December 1, 2016

A Tip To Make Seasonal Decorating Easier


I really do enjoy changing out the decor in my house
with different seasons and occasions. What I don't like so
much is that most of my decorative items are in the attic. 

It is a pain to get the things in and out of the attic.
Have you heard the saying "Whatever goes up must come
down"? I have a saying I must replay in my mind as I 
am getting things out of the attic "Whatever comes down
(from the attic) must go up (back to the attic)". 
If you want a printable of this saying click here.  

 This keeps me from being
too enthusiastic about pulling everything I have for the 
upcoming season down and to evaluate each item to
 decide if I am really going to use it. 
Once the new seasonal things are down out of the attic
I try to use them for as long as possible. So here is my tip:
Try to use decorative items for more than one holiday or 
season to cut down on the amount of time and effort
you are spending getting them in and out of storage. 

Here's how I used my own tip recently...
 

For Halloween I got out the urn, vases and jars to use for a 
spooky apothecary display. If you want to see more pictures
of that display click on "Halloween Bottles and Jars".

I took the labels off of the glassware. For stubborn parts of
the labels, wetting a paper towel and letting it soak the
water-soluble glue I used to put the label on worked well.

 A few bunches of grocery store flowers placed in the vases
and jars totally changed the look of the dining room
into a Fall/Thanksgiving ambiance.
Oh yeah, and taking the critters off of the urn. 











Most of the vases had small openings which is easy to
make flowers stand up in. For the jars I used an easy trick
of making a grid of clear tape over the opening.

The tape works similarly to wire grids that you can buy to
 go over the wider mouths of jars to make it easier to arrange
 flowers in them but the tape trick is practically free and can 
be used on different sized jars and vases (within reason).

The buffet console in the dining room also got a 
Thanksgiving makeover with the same pumpkins and 
sturdy stands that were used for Halloween.



My turkey did make me take another trip into the attic
 and is one of those accessories that only makes sense
 one time of the year so there are exceptions to "the tip".

He deserves to come down for a little while each year, don't you think?

I kept the same frame that held my Halloween artwork
and changed it out for a more Fall-ish colored print. 

Big frames with pictures take up a lot of space to store
 so I change out the artwork in the same frames that I 
already have out over and over to give the rooms they
 are in a different feel seasonally. 

I cut art prints into sizes that will fit into the frames I have. 
They are glued on to foam core or cardboard. They fit under
the bed easily. They don't have to go to the hot-as-hades
attic 'cause I don't think they would survive up there. 

They are treated to look like they are paintings. If you
want more information on that easy process you can
click on "Create Seasonal Artwork". 

To save on taking large pillows out of storage to decorate
the sofa, I have a two large pillow forms with their own pillow
cover " seasonal wardrobe".
The pillow forms can stay out and I can get down the covers
to put on them seasonally. To see how to make these covers
(in the fabric of your choice) click on this post
"Make Turkish Corners on Pillows". 

I do have some smaller seasonal pillows to take down from
the attic but they take up less room in storage and are easy
to get up and down. 

At Christmas I like to make "snow" vignettes in glass
containers using epsom salt as the snow. On top of the "snow"
I put tiny objects (available in craft stores or stores that sell
 items for Christmas villages) and bleached bottle brush trees.


After Christmas I take the Christmas-themed or colorful items
 out and leave the trees and neutral-colored items. This way 
it makes the vignettes look like a regular winter scene. I use
these in January (where it is snowing somewhere but probably
not in Alabama where I live). 

Four times a year I have to do an accessory "reboot" where
 I do have to keep the attic stairs down to take up the
 past season's things and get down the new season's items.
 It is fun to "find" things that I have not seen for a year. 

It is December today! Many Christmas things are season
specific and don't really translate into other seasons so they
don't fit "the tip". In 2017 try to make your accessories
span one than more holiday or occasion with small changes.
It will make decorating your home much easier!

I am sharing this post over at these blog parties:
Amaze Me Monday @ Dwellings
Makers Gonna Make @ The Girl Creative
Dishing & Digging It @ The Stoneybrook House
Metamorphsis Monday @ Between Naps On The Porch

1 comment

  1. This is a great tip, and I do this to a certain degree....actually I do more of this with each passing year! I love swapping out pillow covers. That one thing has such an impact in a room. Thanks for sharing your tips, and I think being a "copycat" is an art-form!

    Carol

    ReplyDelete

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