations of white and clear and lace ribbon. They used very tall white candles to give an elegant look to the tree. Beautiful.

 This tree is an egyptian tree, they used Radko and polonaise ornaments. The sarcophagus was a collectable from another room in the shop.

 This tree is done in red. Small red candles, Woodland red Santas adorn the tree. Grape vine wreat has been opened and wrapped around the tree. Eucalyptus is used as a filler. 

This is the same tree as the picture above. Bird houses, bird nests, and birds are in the tree as well as pine cone novelty lights. A variety of moss was used to achieve a woodsy outdoor look.

This tree features snowbabies. These are some of the original pieces done by department 56 before they made so many figurines. They used large white snoflakes and red berries in the tree. It made a striking difference. Charlie and Bill were creative and will be missed. I learned so much just from taking apart what they made.

Decorating for Halloween (inside and out).

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When most people think about decorating for Halloween, they think outside...yard decorations. The problems with just having decorations outside, is everyone else gets to see them but you (unless you sit outdoors every night). I do decorate outside...but I do even more inside. These are some decorating tips for the inside of your house.

One really unusual idea for Halloween is to decorate a tree. That's right...a tree. Use an upside down black tree. If you can find lights with a black cord, great! If not, use lights with a green cord. They blend in pretty well when the lights are dim. See: http://christmasknight.blogspot.com/2011/05/lighting-your-christmas-tree-so-you.html for instructions on how to light a tree. With this tree, just use the instructions backwards. Use purple and orange lights on the tree, this creates a dim spooky atmosphere to the display. 

After you have lit the tree. Look for Halloween "fiber optics" scarecrows, pumpkins, witches or any other Halloween object, and place them in the tree. They should sit on the top of the tree nicely or perch in some of the lower branches. Use wire to secure them into the tree. If you have a lighted spider web, suspend it from the tree. Hang lots of spiders and a spider egg sack. I used an orange lighted orb for the spider sack.

If you want an eerie looking tree use some glow in the dark spider web to cover parts of the tree. Spread it very thinly, so you can still see any Halloween decorations you may put on the tree.  After all this, now you can hang you spooky Halloween small items on the tree. Many lower priced items can always be found at Walmarts and Dollar General. There are also collectible Halloween ornaments from Christopher Radko and Polonaise and many other Companies.

Around the bottom of your tree, you can sit bales of hay, and lean some corn stalks up against the trunk. If you have life sized scary people they would be in this area. If you have a fog machine, hide in in amongst the bales of hay. Make sure it is secure and has enough air so it doesn't get to hot. It creates a very misty scary look to any display. Set it to go off every couple of minutes.

Another way to decorate for Halloween is to decorate the front window in the living room. I've never seen a living room without a front window. First you want to put up some type of greenery or a "base" to tie your decorations to (grapevine). I use a very sparse looking greenery with pine cones in it. Next I use some novelty lights. These are orange pumpkins lights and also a light that looks that flickering candles. Next, I add in some fall looking flowers and berries. I add a couple of bows, and some Halloween ornaments. Lastly, I set out Halloween figurines and candles and voila...It looks great and your now ready for a party.

Update on the decorating the window in your living room: Here is some changes I made from the first year. I had more Halloween items around the window. This year (2011) I have it have a more Fall and Thanksgiving look.

Don't forget, if you collect Halloween houses from Department 56 or any other company, get them out and displayed for Halloween. To see instructions on how to set up a really great village, see: http://christmasknight.blogspot.com/2011/05/christmas-villages-one-more-time.html :-)

Using Fillers in the Tree

When I use the term fillers, I mean just putting in a little something to give the tree pizzazz! It's not the main decoration, or even the flowers or ribbon. The pizzazz, as I call it, is the little sparkle, or little something all over the tree that covers up some of the green undecorated spaces in the tree. To much makes it look over done. To little doesn't give it that extra pizzazz. It's like when you decorate a cake. It's done, but suddenly you add sprinkles. It gives it a fresh new distinctive look. What's nice about using fillers, is that every year you can give your tree a new look while still using many of the same ornaments. Just change the filler. Usually, it's the least expensive item on the tree.

Some of the fillers I have used are: eucalyptus branches, angel's hair, any kind of sparly dried flowers (tiny flowers, large branch or pick), sprinkle snow, dried fern leaves, and even tinsel.

Since pictures are worth a thousand words, here are a few showing how I used fillers. I am also giving you tree descriptions in case you like the ideas. 

In this first tree I used gold Angel's hair as a filler. There are so many other colors on the tree already to anything but a solid neutral color would be disastrous. Gold is a neutral Christmas color. This Angel's hair brings sparkle and shimmer to the tree without detracting from the other items. This tree has a large assortment of Clothtique paper mache Angels. There are an assortment of gold ornaments. The ribbon was used to create a garland. It's a garland of loops. There are at least four colors of sheer shimmering ribbon used.

 

This tree has a filler of eucalyptus leaves. These are real and give off a wonderful ordor as you near the tree. This tree was named Golden Harvest. There are all kinds of ornaments that have something to do with the harevesting time of year. There are a variety of fruits, horn of plenty and many other assorted ornaments. There are a  lot of cherub heads and instruments mixed in with this theme. The tree topper is a simple Angel. The eucalyptus give it a feel of realness. Some of the fruit looks so real, you can just about taste them.

 

This was a tree, from one of the very first years of my decorating experience. It is a simple tree, and the focus is actually not on the tree but the display of Department 56 houses under the tree and on the wall.  It does demonstrate what I'm writing about very nicely. The poinsettias and birds on the trees were for sale. The sparkle branches are what caught everyone's attention. It offers a natural look with some added pizzazz. I also threw some sparkle sprinkle snow on and under the tree to add to the affect. Simple, woodsy and elegant.

With this tree, I added two fillers. One was a real dried fern leaf, and the other was silver Angel's hair to give it a shimmery look. If you pull the Angel's hair and make it as thin as you can it's very hard to actually see the Angel's hair. It just shimmers like the mornings first mist. In this tree it was necessary to use fillers that blended in because the colors in the ornaments and Santa figurines are pink and peach. It makes a beautiful combination. 

This tree was created with a tree just for him in mind. Everything on this tree is from the woods. It's what you might see if you go hunting or on a nature walk. There are mushroom picks, pine cones and an assortment of birds flutter through out the tree. There are an assortment of berry picks and pheasant feathers in the tree. Blue paper ribbon was used so there wouldn't be any sparkle to the tree. Two different colors of blue give it depth. The filler in this tree is wild grasses. It looks like very tall grass has been chopped down and placed in the tree. This gives it a wild look and feeling. I didn't want any touch of the feminine in this tree at all. Although it was to appeal to men, many women appreciated this tree because of it's natural appeal. It's rather like bringing the outside indoors.