Rustic Decorating With Natural Wood

Rustic decor is as popular now as it has been for generations. Rustic style decor appeals to those who have a deep appreciation of the great outdoors and want to bring a feeling of this rugged beauty into their homes.

The most common theme found in rustic decorating is the use of natural wood. Some common types of wood that are found in rustic homes include Pine, Aspen, Oak and Maple. Two popular types of Pine used in wood paneling, furniture and fencing are Northern White Cedar and Western Red Cedar.

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Northern White Cedar is the lightest commercial wood in the U.S. Found in primarily in Southeastern Canada and Northeastern United States, this type of wood is naturally resistant to decay and insect infestation. It has an appealing creamy white color that will weather to a beautiful silvery gray if left untreated. It glues well, holds paint well and like all cedar wood, has a wonderful natural aroma. This makes Northern White Cedar an excellent choice for rustic diningroom, livingroom and bedroom furniture.

Rustic Decorating With Natural Wood

Western Red Cedar is another common wood used for rustic decor because of its beautiful natural red color and its resistance to weather. This makes it a great choice for garden furniture such as arbors and trellises. Like Northern White Cedar, Western Red Cedar is easy to work with and has one of the longest life spans of any North American softwood.

Aspen is another softwood known for its beautiful white color. Aspen is a popular wood used to make rustic decor such as picture frames, candle holders, mirror frames, wine racks and more. Quaking Aspen, the western species commonly found in the Rocky Mountains of North America is famous for the striking color change of it's leaves in the fall. Aspen trees grow in stands of clones, meaning they are genetically identical and share a common root system. They need full sunlight to thrive, making them intolerant to shade. Without the help of naturally occurring wildfires, Aspen stands have been on the decline. Forest fires, while unpopular with people, are important to the ecosystem. This is where careful, controlled harvesting of trees like Aspen can actually help restore the natural population in the absence of wildfires, which are hard to control.

Deformities on wood can actually enhance its appearance. This is the case with burl wood, a rare, highly sought after material for rustic furniture makers. Burl wood is formed by a growth commonly found on tree trunks, branches and roots that cause the grain to grow in a deformed way. Mold or insect infestations are the most common cause for this condition which is found on species such as Redwood, Spruce, Walnut and Maple. This deformity results in spectacular patterns that make unique and stunning rustic furniture.

No matter what type of wood one prefers, the natural beauty of wood never goes out of style. While natural wood is dominate in rustic decorating, it can be found in many other decorating styles as well.

Rustic Decorating With Natural Wood

Michelle Radcliff is the owner of HomeTreasureCove, an online home decorating store. For more information on purchasing home decor and home furnishings, visit http://www.hometreasurecove.com or email sales@hometreasurecove.com.

Decorating With Wine Labels

Many people save the corks from a special bottle of wine to commemorate the occasion. Some people also like to save the bottles or at least the labels. You can actually get quite creative with wine labels. You can make coasters or a variety of small items using these labels or you can save them up or buy them online for a larger project. For example, you can create a unique bistro set by covering a round wooden table with them.

You can also copy wine labels or have them copied and printed on heavier paper to use on craft projects. You can come up with a variety of craft ideas using these labels with decoupage. You can also frame them and hang them on the wall. If you have collected the labels yourself for a period of time and from a variety of places, it is especially fun to get creative by using them all together in a collage or making several different crafts for a special area of your home.

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If you like to make gifts for others, using wine labels can be a great way to make unique gifts for wine enthusiasts. Decoupage them onto a keepsake box or cover a hat box with them for a special gift. There are literally hundreds of ideas you can use to create something special from these labels.

Decorating With Wine Labels

Use your imagination and see what you can come up with regarding decorating with wine labels. Whether you would like to turn them into wall paper or decorations to go on the walls, you are limited by only your imagination.

Decorating With Wine Labels

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New Year's Eve Decorating Ideas

Make decorating your home for New Year's Eve party a pleasure instead of a stressful nightmare. Organization and planning helps you keep on top of your New Year's Eve party.

Create a gorgeous party planning notebook with an inexpensive plastic three-ring binder that has a space to insert an inspirational picture. Keep cutouts from magazines of ideas you love about decorating, themes, menus, and recipes. Keep notes about your party afterwards so you remember what worked well and what to do differently next year. Your personal party journal will be an invaluable assistant to help you avoid holiday stress.

Decorating

New Year's Eve Decorating

New Year's Eve Decorating Ideas

Enjoy your home decorating for New Year's Eve. Don't try to do too much. Keep in mind that people love to come to homes decked out in festive array but that it doesn't take a lot of cluttering ornamentation to create a joy filled room. Just a few large decorations can add the desired impact without taking a lot of time to set out. Plus, too many little decorations get lost when you have many people standing around.

Where to decorate for impact:

1. Your front walkway: Greet guests at the entrance with lights surrounding your front door and two large floral arrangements or evergreen trees.

2. Your front door: A large swag of evergreen decorated with nuts, apples, raffia, and ribbon spiced up with cinnamon sticks and cloves makes a different statement than the usual wreath.

3. Your dining table: If you plan a sit-down dinner, avoid tall centerpieces that interfere with guests seeing across the table. White table cloths reflect the light, add a feeling of elegance, and don't interfere with colored china. Bold colors add drama. Have fun with your table decorations.

4. Look up: Because table decorations get in the way, add decorations above archways and doors.

5. Your powder room: Because guests use this room privately, they take the time to look around and notice decorations.

If your TV looks like a black hole in your room when it's off, play an old black and white classic movie with the sound turned off.

Enjoy your New Year's Eve decorating this year. Try some new ideas and keep a party planner for next year. You'll be ready for new holiday decorating ideas!

Copyright © 2006 Jeanette J. Fisher

New Year's Eve Decorating Ideas

FREE Interior Design Teleseminar: Home Makeover Help! Jeanette Fisher, author of interior design books, has researched the effects of environment on emotions for over 15 years. She teaches Design Psychology and real estate investing. Free Design Psychology ebooks http://designpsych.com

Decorating Bushes With Outdoor Christmas Lights

Of course, we all think about decorating trees for Christmas. But what about the bushes? After all, it is common to have more bushes around your house than trees. Thankfully, many companies are thinking about the exact same thing. Companies are realizing more and more that people want to decorate and cover as much of the unsightly weather effects as possible.

Typically, a main reason to decorate in the winter is due to the brown vegetation. After all vegetation dies and turns brown, it is often covered by patchy bits of snow. That is followed by times where there is mud everywhere. Outdoor Christmas lights take care of many of the unsightly problems related to the wintertime blues.

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Types of Outdoor Christmas Lights for Bushes

Decorating Bushes With Outdoor Christmas Lights

In addition to a wide variety of colors, there are also different types of lights that you may find more appropriate than others. Of course, there are the type of lights that look like the kind you hang on that Christmas tree inside your home. Some people find that they're not as effective as others. Many people prefer rope lights because they did not get entangled in the bushes. Others prefer outdoor Christmas lights that are shaped into nets. They find them much easier to put on the bushes.

Types of Lights to Avoid

While everyone loves to experiment with creativity, there are certain lights that you should avoid using outdoors. Commonly, they are not outdoor Christmas lights at all. They are lights that are used for some other purpose. In particular, lights to avoid using in your bushes are:

o Strobe lights
o Regular light bulbs
o Lamps
o Indoor Christmas lights

What to Look For In Outdoor Christmas Lights

Typically, you'll be able to see right away if the lights are particularly outdoor Christmas lights. The next choice you will need to make is the brightness of the lights. This does not necessarily mean that larger lights burn brighter. When you are selecting your lights, pay attention to wattage. This will help to determine how bright the lights are. You can also have a timer or multifunction light programmer that will produce a desired effect.

The next choice will be the plastic that encases the electrical wires. For this choice, many people will
choose the color based on what they're using it for. If you're bushes are green, for example, you might want to use outdoor Christmas lights that have green plastic.

Decorating Bushes With Outdoor Christmas Lights

Cody Scholberg, a decorating expert, writes for Buy Outdoor Christmas Lights. Before hanging any lights, check out this guide to installing Christmas lights.

Decorating Christmas Cakes

When most people think of a Christmas cake, the Yule log comes to mind. The cake is often one of many desserts spread on the dinner table after a huge family meal. Lately, Christmas cakes have more often been decorated cakes, depicting a snowy scene, Santa, or a Christmas tree.

Over the past few years, cake decorating has become a widely recognized hobby and art form. Popular television shows have sparked increased interest in this art and have inspired people to take classes and start making cakes on their own instead of buying them.

Decorating

While the outside of the typical Christmas cake has evolved with the time, the same family favorites still lie on the inside of the cake. Today's cakes, while covered in buttercream or fondant, can even be flavored with mint flavoring oil for that seasonal flair.

Decorating Christmas Cakes

Your cake will come out much better if you plan out the design in advance. Draw a sketch to see how it will look and to get an idea of what colors look good together. If you have time, you can practice new cake decorating techniques in advance, but when it comes to a more complicated cake, you will need time for gum paste decorations to dry. Depending on the weather, some can take up to a week to harden. This also depends on how large your gum paste figure is.

If you don't want to get too complicated, here are a few ideas that are relatively simple. You can decorate any shape cake with Christmas presents made from gum paste. Just form a cube out of different colors of gum paste. Cut up thin strips of contrasting colors to attach to these cubes. Using a little gum glue to adhere them, lay these strips on the cubes in a criss cross pattern. You can even form a small bow for the top of the presents. For a Christmas tree cake, you can either buy the tree cake pan or carve the cake out of a sheet cake. Frost it in green and decorate with small candies.

Another simple idea is to make a Christmas holly cake. The green and red holly contrasts nicely with a simple white cake. To make the holly, you will need gum paste and a holly leaf cutter. Tint some gum paste a dark green, roll it out thin and cut the holly leaves. For each grouping of holly, you'll need three leaves. Dry the leaves on crumpled aluminum foil to give them a more natural shape. Tint gum paste red and roll three pea sized balls for each holly grouping. When all the gum paste decorations are dry, spray them with confectioner's lacquer. Arrange 3 leaves together so they fan out and place the berries in the center. Attach your gum paste leaves and berries with gum glue. You can either place several leaf groupings around the edge or create the entire edge of the cake out of holly.

To create a simple wintery scene, make white chocolate snowflakes to decorate the cake. Either draw or print out pictures of snowflakes, tape them down and tape plastic wrap over them. Pipe melted white chocolate using the #4 cake decorating tip and place them in the freezer for 5 minutes. Carefully peel them off the plastic. They can either lay flat on the cake or you can stick them into the icing and make them stand up.

Decorating Christmas Cakes

Theresa Happe is a baker, cake decorator, and author of http://www.cake-decorating-corner.com, a website featuring cake photos with detailed instructions for all occasions, and cake and icing recipes.

Halloween Decorating Ideas - Vintage Halloween Decoration Ideas Inspired by the 1940's

Here are some ideas for Halloween decorations that can be used indoors or outdoors. Decorations like these were popular in the 1940's and many are still common-place today.

A traditional and easily prepared outdoor decoration is made of autumn leaves (real or fake) with corn stalks from your local farmer and lit Jack o'lanterns around the base. The corn stalks can be attached to a porch support beam, a light pole or a shepherds hook that held the summer's flowers.

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Another traditional Halloween decoration is the Jack o' lanterns. Put them in groups, line them up on a fence, porch railing, along a walkway or along a driveway. Candles, dishes of alcohol and salt were popular on Hallowe'en. Add blue Christmas lights to give a ghostly illumination.

Halloween Decorating Ideas - Vintage Halloween Decoration Ideas Inspired by the 1940's

Free hand silhouettes/cuttings of black and/or orange construction paper hung on the windows and walls make for a neat effect. Some items to draw include witches, pumpkins, cats, bats, elves, fairies, spiders, owls, cauldrons, broomsticks or peaked hats. Search the internet for figures you can print and trace. You can also create unique lamp shades for your Halloween party. Use stiff orange and black paper cut out like Jack-o'-lanterns, witches, cats and other popular Halloween symbols.

Popular decorations were created from various fruits and vegetables. Apples, turnips and carrots can be cut into grotesque faces and displayed as is or used to hold candlesticks. You can also create Halloween goblins from the fruit and vegetables. Use Jack o'lanterns for the heads. The body is a smaller pumpkin and carrots are used for arms and legs which are fastened to the body with wire.

What would Halloween be without ghosts? Use a Jack o'lantern for the head which is attached to an upright post. Drape a white sheet or tablecloth from the post. You can then pin/stake the ends of the sheet out a few feet or just allow the sheet to blow in the wind.

Whatever your taste in Halloween decorating is, you may find that some of these vintage halloween decorating ideas may be ideal for your own haunted home this Halloween.

Halloween Decorating Ideas - Vintage Halloween Decoration Ideas Inspired by the 1940's

Beth is a fan of everything Vintage Halloween. She maintains the Vintage Halloween Ideas web site where she shares nifty Halloween ideas from the 1890's to the 1960's - including Dennison's Bogie Books. Halloween Party Ideas, Invitation wording, decoration ideas and more.

Visit the site to get excerpts from 2 Dennison's Bogie Books for FREE! http://www.VintageHalloweenIdeas.com

Some Wonderful Christmas Decorating Ideas

Christmas can bring back a lot of wonderful memories. The holiday season is a very sentimental time that is often associated with the fine details in holiday décor. Many people capture wonderful memories of their childhood by incorporating rustic elements in their Christmas decorating ideas.

It can be challenging to find the right details to create a cozy feeling in your home during the holiday season. You need a bit of creativity and imagination when you come up with Christmas decorating ideas. Ordinary objects can be used to create an atmosphere reminiscent of a log cabin or a country farmhouse.

Decorating

This theme can be accomplished by using simple elements that bring the woods indoors. You can use pine cones and berries to adorn areas of the home. Fine details like birdhouses and wild animal ornaments can really bring the woods into your home.

Some Wonderful Christmas Decorating Ideas

My personal favorite is country inspired Christmas décor. There are many elements that can bring a traditional feel to your home. These Christmas decoration ideas can also incorporate Victorian items as well, giving the country decorations a classic mood. Small baskets, lace doilies, and glowing candles can help create a wonderful country Christmas.

You can also find ideas from quilters since they are very creative persons. Quilters can create items that are appropriate for the holiday season that can be displayed with pride. Christmas decorating ideas that use quilting supplies include ornaments made out of quilt blocks or Styrofoam balls covered with recycled materials.

You can discover your own ways of bringing rustic charm into your living space during Christmas. Food is one of the Christmas decorating ideas that are often overlooked. You can find old fashioned recipes to make snacks and beverages that can be part of your holiday décor as well. Gingerbread men and Eggnog served in decorative glasses are just two Christmas decorating ideas that incorporate food into your overall décor. Making use of simple details can help you create a traditional Christmas atmosphere in your home.

Some Wonderful Christmas Decorating Ideas

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Christmas Tree Decorating Ideas: Trends for 2011

Everyone loves a Christmas tree, but sometimes you want a change. The same tree from year to year can get boring, and if you've changed your interior decor, you might find your old tree just doesn't have the same charm. So, how do you get a new look for this old tradition? Believe it or not there are trends from year to year. Here are some of the most interesting.

The Natural Look. If you're ready to replace your artificial tree with something new, why not try a flocked tree? These new trees are convincingly realistic, and since they already have a covering of snow, halve your decorating has been done for you. Finish them off with some more realistic touches, wrap the tree with a grapevine garland to add some bulk, add white and iridescent ball ornaments and if your tree is large, have them increase in size towards the bottom. If you want some color, add some red berry picks to the branches and add another touch of icy winter, crystal icicles dripping from the branches. For a little more color, add tiny birds. The result is very natural and realistic, and if you find it too 'cold' add some red ball ornaments in different sizes.

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The Beach Tree. If you like to escape the cold for the Holiday season there's no need to abandon tradition. You can decorate a tree for warmer climes. Once choice would be an artificial palm tree. These are available from the big DIY stores as well as online, and are a fun addition to your celebrations. They don't have many branches and so don't need a lot of decoration. If you are truly on the beach, why not gather some shells and transform them into ornaments with some wire and air dry clay. The final touch would be some spray glitter. If a palm tree is really not your style, but you're looking for something to match the cool color schemes used in many warm regions, why not choose a white tree? These can look stunning decorated in a color, so feel free to match your decor, blue and turquoise ornaments are very popular this year.

Christmas Tree Decorating Ideas: Trends for 2011

Think Pink. One of the most surprising trends to arise from the many new colors available, is the popularity of the pink Christmas tree. There are many forms to choose from, cupcake pink is a delicate shade and cries out for decoration in the 'ice cream' colors, in fact cupcakes and cones are a very popular theme in Christmas ornaments this year. You can also find cupcake garlands. Slightly more avant garde are the shocking pinks and pink/violet trees which have appeared in the last couple of year. Again Christmas ornaments seem to have been developed especially for them; you'll find handbags and high heels another popular theme this year.

The Christmas Tree is the focal point of your Christmas decor. Pick a new idea and enjoy!

Christmas Tree Decorating Ideas: Trends for 2011

Jane Alexander Ogilvie has a lifelong love of flowers. She writes about flowers and decorating on her blog, A Fool For Flowers. Please visit and read more of Jane's Christmas tree decorating ideas.

Small Bedroom Decorating Ideas

If you are looking for ways to decorate a small bedroom, I have good news for you. I am going to show you a different approach to decorate a small room or bedroom.

Many people seem to be guilty that their bedroom is small and they read every bit of information available in libraries and the Internet to make a small bedroom look bigger. Of course it is human nature to look for things that you don't possess right now.

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Some of the easy techniques of making a small bedroom look bigger are

Small Bedroom Decorating Ideas

1) Use bright colored paints so that natural light entering the small bedroom get reflected in all directions and the room looks bigger.

2) Use furniture with slim frames. This is a very obvious solution. Furniture with slim frames have less perceived volume and because of this the room looks bigger.

3) Use a platform bed in a small bedroom. What is a platform bed? A platform bed is the one with low height. The normal height of any bed is around 1foot 6 inches approximately. But a platform bed is only 1 foot high fro the ground level. This makes it's volume and the room looks bigger.

4) Arrange the furniture in your room at angles. Of course this is not always possible. But small pieces of furniture can be arranged in that fashion. This is done to distract the visual lines away from the walls.

5) using a wallpaper with horizontal pattern. This will create an illusion of horizontal expansion.

There are many more simple ideas to go for. However there is one more simple approach to go for this. Instead of spending time in making your room look bigger, why not make it a point that the same room becomes more functional and appealing in the same available space.

I am not saying that making a room look bigger is a waste of time, but it has got certain limitations of it's own. It is a strong possibility that the room, which is being used as a bedroom, was originally designed for something else and then was converted into a bedroom. Small rooms o the other hand can be extremely efficient because it is easy to design furniture in them that will help a human being efficiently to perform specific actions.

I hope this article was helpful.

Copyright Shrinivas Vaidya

Small Bedroom Decorating Ideas

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Christmas Window Box Decorating Ideas

As our favorite winter holiday approaches it is time to begin thinking about Christmas decorating ideas. If you already have ideas for your house and yard displays, you may still have questions about how to spice up the look of your window boxes. Check out some of our Christmas window box decorating ideas below to help get you started.

Natures Walk. Gather all the materials you need for this natural beauty in your backyard or nearby park. Tie clusters of spruce branches together using wire and complete the look by combing with pinecones and holly. Spray lightly with an artificial snow to give a real winter window box feel.

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White Winter. Tie clusters of twigs together to make a base and spray silver. Add faux snow flocked evergreen boughs. Accent your snow white theme with any combination of items such as white lace ribbon, reindeer moss, cream artificial berries, walnuts and even hibiscus pods. You can even soak small twigs in bleach water overnight to turn them white and use them to decorate.

Christmas Window Box Decorating Ideas

Christmas Balls. Fill your planter boxes with Christmas balls in all variety of sizes and complementary colors such as red with small amounts of gold. Glue the balls together to keep them from blowing away and help give a full look. Also incorporate some same colored strands of ribbon to provide additional flare.

Wrapped Window box. For easy decorating, try wrapping your window box with gift wrap paper. Complete the look with large ribbons, bows and even gift tags. For quilters try creating a quilt wrap for your box using leftover Christmas fabric.

Evergreen. Bring in the holiday charm by planting dwarf or small conifers such as Tsuga Canadensis. Accentuate your look with gold and deep purple berries and ribbons, pinecones, and other natural floral accents such as eucalyptus branches.

Metallic. Begin your look with a base of dusty miller combined with silver ornament, silver tinsel and silver ribbons. For holiday sparkle, incorporate some white lights, glitter and clear crystals into your design.

Fireplace Mantel. Begin this design by painting a brick pattern onto cardboard. Attach this design to the front of you box and decorate like a fireplace. Hang large stockings below the mantel, and incorporate Christmas cards affixed on top. Include large hanging garland, bows and broad pillar candles.

Hopefully these ideas will help you create a unique and beautiful Christmas window display. Although most flowers don't do well during the winter season, it does not mean that you can't be creative with your window boxes. Dressing them up with decorations, ornaments, or evergreens for Christmas is a great way to boost your curb appeal and show your neighbors you have a few tricks up your sleeve that they haven't thought of already.

Christmas Window Box Decorating Ideas

Shelby Buquoi is the general manager of Flower Window Boxes, Inc. Their no rot window boxes and planters have been featured on The Today Show as "the last window boxes you will ever have to buy." Click to see pictures of window box ideas in their gallery to help you decorate your own window boxes.

Year Round Decorating Ideas For The Front Door

The front door of your home is the first thing that visitors will see. You can make a good impression on your guests and visitors by adding some special decorative touches to this area. These decor accents do not have to be elaborate or expensive. Many times just one or two specially selected pieces will go a long way. By decorating the front doorway area you can lend a nice touch to your home, and make your guests feel especially welcomed. Here are some ideas for making the most of your decorating area with ideas to give special pizzaz to your front door.

Hang door garland. This can be in any theme and will cover a large amount of space on the front door. Make sure you choose something that will be relatively weather resistant, and will not fade easily. A garland of fall colored leaves would make a wonderful autumn design. For Christmas, holly or poinsettias could be used to make a similar garland.

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Display a large wreath or other floral display with the use of an over-the-door wreath hanger. Try making your own wreath out of natural materials like pine cones. This can be easily accomplished by using a glue gun and adding some decorative floral picks. I usually make my own Christmas wreath by using a pre-made wreath shape, and adding Christmas floral picks or handmade bows. I purchase these inexpensively from the Dollar Store.

Year Round Decorating Ideas For The Front Door

Add a door knob hanger. This could be as elaborate as a handmade, one-of-a-kind piece, or as simple as a colored ribbon with bells attached. For seasonal themes, a strand of dried corn or even small fall leaves would make a nice hanger. Snowman and poinsettias would be fun ideas for Christmas or Winter.

Seasonal door decorations are a fun way to decorate the front door. For autumn you could use a fall themed wreath with apples, fall leaves, even tiny pumpkins. Thanksgiving ideas include the cornucopia or dried corn. For the past couple of years, I have used a heavy wrapping paper to "wrap" my front door to look like a present. I usually use a bright red foil paper, then add a handmade wreath.

Year Round Decorating Ideas For The Front Door

Dee Marie is a successful freelance writer who enjoys decorating. To get more ideas for a front door decoration [http://www.dktshopping.com/gardening-decorate/Door-Decoration---Door-Knob-Hangers.html] or for more unique decor accessories [http://www.dktshopping.com/gardening-decorate/index.html], please visit [http://www.DKTShopping.com]

Pumpkin Decorating Ideas for Halloween

Halloween is nearly here once more, and if you're like many people, you'll be making a Halloween pumpkin lantern. Carved vegetable lanterns, or Jack O'Lanterns as they're often known, are part of an ancient tradition that originated with the Celts. However the original lanterns made by the Celts in Europe were usually made from turnips, swedes or mangelwurzels. Halloween lanterns made from pumpkins only became popular relatively recently, after the Halloween holiday started to be widely celebrated in the US, where pumpkins are plentiful. They have since gained popularity elsewhere in the world too, thanks to the relative ease with which they can be carved, and the brilliant orange glow they produce when lit up.

Pumpkins are very versatile and can be carved and decorated carved in any number of ways and it's very easy to produce a lantern that will make a beautiful addition to your Halloween decorations.

Decorating

There are two basic approaches you can take to decorating your pumpkin. The first is to carve a face or other design into the flesh, and the second is to paint the pumpkin's surface. You might then like to embellish it further. Of course, you can always combine these approaches, and produce a more ornate and unusual pumpkin!

Pumpkin Decorating Ideas for Halloween

Carving Your Pumpkin

Halloween pumpkins are usually carved, so they can be used as lanterns. Carving a pumpkin can be as simple as creating a couple of triangular eyes and a mouth, or, if you are feeling adventurous, you can make a more complex pumpkin lantern intricate features or other patterns, such as cats, spiders, ghosts, etc, or even non-Halloween motifs. To carve your pumpkin, cut off the top (if you're going to illuminate it with a candle) or the bottom (to provide access for an electric light cord), scrape out the flesh, draw your design onto the surface of the pumpkin, and cut around the outlines with a sharp knife or other carving tool. You might find it useful to pare the interior surface of the pumpkin back in the areas you will be cutting. Your pumpkin is then ready to be lit up.

You can either design your own pumpkin carving pattern, or you can use one of the many that are available (very often for for free) online. Pumpkincarving.com is one site that I recommend if you're looking for more ideas and inspiration.

Painting Your Pumpkin

Painted Halloween pumpkins are not as common as the carved variety, but they are becoming very popular. Painting your pumpkin gives you more flexibility than carving it, and you can create stunning painted Halloween designs that are guaranteed to get a reaction. Don't worry if you think you can't paint - you don't need to be an artist to create beautiful painted Halloween pumpkins! See my site (link in the resource box below) for details of an excellent guide to pumpkin painting, called Pumpkin Painting, Anyone Can Do It. Really! With this handy guide, you'll be producing brightly painted pumpkin masterpieces in no time! Painted pumpkins are also very popular with children, as - unlike with carved pumpkins - they can create their own pumpkin designs very safely and with minimal assistance.

Embellishing Your Pumpkin Further

If you really want to go to town, you can jazz up your carved or painted pumpkin even more. Try sticking on some glitter or sequins, or draping it with strings of sparkly beads. Just be sure not to use flammable materials.

Employ any or all of these pumpkin decorating ideas, and you'll soon have a beautifully scary Halloween pumpkin that will make a fantastic centrepiece for your home!

Pumpkin Decorating Ideas for Halloween

Melania Karel is entranced by all things supernatural and Halloween-related, and is webmaster of Halloween-o-Pedia, a treasure trove of spooky information and resources, including information about pumpkin painting and other forms of decoration.

Decorating a Room with Disney Cars Room Decor

With the popularity of the recent Disney Pixar Cars movie, chances are that your little boy is wanting Lightning McQueen, Mater, and all their friends to now grace every surface of his bedroom. Decorating a room with a Disney Cars room décor is fairly easy and inexpensive. Merchandise is available all over the web and if you are lucky, you may also find an item or two in the stores. Because of the popularity of the movie, all Cars merchandise has been extremely popular so I have learned that when you find an item you want that isn't sold out, you have to move quickly and buy it.

So what is available for decorating a Disney Cars theme room? Well first, you will have you choice of a couple of beds. A Disney Cars toddler bed is available as is a Lightning McQueen Race Car bed that comes in a twin size. You will also be able to find Disney Cars toddler bedding and twin size bedding sets.

Decorating

It doesn't stop with just beds and bedding though. The amount of Disney Cars room décor available extends to wall art, room decals, lamps featuring Lightning and Mater, and even dresser knobs featuring many of the movie's key characters. You will also be able to find Disney Cars furniture pieces including toy boxes and table and chair sets for your Disney Cars theme room.

Decorating a Room with Disney Cars Room Decor

So if your little boy has been dreaming of a Disney Cars themed bedroom, you will have no trouble coming up with enough Disney Cars room décor to create the Lightning McQueen room of his dreams!

Decorating a Room with Disney Cars Room Decor

© Copyright Rebecca Johnson, All Rights Reserved

Rebecca Johnson is the mother of a three year old son who is a Disney Cars fanatic. She owns a website about decorating rooms for babies and young children. Visit it for more information about decorating a Disney Cars theme room including the best places to find Disney Cars room décor.

Decorating Your Kitchen With A 1940's Retro Theme

These days kitchen décor comes in all colors, sizes and eras. One fun way to decorate your kitchen is with a bit of 1940's nostalgia. Painted cabinets, glass knobs, and vintage linens combined with new appliances that have a retro look can give you a unique and functional kitchen.

You can get a great 1940's look without spending a bundle and still be able to fill your kitchen with some nice collectibles. Here's some ideas on how you can get a 1940's look in your kitchen.

Decorating

Colors

Decorating Your Kitchen With A 1940's Retro Theme

Some popular colors from this era include jadeite and a red and white theme. You can find plenty of vintage accents to fill your kitchen for either one of these color schemes. Why not start a collection of jadeite that you can display in open cabinets as well as use for dishware? You can jazz the place up with vintage wooden handle gadgets that are painted jadite and cream. If you are going for the red and white theme, there are plenty of red vintage kitchen ware gadgets out there and vintage linens can really perk up the place. Another advantage of the red and white theme is you can also add in a fruit theme on top of it like apples or strawberries.

I would leave the walls a neutral color - white of off white so that it does not detract from all
your great accessories. Linoleum flooring in a checkerboard pattern would be perfect.
Some color coordinated throw rugs can add a bit of color to the floor and pull it all together.

Lighting

Simple lighting is best. You can buy vintage ceiling lights and wall sconces if you want a
really authentic look. Of course you'll want to make sure you have enough task
lighting so some modern lights will have to be worked in. I suggest you make them as subtle as possible so they don't look out of place.

Window Treatments

Use vintage curtains for your windows. You can buy them with complimentary colors and great patterns.
If you can't find curtains make some out of vintage dish towels or tablecloths - you can buy tablecloths that have stains in 1 area pretty cheaply and then just use the good area for the curtains! If you are going with a red and white 1940's kitchen decorating theme, you might want to pick either cherries or apples as a secondary theme and look for curtains with those fruits in the motif.

Furniture

Glass knobs will really jazz up your furniture and cabinets and add an authentic vintage look. If you have painted cabinets in either white or cream, try the green glass knobs. Your table and chairs should either be a chrome vintage style dinette (you can buy these new and you can still get vintage ones as well), or a vintage wooden style table with enamel top. If you can't find either of these, you can buy any type table and hide it with a vintage tablecloth.

Accessories

Accessories for 1940's style kitchens can be found in antique malls as well as bought brand new.
Soften up the room by hanging vintage tablecloths and tea towels around. Chrome appliances go well with this look as do the retro style appliances you can buy brand new these days. And don't forget the vintage
breadbox and canisters - every kitchen had them on the counter and you can choose from chrome
or enamel in cream and green, or red and white to complete your look.

Decorating Your Kitchen With A 1940's Retro Theme

Lee Dobbins is the owner of A Kitchen Decorating Idea where you can get more ideas on how to decorate your kitchen on a budget .

Office Interior Decorating

Like our home, our office or workplace is an important part of our life. There can be little denial of the fact that we spend a major portion of our lifetime in the office.

Based on this observation, you will be able to contemplate how to improve the facilities and design of the office. The concept of the home office is gaining popularity, with more and more people choosing to work from home.

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If your office is a home-based one, then you need to select the suitable area and plan the interior decorating accordingly. The main criterion for selecting a suitable place for your office is silence. The area should not be disturbed by any other event in the house. Next, choose the suitable interior-decorating scheme.

Office Interior Decorating

Whatever interior decorating scheme you choose, you need to allocate enough room for movement and accommodation of all the necessary equipment and furniture. For example, your workstation should not be too crowded or muddled up. You can use smaller objects instead of large ones. For example, you can use old trays as stacks for piling stationery and other rough documents. The chairs and computer tables should be soft but sturdy, with as many compartments as possible. This will save you the much-needed space.

You need to have separate plugs and boards so that the wires and other cords are not messed up. After all, you cannot afford to waste your precious time, struggling with those jumbled knots everyday! You have got other jobs to do.

Talking of a general or commercial office, some guiding factors for interior decorating are freedom of movement, appearance, maximum space utilization, and so on.

There should be a separate workstation for each employee, where he or she can work with ease and comfort. Also, the lighting and air-conditioning facilities should be correctly fitted to cover all sides evenly. There should be enough air circulation through windows, which of course, should be beautifully draped with curtains or blinds. Only if the surroundings are comfortable will a person's mind think freely and creatively.

For an office, starting from the entry point to the cafeteria lounge, interior-decorating ideas must be chosen carefully. Safety is also important in big offices, since a large number of employees work there. So, measures like emergency exits, automatic water sprays in case of fire accidents; fire extinguishers and alarms should be adopted in the designing stage of the building itself.

You can decorate the reception or guest room with beautiful bouquets, which will be refreshing to look at, and spread their freshness all around.

In big factories, interior-decorating ideas can be followed to reduce manual labor. You can opt for low-cost furnishings and furniture.

While framing the structure or design of your office, you can be immensely rewarded in terms of satisfaction and full value for your money, if you seek a professional's help. He will be able to suggest what you need to include and what to avoid.

Office Interior Decorating

Interior Decorating provides detailed information on Interior Decorating, Interior Decorating Ideas, Home Interior Decorating, Office Interior Decorating and more. Interior Decorating is affiliated with Home Interior Designs [http://www.i-InteriorDesign.com].

Decorating The Porch For Fall

With the fall season just around the corner, now is the perfect time to be looking for those special decorating accents to bring the fall theme into your outdoor room. Don't worry that you do not have enough room to decorate, even very small porch spaces can benefit from the addition of a few fall themed accessories. You can even just decorate your front door with a wreath made of a variety of fall leaves or dried corn to give a special seasonal touch.

When putting together a fall theme, start with a focus on color. Look for fall themed colors like shades of oranges, yellows, reds, and earth tones. Choose accessories in the pumpkin shades of orange and look for items and colors that mirror the colors of the changing leaves. Fall decorating does not have to be only Halloween themes either. Hay bales, collections of apples, gourds, dried corn or even dried twigs can make a festive fall display.

Decorating

Check out your dollar store for inexpensive fall decor. You can find lots of great fall themed wreaths, hanging pots, colored planters, and fall colored silk leaves and stems. Arrange them in vases or planters for a great looking display. To get more ideas to spark your creativity, visit your local craft stores and browse their displays.

Decorating The Porch For Fall

Use natural elements from nature. Go for a walk and gather pinecones and a variety of branches to design your own wreaths and centerpieces. Try to add a variety of textures and heights to make the display more interesting. Mix and match items to create more interesting designs.

Get more mileage out of your current accessories by placing your fall items on top of them. For example, put your plants on the ground and place small pumpkins on the plant stands. Use pumpkins to line your front porch steps or even your fence.

With just a few themed items you can bring a fall theme to your decor. Have fun with your decorating!

Decorating The Porch For Fall

Dee Marie is a freelance writer who enjoys decorating. Please visit [http://www.porch32.com] for more ideas on porch swings [http://www.porch32.com] and rockers.

Preschool Classroom Decorating Ideas

The beginning of the school year is perfect to introduce preschool classroom decorating ideas. Most children at this age are not exactly sure what to expect when they start this new adventure called Preschool.

They have some idea if they have had exposure to television, movies or children's books or even older siblings but it still has room for wonder.

Decorating

My preference is to start a bulletin board or wall that is for and by the children. You will begin with an area marked off that will be the "creation center". You will use this creation center throughout the school year as their personal mural space. You can cover this with large butcher paper, an old sheet, cork squares...whatever you wish. Use this area throughout the year for different themes.

Preschool Classroom Decorating Ideas

The most important aspect of this area is that this is their personal group display for their classroom. Children enjoy having responsibility and contributions to their class.

The first week of school is ideal to show them how you need their help in thinking of preschool classroom decorating ideas. Take a photo of each child on the first day, or have them draw a self portrait if a camera is not available. You will need to label the pictures with their names. These will be used later on.

You can suggest ideas for the board at the beginning because some children may be shy or hesitant at such an undertaking. Ask if they would like the area to have a street with a large school bus on it, or if they would like to have a playground with swing sets on it? These are just to get started. Let them know that it needs to be a setting where each child's picture can be displayed. This will help them out coming up with ideas of their own.

Next, use your week to create the idea they decide upon. If, for example, you are doing a school bus scene, you can teach them about the colors and shapes needed to create a large school bus with many windows (enough windows for each child). You can create a classroom setting with large round circles for the tables and squares for student chairs. Place a photo at each chair.

You can see that this is an area that can be used year round. The only bounds are your imagination!

I have used this area for holiday displays, seasonal displays, ocean themes, gardening themes, all about me displays and so many more.

Try these preschool classroom decorating ideas this year. Use it as a starting point for any of your preschool themes or units and you will enjoy the enthusiasm of your preschoolers and their willingness to learn and participate.

Preschool Classroom Decorating Ideas

Mary Robinson has been teaching preschool for well over a decade. You can get instant access to her preschool activities, crafts, and lesson plans by visiting her website:

http://www.mypreschoolplan.com

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Easy Bedroom Decorating Ideas

Decorating your bedroom can be a great way to give your self a tranquil retreat, yet so many people neglect this room. Often times people focus on the public rooms of the home - the kitchen, living room and guest bathroom but the bedroom is your own private sanctuary and you owe yourself to decorate it!

If decorating your bedroom seems like an overwhelming task, you might want to take it easy and make small changes over a period of time instead of one huge change. On way to ease yourself into decorating the bedroom is to start with the walls. Artwork can make a huge difference in the look of your bedroom and is one decorating idea that you can easily reverse if the look doesn't work.

Decorating

What is the first thing you notice when you walk into someone's home? The walls, right? Walls enclose the home, giving a thematic impression. So, if your walls are empty you've got to get to work to populate them. Wall hangings can be expensive, but that's only if you purchase something by a famous dead artist. You can create your own artwork without any art instruction whatsoever. First, you have to consider your theme. If you have a Victorian, feminine or shabby chic bedroom theme then you will want floral or feminine artwork. A modern bedroom theme will look best with prints in sleek frames. A tropical look? Then get some jungle style prints or prints of exotic animals and birds.

Easy Bedroom Decorating Ideas

Do you have hundreds of pictures and just don't know what to do with them? If the idea of a personalized bedroom picture wall appeals to you, you could arrange the photos into a huge wall photo collage. Examples include pictures of exotic places, weddings, and children growing up. If there is a teenager in your home, their bedroom is probably home to a huge collection of music CDs. They can create their own wall collage using the cover art from their CDs. Although you will have more fun creating your collage yourself, there are companies that will take care of this for you. The cost ranges from about for an 8x10 to 0 for a 20x24 wall collage.

If your bedroom contains foliage, you might want to consider pressing leaves or flowers and framing your work; the best of these are flat. You basically place the leaves or flowers in a book to allow them to dry flat. They are ready for your wall hanging when they become crisp. This shouldn't take longer than a week or two. After the items are pressed, you will just need to mount the artwork and hang it on your wall.

When you decorate your bedroom with artwork you are only limited by your imagination. Don't be afraid to experiment. As mentioned previously, artwork is easily reversible. So, be imaginative and creative and design your artwork.

Easy Bedroom Decorating Ideas

Lee Dobbins writes for Bedroom Designs and Decorations where you can learn more about designing your dream bedroom.

Easy Cake Decorating Ideas For Beginners

Beautiful cakes are not just for big bucks on extra-special occasions. You can learn easy cake decorating ideas that you can do yourself to make even an ordinary boxed cake mix look extraordinary. With a few simple tools and techniques and the easy cake decorating ideas in this article, you'll be able to make a beautiful cake yourself at home.

Icing The Cake

Decorating

Most of the time, you'll want to start with smooth icing all over the cake. To get a smooth surface, make sure the cake is completely cooled and your frosting is not too thick. Thinner icing will spread more easily and end up with a smoother finish.

Easy Cake Decorating Ideas For Beginners

First, put a very thin layer of frosting all over the cake. This is called the crumb coat, and it will keep crumbs from getting mixed in with the frosting that you'll see on the finished cake. At this point, you can refrigerate the cake to set the crumb coat and make it easier to apply the top coat.

Next, use an icing spatula to put on the second coat of icing. Start with a large amount of icing in the middle of the top of the cake and spread it toward the edges. When the top of the cake is completely covered, cover the sides of the cake. To smooth the sides, hold the spatula straight up and down and hold the edge against the cake as you spin the plate.

For the best look, try to get the frosting as smooth as possible all over cake. For the top of the cake, hold the spatula perfectly horizontal. For the sides, hold it perfectly upright. Try dipping the spatula in hot water and drying it before gliding across the frosting for even smoother results.

Getting smooth, even icing on your cakes is probably the hardest part of cake decorating. Practice these techniques until you can get perfectly smooth frosting, and you might find that you don't even need any other cake decorating ideas for an elegant, beautiful cake.

Simple Cake Decorating Ideas

For a simply elegant cake with a really easy technique, dust your frosted cake with powdered sugar. Try using a stencil for a themed or geometric design on the top of the cake. Remember making paper snowflakes as a kid? Make one to fit the top of your cake and use it as a stencil for a one-of-a-kind powdered sugar design.

If you want a more detailed, three-dimensional design, you can buy ready-to-use decorations and cake toppers in just about any theme you can think of. Candy flowers and letters, sprinkles in special shapes, and even small toys can be used to top your cake.

For an especially tasty look, sprinkle the cake with candy, nuts, shredded coconut, or chocolate shavings. Or use fresh fruit, like a simple ring of strawberry slices or an elaborate pattern of a few kinds of fruits. For a different style, decorate only the sides of the cake and leave the top smooth, or surround a simply frosted cake with fresh fruit or flowers.

Another option is to use a decorating comb or decorating triangle to add texture to the frosting. A decorating comb is a simple piece of plastic or metal with a variety of shaped edges. You drag the comb along the frosting to leave a textured pattern in the frosting. This is a great option if you're having trouble getting your icing as smooth as you want it to be.

Anyone Can Master These Easy Cake Decorating Ideas

These easy cake decorating ideas will help you make all your cakes more beautiful and are easy enough for anyone to learn. Master these techniques, and then consider taking cake decorating classes locally or online to learn more advanced cake decorating ideas and techniques like piping with a pastry bag and using fondant.

Easy Cake Decorating Ideas For Beginners

Want to learn more advanced cake decorating ideas and techniques? Try inexpensive and convenient cake decorating classes that you can take online.

Bathroom Decorating For A Zen Like Spa Look

Bathroom decorating can be fun and challenging but when it ends up giving you the relaxing feeling of a Zen like spa it is well worth the effort. Here are some tips on how you can get this relaxing feel in your bathroom

You should use soft colors and neutral tones colors for your Zen bathroom. Matching colors with your wall paint, towels and shower curtains is key so get paint cards that have your paint colors on them and bring them shopping with you when you buy your bathroom accessories - that way you will get a perfect match.

Decorating

In the bathroom, consider accessorizing with artwork on the walls, as well as toiletry and toothbrush holders, towel racks, towels and decorative soaps. You want to end up with a minimalist look so don't put too much in. Consider sleek designs for the hamper and wastebasket.

Bathroom Decorating For A Zen Like Spa Look

If your bathroom is big enough it could include shoji screens, plants and furniture with simple lines as well as a table water fountain and some bamboo. Window treatments for the Zen bathroom decorating theme should be simple and plain. Try updating your windows with bamboo blinds. After you get the ideal look on your windows, you might realize the walls are drab by comparison. To overcome this, try hanging watercolors or oriental silks in frames around the room.

While you may not think about it much, flooring plays a vital role in your interior design style so putting in bath mats to compliment your Zen decorating theme can really improve it's style. The best type of flooring for the peaceful and serene style is organic woven mats which you will want to purchase in neutral tones.

For some decorative touches which will help tie together your Zen decor think about a lotus bowl with 1 flower, rice paper lamps, and Asian pottery to accent your room design. You could also add towels that match your wall colors rolled up and stacked in a bamboo basket just like you might find at the spa.

Your Zen bathroom decorating theme can be a snap if you take the time to plan it out adequately. Simply buy the pieces on your plan and put them in place - your room with have the feeling of a peaceful spa before you know it.

Bathroom Decorating For A Zen Like Spa Look

Visit http://bathroomdecoratingguide.com for more great tips on decorating your bathroom in a variety of popular bathroom decorating styles.