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Bringing the Garden Indoor: Floral Decorating

We love our gardens, but why just have the beauty of flowers in the yard? Bring your favorite flower colors and designs indoors. In a special edition of Your Good House, there was an article about floral fabrics and designs. They featured Wendy’s garden pillows - the new Hatteras design comes in a daffodil pattern that is awesome.

For lighting, they featured hanging pendant lights with a mum pattern (pictured above) by Room and Board. They even suggested floral designs for your tableware with the chrysanthemum pattern on Corelle dishes.

If you are looking for quick and easy crafts that bring the beauty of your garden indoors, check out the garden patterns available free of charge from CraftFreebies.

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17 Jun 2008 GBP 0 comments

Decorating, Garden Design

11 of the Best Gardens

Garden Design magazine recently featured eleven of the most spectacular gardens, complete with the design layout. The great thing about the winners is that they are from a variety of climates and topography. They aren’t all the traditional Midwest green with azaleas - creativity and a harmony with their natural surroundings seemed to be a theme. My favorite, the Residential Award of Honor created by Sawyer/Berson Architecture and Landscape Architecture of NY/NY, is an urban garden. They created a Manhattan rooftop garden that is spectacular. When you think of the big city: New York, Chicago, London, Hong Kong, you don’t think lush gardens - you typically think skyscrapers and cement, yet, Sawyer Berson has created a lush oasis picture above. I enjoyed dreaming of sipping my morning coffee overlooking one of the most magnificent cities. See what you think. ��

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15 Feb 2008 GBP 0 comments

Gardening Advice, Decorating

Tabletop Gardens - Bring the Beauty of Outdoors - In

What better time is there to create an indoor garden then when the ground is frozen outdoors? Rosemary McCreary, author of Tabletop Gardens: 40 Stylish Plantscapes for Counters and Shelves, Desktops and Windowsills, wrote an article not long ago in Backyard Living. In the article she offers four tips to keeping your indoor garden thriving:

1. Don’t over water. Overwatering is probably the top way people “love houseplants to death.”

2. Use the right water. Set tap water out in a bowl on the counter for a week to let the chlorine and fluoride dissipate or buy distilled water. I like to reuse gallon milk jugs. Rinse them out, fill with tap water and set in the basement or out of the way. That way you’ll always have water ready when your plants are thirsty.

3. Don’t overfertilize. Dormant plants need almost no fertilizer. But when you do, consider Great Big Plants energy drink. It is dynamite to have on hand!

4. Watch the light from season to season. The sun’s lower position in the winter can mean more intensity which could burn your plant’s leaves. Turn your plants periodically.

You are limited only by your own imagination when it comes to beautiful tabletop gardens. Use the traditional orchid or African violet for indoor flowers or consider forcing bulbs to provide color and variety in your garden.

Just as important as the plants you select is the container you put them in. Get creative. Remember, even if the container doesn’t have holes for drainage you can put rocks in the bottom of the pot or leave your plants in their original containers and then top with sphagnum peat moss.

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09 Feb 2008 GBP 0 comments

Gardening Advice, Decorating, Crafts

The Mysteries of Mistletoe

Ever wonder about the traditions surrounding mistletoe? Who started the whole kissing ritual?

There are several stories in history that mention mistletoe; The ancient Celtic priests and sorceres burned mistletoe as a sacrifice to the gods. The Romans decorated their homes with mistletoe boughs during their pagan festivals. The French and Swedes wore mistletoe charms to ward off illness. Although parts of the plant are poisonous, modern medical research shows that mistletoe is helpful in treating nerve disorders.

But as far as the kissing goes, Inspirationline recounts the history of mistletoe that goes back to Frigga, the Norse goddes of love:

Vikings dating back to the eighth century believed that mistletoe had the power to raise humans from the dead, relating to the resurrection of Balder, the god of the summer sun. Balder had a dream that he was going to die. His mother, Frigga, the goddess of love and beauty, was frantic about his dream and said that if he died, everything on Earth would die. To ensure her son’s safety, Frigga went to all of the elements (air, fire, water and earth, as well as to all of the animals and plants) and asked them not to kill Balder. In the same way a child would be heckled these days if his mother asked kids not to pick on her child, Balder was teased and had things thrown at him. It was thought that, because of his mother’s power, he was immune to harm.

Balder’s only enemy, Loki, found a loophole in Frigga’s request for her son’s safety …Mistletoe. Mistletoe grows on the tree it attaches itself to, and therefore has no roots of its own and could not be affected by Frigga’s request. Loki made a poisoned dart with mistletoe, and tricked the blind brother of Balder, Hoder, into shooting the arrow that killed Balder. For three days, all the elements tried their hardest to bring Balder back to life, but failed. Finally, the tears that Frigga cried for her dead son changed the red mistletoe berries to white, raising Balder from the dead. Frigga then reversed mistletoe’s bad reputation, and kissed everyone who walked underneath it out of gratitude for getting her son back.

Looking for a clever craft using mistletoe? HGTV offers a great project for creating a kissing ball.

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20 Dec 2007 GBP 0 comments

Gardening Advice, Decorating

Decorating Your Holiday Trees

Want to decorate your tree like they do at the Biltmore? The Biltmore opened its doors to visitors in the late 1800s and have been welcoming families at the holiday time ever since. Located in Asheville, NC, the Biltmore uses miles of garland and hundreds of poinsettias to decorate. Here are a few tips for creating the perfect holiday setting in your home direct from the Biltmore floral designer:

After more than two decades of decorating Biltmore House, Floral Displays Manager Cathy Barnhardt is a pro at trimming Christmas trees. Make your home look sensational with her easy tips. “Good lighting is key,” says Cathy. “Give your tree depth by working lights in and out of the branches. Then check your work by stepping back, squinting your eyes, and checking for dark spots.”

When it comes to decorating, Cathy suggests taking a cue from your surroundings.

“Pay attention to the room’s details and color. Elements such as furniture, fabric, paintings, and wallpaper can inspire your tree’s theme,” say Cathy. Finish off with a unique tree topper. “Use a bow, blown glass ornament, or dried flower bouquet,” says Cathy.

Speaking of tree lights, the writers at Better Homes and Gardens say:

Don’t skimp on lights! For every vertical foot of tree, use a strand of 100 lights.

And don’t be afraid to mix and match lights. There’s no rule stating that you can only use one kind.

Check out their 11 tips for a beautiful holiday tree for even more great ideas. And here are for the instructions for creating this Biltmore centerpiece for your dining room.

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13 Dec 2007 GBP 0 comments

Gardening Advice, Decorating

More on Picking the Right Christmas Tree

I talked briefly last month about tips for picking a holiday tree and have since found a few more interesting facts. With the purchase of “fake” trees on the rise, one of the main reasons I hear for continuing to decorate with a live tree is the smell. The fragrance of an evergreen, once indoors, can be intoxicating. If you love the smell of an evergreen, here are a few to consider:

The Douglas Fir is native to most Western states and is the most widely sold in the United States. The Douglas Fir boasts a lemony scent.

The Fraser Fir, a native of the balsam fir, smells more of balsam- surprise, surprise.

The Christmas tree with the most fragrance is the Grand Fir which is a Northwest native. This tree is the thirstiest of all but if kept well-watered will produce the most aroma (a tangerine peel smell).

Make sure you water your tree regularly; it will help to keep its freshness, its fragrance and will keep its needles in place longer.

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10 Dec 2007 GBP 0 comments

Misc, Decorating

Holiday Decorating with Evergreen

Decorating can be expensive, but a recent edition of Sunset magazine offers clever instructions for using branches from your evergreen trees to create ornaments, window decorations and greenery for the dining room chairs. They used Douglas fir springs and eucalyptus buds and pods with silvery dusty miller to create these easy yet elegant decorations. Here are the complete instructions for the snowflake ornaments.

Ever wonder where the tradition of decorating with ornaments came from?

“Druid priests tied apples and candles to oak trees in sacred groves, where they performed magic and healing in secret ceremonies. During their midwinter Saturnalia festival, Roman citizens trimmed trees with candles and pretty objects. the Roman poet Virgil (70-19 B.C.) tells us that the Romans also adorned trees to please their god of wine, Bacchus.” From the Complete Book of Christmas Words by Lynda Graham-Barber

A little tidbit of knowledge to throw out at your next holiday party. For more holiday project ideas from Sunset, visit the holiday projects section of their site.

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10 Dec 2007 GBP 0 comments

Archive for the 'Decorating' Category

Bringing the Garden Indoor: Floral Decorating

11 of the Best Gardens

Tabletop Gardens - Bring the Beauty of Outdoors - In

The Mysteries of Mistletoe

Decorating Your Holiday Trees

More on Picking the Right Christmas Tree

Holiday Decorating with Evergreen

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