Stepping Out of the Box for Christmas

Traditional Christmas colors like Red and Green have been the color scheme of choice by many when it comes to decorating for the holidays. Red hollies, green mistletoe, candy canes, green christmas trees, etc, etc, all seem to be the norm. In addition, santa clauses, reindeer, gingerbread men, snow flakes, etc are all symbolizations of Christmas. Most people tend to incorporate these themes when it comes to decorating or trimming their Christmas trees.

For the past couple of years or so, I've noticed that the traditional theme of Christmas is being replaced by more comtemporary themes. Now, when you walk into department stores or look in home decorating catalogs, you are seeing things as non-traditional as pink christmas trees, and ornament collections that you wouldn't normally associate with Christmas.

When I go to Target around this time of year, I am always inspired by their Christmas decorating section. Each year they introduce new color schemes in their holiday decorating section and I am always tempted to do away with my old color scheme and adopt one of their new ones.

I really like this tree:



This tree has a "Retro" vibe to it.




If you take a closer look, you can see glitter word ornaments that spell out "Naughty" "Nice" "Dream" along with retro colored candy canes and other retro colored ornaments.

Here are some other ornaments that would go with the retro theme of this tree:






Target also had some other unique Christmas color schemes:







And for my "Divas" and true "Fashionistas" out there, this ornament collection is for you:
















This "Girly" collection can be found at Soho Decor

...And this is an idea of what they will look like on a tree:



So, as you can see, there is more to Christmas than the usual Reds and Greens. It is now safe to step out of the box and try something different. So, if you are holding on to those same "traditional" ornaments that have been recycled and reused over the past years, throw them out take a more contemporary and modern approach on your holiday decorating this year.

Thanksgiving

The holidays are quickly approaching. Can you believe Thanksgiving is in a couple of weeks?! For those of you hosting Thanksgiving dinner at your house this year, I have a few tabletop decorating ideas to share with you.

Better Homes and Gardens introduces several festive fall table settings including this one using a "nature" inspired theme:


Neutral colored candles, autumn leaves and berry sprigs, along with other natural touches work well for a Thanksgiving tabletop setting.


Footed glass bowls make for great centerpieces. Fill them with fruit, like apples or berries. Mini pumpkins can also be used:



Candles and Fruit can be paired together to make an attractive centerpiece:



Fill glass jars with flowers and berries to make stunning tabletop centerpieces:



This pumpkin candle centerpiece is simple and easy to make:


Get creative by wrapping fresh green vegetables around candles and secure with pretty, satin ribbon:



Directions:
Take fresh greens like asparagus, green beans, artichoke hearts and wrap around the candle, securing it with a rubberband. Then hide the rubberband by tying the ribbon around it. This makes for beautiful centerpiece.

Fill a wire basket with Thanksgiving harvest-themed foods to create the following centerpiece:


That should give you a few ideas for your Thanksgiving dinner table. Hopefully you were just as inspired by these pictures as I was.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays because it gives you an excuse to "pig out". However, one of the things I hate about Thanksgiving is all the left-over turkey. In my household, we would eat turkey for like the next couple of weeks. Turkey stew, turkey sandwiches, turkey salad, turkey, turkey, turkey! It got to the point where I'd never want to see another turkey again. My parents always wanted to prepare turkey again for Christmas and I'd beg them not to.

Here are some delicious recipe ideas for that left-over Thanksgiving turkey. That is, unless you are frying your turkey. In that case, you won't have to worry about any left-overs. LOL, Seriously! Fried turkeys always get eaten down to the bone, literally. If you have never had fried turkey, you are truly missing out. Those of you who have, know exactly what I'm talking about. But, for those of you who are still baking your turkeys, here are some left-over turkey ideas:

Zesty Tortilla Soup:




Corn Chowder:


Turkey Paella Salad:


Cranberry-Turkey Spinach Salad:


Turkey Spinach Toss



Nacho Turkey Casserole



Cran-Turkey Enchiladas

And there you have it! Turkey recipes that are not so boring, and easy to make. So, before you throw out that left-over turkey, try some of these scrumptious recipes. Check back with me after the holiday and let me know if you tried any of these ideas. I'd love to hear all about it. Oh! And I love pictures : )