December Feature: BETTER HOMES & GARDENS BEST OF CHRISTMAS IDEAS

[becke_davis]

Best of Christmas Ideas 

Synopsis

Deck the halls with tons of ideas and projects that help make the season bright

Whether you incorporate handmade items as part of your decor, celebrations, or gift giving, adding a personal touch to Christmas makes the holiday season even more special. Christmas Ideas is packed with easy and inspirational ways to help beautify and personalize your holiday season. You'll get ideas for festive decorating schemes, stunning themed trees, quick-to-make ornaments and cards, appealing gifts, and easy crafts. So before you adorn your home or begin penning your Christmas cards, turn to this gorgeous book for

• Projects that bring a handmade touch to holiday d¿cor, gifts, and celebrations

• Step-by-step instructions for craft projects

• Ideas for holiday entertaining including kitchen-tested recipes

• Gorgeous color photos that offer inspiration and guidance

Christmas Ideas is a treasure-trove of holiday merriment—a perfect source for creating unforgettable Christmas celebrations and traditions you'll be proud to share with family and friends.

[becke_davis]

Table of Contents

Holiday Homes.

Easy Elegance.
You?ll love our simple handcrafted ideas that emphasize the timeless holiday hues of deep red and crisp white.

Merry & Bright.
Give traditional decor a fresh and fun new look with the addition of bright fl orals.

Swedish Noel.
A nod to Nordic ways creates a cheerful stage for holiday entertaining. You?ll fi nd a smorgasbord of ideas for keeping everyone?s spirits extra bright.

Tradition with a Twist.
Add lime green to the classic holiday colors of red and forest green for a look that?s fresh and fun but still satisfi es your tradition-bound family.

A Warm & Cozy Christmas.
Warm the heart and soul with a casual soup supper that takes the chill off. Our recipes and decorating tips make it easy to gather the family for a day of good food and good fun.

Tradition with a Twist of Lime.
Decorator Shana Smith adorns her home in a unique palette of black, white, and lime green.

Deck the Halls.

Fresh, Fast & Fabulous.
Enliven holiday decorating by bringing fresh fl owers, berries, and greenery to your table.

Well-Rounded Wreaths.
With this trio of wreaths, you?re bound to fi nd a design to suit your Christmas scheme, whether it?s modern, traditional, or simply elegant.

Poinsettia Pointers.
Learn how to pick the perfect poinsettia (and keep it that way). Then discover wonderful ways to use this showy bloom as a festive seasonal accent.

Holiday Harvest.
Nature provides seasonal elements for trees and wreaths that can augment a warm and cozy theme.

Outdoor Decor.
These easy greenery and lighting ideas make your home as warm and inviting on the outside as it isinside.

Christmas Treats.

Sweet Tidings.
Downright delectable, these sugary snacks and desserts are sure to delight.

Simple Sweets.
Dazzle and delight your family and guests with these sinfully sweet (and deceptively simple) chocolate treats.

Gourmet Gifts.
Presentation matters: These goodies are as tasteful as they are tastefully given.

Festive Tables.

Serving Up Style.
A holiday feast should also be a feast for the eyes. Get great, fast, and fresh ideas for setting a holiday table to remember.

Blue Christmas.
Prepare the guest list; then use our monogrammed projects in shades of blue and green to make your party a success.

3 Seasonal Settings.
Take your pick from country, classic, and retro for handmade dressings on your Christmas table.

Quick-as-a-Wink.

Jingle Bells.
A favorite of all ages, jingle bells add a fun musical note to your decor.

Graceful Garlands.
Tinsel and beaded garlands aren?t just for trees. Use them to wrap your whole home with holiday touches.

Blue Ice.
Build your holiday color scheme on the crystalclear blues found in ice and snow. Just imagine snowfl ake trims on packages, wreaths made of clear blue and white balls, and stockings edged with icy beads.

Wrapping Up the Season.
Show your family and friends how special they are when you present them with a package worth remembering.

[becke_davis]

I found this review online: 

http://interiordecorating.suite101.com/article.cfm/christmas_ideas_for_the_home

Christmas Ideas for the Home

Better Homes and Gardens 2009 Book of Suggestions

© Martha R. Gore

 Nov 24, 2009

Christmas is a magical time for all ages. Part of the joy is decking the inside and outside with ideas and projects that brighten up the home during the season.

Christmas Ideas is a great source for creating unforgettable celebrations and traditions that will be long remembered by family and friends. It offers readers inspirational Christmas decorating ideas to help beautify the home in creative ways. The book is packed with a variety of ideas., some new and others traditional.

Christmas Ideas Overview

Adding a personal touch as part of the Christmas décor, celebrations, or gift giving can make the holiday special. This book is a great source for creating unforgettable celebrations and traditions that will be long remembered by family and friends. It offers readers inspirational Christmas decorating ideas to help in a creative way. The book is packed with a variety of ideas and projects including festive decorating schemes, stunning themed trees, quick to make ornaments and cards, appealing gifts to make and easy-to-make crafts.

Christmas Ideas includes step-by-step craft projects, ideas for holiday entertaining including kitchen-tested recipes with beautiful, inspiring color photos that provide guidance with instructions for the projects and the finished product

It is divided into separate categories such as:

• For the outdoors there are wreath designs using modern, traditional or elegant themes. In addition, the use of greenery and lighting, there are ideas for making the outside of a home warm and inviting.
• For inside the home, there are ideas for making simple handcrafted items that emphasize timeless holiday hues of deep red and crisp white. Tradition décor is shown to give a fresh and fun look with the addition of florals and adding lime green to classic to holiday colors. There are suggestions for how such items as jingle bells and tinsel can add holiday touches.
• Table setting can be decorated with fresh flowers, berries and greenery. Ways are shown as to the ways poinsettias can be used to add a festive seasonal accent. Settings are shown that are easy and fast to make and which can create a festive table that is picture perfect. There is the choice between country, classic, and retro presentations.
• Recipes for Christmas treats are included for making sugary snacks and desserts including simple to make chocolate treats.

Christmas Ideas suggests the use of snowflakes to trim packages or on wreaths, made of clear blue and white balls, and edging stockings with icy beads.

[becke_davis]

If any of you try the crafts featured in this book, please let us know how they turn out! Right now only the moderators can upload digital pictures from a computer, so if you take pictures of a craft you made, contact me and we'll find a way to share them here. Thanks!

[cocospals]

My book arrrived today...can't wait to get started.  Have to write a paper today for school but then I will be done for the semester and can tackle Christmas stuff.

[becke_davis]

When my kids were young, I loved books like this and made a LOT of crafty things. I haven't done that much recently, so I'm feeling kind of nostalgic about this!

[becke_davis]

The Oxford Companion to the Garden 

Best of Christmas Ideas

 

[cocospals]

Becke,

I have been a part of the First Look Book Club on BN.com but have never done one of the specialty clubs. I am interested in the Better Homes and Gardens Christmas Ideas (already ordered the book). Could you explain to me how this works?  Are there specific projects we do or do we pick and then post our results?

Thanks,

Gayle   (cocospals)

[cocospals]

Becke,

I have been part of the First Look book club but was scanning thru the December discussions and found the one for the Best of Christmas Ideas. Can you explain to me how your book club works?  I have already ordered my book because it looks great. Do we do projects and report back or do you assign them?

Thanks,

Gayle  (Cocospals)

[becke_davis]

Hi Coco! Well, every book club board here works a little differently, depending on how the moderator runs it and on what the participants want.

With the boards I moderate -- Mystery and Garden -- I've tried doing traditional book club discussions periodically but no one seems to really get into that.

This board is more of a chat room for garden lovers -- we talk about all kinds of things, from recipes to garden pests to gnomes to problems with deer.

Every month we feature two books. Sometimes, the books catch everyone's imagination and we get a good discussion going -- like when we featured LOST CRAFTS and LAST CHILD IN THE WOODS. Other times, the featured books draw attention without discussion. I can never predict which ones will interest our participants! I'm more laid back than some of the moderators -- I just love gardening and books, and am always excited to introduce you all to the books I've discovered and enjoyed.

I'm hoping that the two books I've selected for December will interest you all and give us lots to talk about. Please do tell us about anything you try from the book -- that would be fabulous! I'm waiting for my own copy to arrive (of both featured books) and I'll be posting the introductions to both next weekend.

If any of you have suggestions for books you'd like to see featured here, I'm always open to suggestions!

[becke_davis]

I like to decorate with twigs, pine cones and conifer branches, and sometimes am even inspired to decorate wreaths. I thought you might be interested in some books on this topic.

Holiday Decorating For Dummies 

Christmas with Martha Stewart Living

 

Classic Crafts and Recipes Inspired by the Songs of Christmas

 

Country Living Merry & Bright

 

The Holiday Wreath Book

 

Making Holiday Wreaths

 

Martha Stewarts Encyclopedia of Crafts

 

Beautiful Christimas

 

Christmas Comfort and Joy

 

Christmas Ideals 2009

 

Christmas Traditions

 

Christmas (Williams-Sonoma Collection Series)

 

Christmas Joy

 

Best of Christmas Ideas

 

Complete Book of Christmas

 

Christmas with Southern Living 2009

 

The Ultimate Southern Living Christmas Book

[JacquelineSeew…]

I just finished reading a very interesting novel called HOT HOUSE FLOWER AND THE 9 PLANTS OF DESIRE by an author named Margot Berwin. It's a 2009 novel that I chose to read in large print.

I believe this can be described as a fantasy/allegory, rather a unique novel that has much to do with plants and how to make them grow better. You might say that it is grounded in plant and soil culture. The underlying theme is finding meaning in one's life. I haven't read any reviews, just sat back and enjoyed this novel to a great extent. This is an author I don't know at all. Just thought I'd mention the novel here to those who might be interested.

Jacqueline Seewald

author of THE DROWNING POOL, Five Star 2009

[becke_davis]

Hi Jacqueline! isn't that a cool book? I mentioned here: http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Garden-Variety/What-Fun-is-Gardening-without-the-Birds-and-th...

[becke_davis]

Here are some holiday decorating ideas from Better Homes & Gardens:

[becke_davis]

What Christmas crafts are you working on this season? I'm going out of town so I'm not doing much. It was a different story when my kids were little. Even though I'm the antithesis of Martha Stewart, I did make everything from macaroni-glitter decorations to green food coloring-dyed shredded wheat mini-wreath decorations for the tree.

http://www.betterbudgeting.com/christmasornaments/shreddedwheatwreath.htm

And then there was what my kids fondly remember as "the year we made poop ornaments." Yes, it's nice to know they remember the important things.

The dough did look pretty unfortunate (the kids were rolling around on the floor in hysterics) but the kitchen smelled heavenly -- it was basically cinnamon, flour and, I think, a couple drops of vanilla extract.The recipe at this link includes applesauce -- I can't remember if my recipe included that or not:

http://crafts.kaboose.com/cinnamon-dough-ornaments.html

My favorite craft was one I made when my son was a baby -- a huge white felt Christmas tree skirt appliqued with colorful cut felt candy canes, gingerbread men, etc. It was gorgeous but since it was hot glued instead of stitched, I never figured out how to clean it. It got pretty gungy after a couple of years, but I still have it packed away.

[becke_davis]

Now that Christmas is almost here, I was wondering if anyone has made any crafts from our featured book. I'd love to hear about them, if you did!