Ideas for the Holiday Parties
Decorate on the Cheap with Everyday Items From "Real Simple" Magazine
New uses for wine glasses, picture frames, ribbon...
Planter as Table
Original Use: Potting petunias.Aha! Use: Serving as an occasional table. Bring your planter inside when the season is over, top it with a piece of glass, and enlist it at winter gatherings to hold cocktails or light up a dark corner.Reward: Beauty that is also useful — and requires no weeding or watering. Photo by Jim Franco
New uses for wine glasses, picture frames, ribbon...
Planter as Table
Original Use: Potting petunias.Aha! Use: Serving as an occasional table. Bring your planter inside when the season is over, top it with a piece of glass, and enlist it at winter gatherings to hold cocktails or light up a dark corner.Reward: Beauty that is also useful — and requires no weeding or watering. Photo by Jim Franco
Use Wine Glass as Candle Holder
Original Purpose: Toasting to health and good cheer. Aha! Use: Casting romantic shadows at the dinner table. Place a votive candle in a thick-walled glass, anchored in a bed of sand or small pebbles (it makes wax cleanup a snap).Reward: Lighting that actually goes with your table-ware, unlike those circa-1984 brass candlesticks. Photo by Formula Z/S
Original Purpose: Toasting to health and good cheer. Aha! Use: Casting romantic shadows at the dinner table. Place a votive candle in a thick-walled glass, anchored in a bed of sand or small pebbles (it makes wax cleanup a snap).Reward: Lighting that actually goes with your table-ware, unlike those circa-1984 brass candlesticks. Photo by Formula Z/S
Use Toothbrush Holder as a Flower Vase
Original Purpose: Separating his Oral-B from your Reach.Aha! Use: Holding individual flowers. Fill the holder with water, cut the stems so the blooms are a few inches above the top, and slide one into each slot. Reward: Fast, symmetrical arrange-ments, even if you’re all thumbs.Photo BY Andrew McCaul
Original Purpose: Separating his Oral-B from your Reach.Aha! Use: Holding individual flowers. Fill the holder with water, cut the stems so the blooms are a few inches above the top, and slide one into each slot. Reward: Fast, symmetrical arrange-ments, even if you’re all thumbs.Photo BY Andrew McCaul
Upgrade a Lampshade with Ribbon
Original Purpose: Giving ponytails a girly touch. Aha! Use: Lampshade trim. Apply a thin layer of Elmer's or fabric glue (roughly the ribbon's width) to the top edge of the shade. Place the ribbon along the edge of the shade and press the ends (cut on a diagonal) together tightly. Repeat on bottom. Reward: A new way to see the light. Photo By Antonis Achilleos
Original Purpose: Giving ponytails a girly touch. Aha! Use: Lampshade trim. Apply a thin layer of Elmer's or fabric glue (roughly the ribbon's width) to the top edge of the shade. Place the ribbon along the edge of the shade and press the ends (cut on a diagonal) together tightly. Repeat on bottom. Reward: A new way to see the light. Photo By Antonis Achilleos
Tie Up Gifts with Ponytail Holders
Original Purpose: Dealing with bed head when there’s no time for a wash-and-dry.Aha! Use: Sealing up gifts with a twist of the wrist.Reward: Your presents present well without your having to master the fine art of bow tying. Plus, this “bow” can be recycled to keep Heidi’s braids from unraveling. Photo By Monica Buck
I have a link to the Web Page for Real Simple in the left Margin of the blog. If you want to see any more ideas, just click on it. I thought these were easy and most of us have the items lurking in a closet somehwere. Enjoy,
Diana
