Share & Win Holiday Decorations for the Home

I save leftover margarine tubs and take balloons and fill them with water. I place the water filled balloons in the margarine tub to cradle it. Place these in the freezer. When frozen take them out and remove the balloon...what you are left with is an ice shaped bowl. I line these up on the driveway and place white candle votives/tealights in them and light them. The icy holders look pretty with the candles in them. You can also use flameless ones if need be. The make it look like an icy winter wonderland. For Valentine's Day and St Patricks's day I add food coloring to the water....makes it really pretty!

For holiday decorating, I rely on my children and pine cones. I know that sounds silly, just wait........ I use my children's hands to make Hand Turkeys, which we then decorate (primarily me, really) and laminate to make table place cards for our guests for Thanksgiving. I also rely on nature to help me out with the table centerpiece whether it be flowers or greenery, anything available outdoors is made into centerpieces (think fallen acorns and American Bittersweet) Come Christmas, well before actually-I start collecting pine cones. I drench them in spray adhesive and toss them in a seal-able container filled with glitter, and just shake away. Pine Cones can be used as a centerpiece (stuff them in a large decorative bowl), or they can be hung on your tree, you can even by a Styrofoam wreath and glue them on.

I burn vanilla and peppermint candles together at the same time! Makes the house "smell" like winter! At our Christmas Eve party, everybody always asks why it smells so good!

I also do the outside of the house. Wreaths hung with ribbon. I do all the outside window ledges with greenery @ natural berries,pine combs,@ bows. My favorite is my tree decorated with all the ornaments my children made in school.

We always put a live tree in our family room, where we spend the most time. There's nothing like the smell of a Christmas tree to get me in the holiday mood.

We always let the kids made a decoration or 2 to add to the tree every year & also will get them each a big light silver glass bulb & let them drawl a design on 1 each to add to the tree. We also let them help set up all decorations & just have a great time enjoying the holidays. Something i always have burning in the home is pumpkin spice candles because that seems to help give everyone a little more christmas spirit with the wonderful scent.

I like to then spray paint them gold and arrangones and grasses and branches from outside. I gather fowls and vases.erent be in many difpinec

Christmas if my favorite time of the year so we really get our kids involved. They usually make the chain link for the tree, cranberries & popcorn links and we use oranges with cinnamon spikes too. Our mistletoe is always hung at the door and the kids love how no one can come under it without a kiss and hug!

I save small glass jars from salsas & sauces and soak them in the sink to remove the labels. They are great to paint designs on or tie the rim with ribbon and insert a tea light in each. Use maroon velvet ribbon for a rich effect or bright curly ribbon for a more modern take. A group on the mantel, shelf or powder room make a warm flickering effect.

Every year i check out the Holiday displays at different stores and after Christmas I go back and purchase the things I admired. I have saved as much as 90% off original price on Christmas decorations by doing this. Every year I can pull out new decorations. This system worked well for me till my basement flooded and ruined a lot of stuff. So if you do this put the decorations up where they cannot be ruined.

I like to use cranberries in the bottom of a clear glass vase to hold my flowers in place. The red is beautiful and adding a nice ribbon around the vase makes it even better.

A "green" secret Christmas decorating tip: when you get your Christmas tree ask them to give you the branches that get cut off. They are wonderful for trimming the mantle with lights or used as a centerpiece on your holiday table - fill large vase with glass Christmas balls and add pine branches or lay across table and around candlesticks. Also very elegant to put branches in two large urns wrapped with large bows and flank fireplace. Your home will look and smell like Christmas.

We usually go camping Thanksgiving week and we always bring back pine boughs and other natural things we've found and I make Wreaths, fireplace starters out of pine cones (for gifts). It's a tradition the kids love -it heralds in the season and this year will be great because my 2 yr.grandson will be helping for the first time.

One of my favorite things to do during the holidays is to make my own ornaments. I like using clear glass balls because they can be decorated in a number of ways. One of my favorite ideas is to fill the clear glass balls with potporri. After filling them, I will hot glue a small bow to the top, nest to the hook. Since potporri comes in so many different colors, its easy to make them fit in with the overall color scheme of your tree. Another idea I like is making a beach scene inside a clear glass ball ornament. Fill the ornament partially with sand, then drop in a few small seaside trinkets like small shells, tiny starfish, etc. The key to this one is to not use too much sand because of the weight. I made these last year and they were the easiest and cutest ornaments I have made in a long time!

We have two grandchildren that always can't wait to get to Nanny & PopPops house , because I take my husbands dress shoes and dip them in (Just the soles) in water & flour and make foot prints leading to the gifts Santa Left for them.. It is the most presious thing to watch the two kids follow the prints and squeal with delight as they walk by the empty cookie plate, around the house until they reach the Tree..