Category: Celebrations

Autumn in the Air and Thanksgiving ’round the Corner

Autumn in the Air and Thanksgiving ’round the Corner

Posted on by Mama

smalltalkmama0710Fall is officially in the air in Missouri with cooler morning temps and beautiful warm afternoons. When we string together a few of these fabulous days, I’m always reminded why this is my favorite time of year. The family also made its first of what promises to be many trips to a local apple orchard yesterday for hay rides, chicken feeding, apple picking and pumpkin gathering. I’m thankful that we have so many great local orchards, pumpkin farms and corn mazes so close to home. It makes fall such a fabulous family time of year.

Speaking of autumn and the thankfulness of it all, I’m afraid it’s time once again to look ahead to November and the family-focused holiday of Thanksgiving. If you happen to be hosting this year, why not get a jump on things while the weather is still cooperating and start planning your spectacular gathering today. When it’s our year to host, I like to start with a theme for my decorations and tablescape — the menu can always come later. Will everything be whimsical, woodsy or traditional? Maybe simple or modern is the answer? What’s the color of the day — browns, whites or antique greens? Well, if you need a bit of inspiration for your Thanksgiving table, I have a special treat today.

Hometalk recently asked me to curate a board of Thanksgiving tablescapes to share with readers and I gladly accepted the challenge, which turned out to be easier (and a lot more fun) than I first imagined. Hometalk is simply full of wonderful holiday ideas; but as you’ll see by visiting my board, I tried to pick a plethora of tablescapes to suit several different design tastes and aesthetics. When you visit the board, you’ll see all types of ideas collected from bloggers across the country — some look more professional than others and some are more basic than others, but they are all great jumping off points to help make your personal celebration memorable. So why not visit me on Hometalk, and let me know which one is your favorite.

Welcoming Rosette for Independence Day

Welcoming Rosette for Independence Day

Posted on by Mama

 

Independence Day Rosette

Today I’m showing you the newest addition to my patriotic home decor, complete with easy instructions and printable.  This door-sized rosette was easy to make and you should be able to whip up your own in about half an hour or so — just in time for Independence Day.

Materials:

  • Three pieces of red cardstock – 8 1/2 x 11″
  • Two pieces of decorative blue paper – 12 x 12″
  • One piece of coordinating decorative paper – 12 x 12″
  • Paper adhesive
  • Small piece of twine (for hanging)
  • Craft Glue
  • July4Rosette printable (pdf)
  • Dark brown ink pad

july4rose2july4rose3

Instructions:

  1. First, let’s make the large blue rosette portion of the project by cutting the two pieces of blue paper in half so that we end up with four pieces of 12 x 6″ strips.
  2. Ink the outside edge of each piece with the dark brown ink pad. Score each of these pieces at every inch and according fold.
  3. Using adhesive, connect all these pieces together. Keeping the paper flat, fan out the pieces in a circle and adhere the two ends together to create the rosette. To keep this crazy thing flat while you work, you can place a light-weight book or magazine on top of the newly formed rosette.
  4. Next, we’ll make the center of the rosette by cutting one piece of red cardstock into a circle approximately 8″ in diameter. I used my Cricut to cut the scalloped edge, but you can use whatever you have — cutting machine,  decorative scissors or circle cutter.
  5. Ink the edges of the circle and glue to the center of the rosette using paper adhesive or glue.
  6. Print out the July4Rosette rosette center and cut into a circle, about an eight of an inch away from the outside words. Ink the edge all the way around and adhere to the red circle.
  7. To create the tails to the rosette, cut the two remaining sheets of read cardstock down to 6 x 11″ and then cut a triangle out of each piece to form the banner shape. Ink the edges.
  8. Cut the coordinating sheet of decorative paper to create two pieces that are a half inch smaller than the cardstock tails and cut a coordinating triangle in each piece. Ink all the edges and adhere to the cardstock tails.
  9. Adhere the completed tails to the back of the rosette at whatever angle you like.
  10. After everything is assembled, cut a short piece of twine and tie a loop for hanging. Flip over the rosette, add a dab of glue and adhere the twine loop.
  11. When the glue dries, hang your welcoming rosette for all your guests to see.

 

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