Hobbies & Crafts

Some more ideas for Valentine's Day decor, this time for your table.

Have you ever wanted to have a heart-shaped flower centerpiece? Try this easy method: First, find a heart-shaped basket. Line it with plastic if it doesn't have a liner, and cut florist's oasis foam to fill the basket. You can cut extra pieces to fill corners and crevices. It's better to push extra in and make it all more stable. Water the oasis foam. Purchase a bunch of fresh flowers, suited in size to your overall basket. (For a 10" basket, flowers should be ideally be about 1".) Cut the stems long enough to rest just above the oasis, and press the stem into the foam. If the stems are too weak, you can use a pencil or similar item to poke a hole into the foam to hold the flower. Keep going until you fill the basket. You can also tuck in a bit of moss between the flowers if you prefer. This makes a lovely centerpiece, in any size and with any type of flower. You can also mix several flower types together, just add each type one at a time, beginning with the largest ones, to get a pleasing overall arrangement.

You can also make the same basket using regular floral foam and silk flowers for a longer-lasting artificial form, if you prefer.

Now, how about a unique candle presentation? Take a clear piece, such as an ivy bowl, "fishbowl," or hurricane chimney. This will be the outer container. Inside of it, place a small clear votive holder. Pour red glass florist's marbles between the outside of the votive holder and the inside wall of the main container, filling deeply enough to hide the votive holder. Place a small candle or tealight inside the votive holder, light, and enjoy the sparkling red glow.

If your outside candleholder has a rim or place to tie something, a length of lace, ribbon, or raffia will add an extra nice touch. You can tuck tiny flowers into the knot. If giving as a gift, attach a card to the ribbon or raffia, and use a scented candle in the votive.

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We want to feature a few more ideas for decorating your home for Valentine's Day ...

For the bathroom, why not have some feminine, romantic soaps? The easy version is to buy clear soap dispensers or liquid soap in a dispenser that the label can be removed from. Wash some small glass floral marbles and place a few in the bottom of the soap dispenser. Purchase some silk flower stems -- small flowers work best -- and wash them, allow them to dry, then clip them to just under the height of your soap dispenser bottle. Bend the bottom of the stem wire, insert the flower stem, and use the soap dispenser pump tube to work the stem under the glass marbles. Place more stems if you like. Fill your dispenser with soap. A clear or only slightly colored type looks best.

You can also use soap molds and glycerine soap to make small hand soaps using petals from your soap dispenser flowers to further echo the theme in your bathroom.

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We are preparing a post (see our upcoming post about crafts with kids) that includes a very simple but very lovely wreath you may wish to create.

We wanted to share some other ideas with you about wreaths in general ... this will be a photo-post.



We found this wreath at Crafter's Community. I would love to make this one myself in shades that were closer to one another, or perhaps in muted tones with more of a sepia overtone for a sweet old-fashioned wreath. I think I will try it with tea-stained muslins, sepia-toned calicos with tiny hearts, trim it out with crocheted lace doilies, and add some florist's moss ... I will post that one when I finish it! But for now, I wanted to show you this photo, and let you see how it inspired me to create something that will have a totally different "feel" but from the same general idea.






For a very upscale and modern home, this wreath might be at home. The red "tinsely" material is very chic, and the gauzy bow is a nice complementary touch. I can't really add any suggestions to this one.




This wooden wreath is offered by Oriental Trading Company, but if it were me, I'd be more likely to purchase the wooden hearts at a craft store and make my own, so I could choose the colors and sentiments I'd like to add to it. This would be a fun project for kids too, or to have kids help with, and they would probably appreciate a wreath like this more than one of the others. If you want to let you kids make one, why not let them hang it on their own bedroom door and you can still make a wreath for your home's front door as well.




A lovely, more traditional Valentine's Day wreath, with pink sweetheart roses, eucalyptus, etc. These are classic and would be lovely on any home and appropriate from one year to the next. They are made just as any other floral wreath is made, and can be assembled on your choice of base material. The fun part is choosing exactly which flowers and greenery and fill you want to be a part of your beautiful wreath!





And lastly, we ran across this one and just had to share it with you. I'm not sure I could find a way to ... ummm .... incorporate this into my decor. But I must say that it's imaginative. I have seen a lot of creative uses for paint chips, and some really cool things being done with them particularly in scrapbooking, but this was a new one for me. Still ... you get the idea.

However you choose to decorate your home this holiday season ... enjoy crafting!

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Now that the Christmas season is behind us, we're looking around and somehow everything looks drabber now without all the holiday decorations. The freezing weather is keeping us inside, so we're starting to get a bit of cabin fever and wishing for some new surroundings. Not that we want to move, and a vacation is out of the question for our family right now, so the next best thing is to work on the interior design a bit. One way to give a room an instant face-lift and add extra warmth and beauty is by adding rugs.

While small scatter rugs are very versatile and can add dashes of color in a room, we love the impact from adding area rugs to a room. Area rugs are among a designer's best friends because, if correctly chosen and placed, they accomplish so much so easily.

If you find a rug you truly love, allow it to serve as a focal point in the room. This works well with a rug that has an especially artistic or eye-pleasing design. The other pieces in the room would then be chosen with the rug in mind, suiting it in style, scale, and color. If you want your rug to appear especially bold within the room, everything else should be a more muted version of the same color palette so as not to overwhelm the rug itself. This method can turn your rug into a conversation piece.

If your room already has a lot of detail or furnishings, you would do better to choose a rug that has a more subdued pattern and/or colors. Often a symmetrical design works better in rooms such as these. In this case, it is better to choose a rug which will complement the room, rather than one that competes to be a focal point on its own. Rugs can also serve as detail that subtly reinforces a major element in the room. If the fireplace is the focal point, choose a rug with a repetitive design that slightly mimics the brickwork. If a carved medallion is the focal point, consider a medallion rug design, but in a subtle hue. The idea is to support and complement the overall design rather than clash or compete with it.

Color also influences the feel and size of the room and area. Light colors make an area feel larger, while darker colors draw it in, but can make it feel more cozy. Size is important as well. If you are choosing a rug to go under a dining room table, select one that is a several feet larger than the table itself. If you are creating a conversation area with your rug, it is usually best to let the furniture sit on the edges of the rug rather than arrange them around the border without letting them touch the rug.

Rugs can serve as a way to divide a room, or create oases within a large room for particular purposes (such as the one under the dining room table and in the conversation area mentioned above). They can also be used to direct traffic, such as by using a long runner type rug along one wall you wish people to walk along within a room, or down a hallway. These "traffic rugs" are best chosen in a dark color and dense pile and will need to be able to stand up to wear.

There are so many designs available now, often in different sizes, shapes, and colors, that you should be able to find something to suit any decor you choose. Besides Oriental rugs, you can find those with a southwest influence, floral designs, medallions, subtle natural styles, florals, botanicals, cottage styles, geometrics, funky and contemporary designs, patchwork, arts-and-crafts, and so many more. Any color scheme can be matched, in either bold or more subtle hues, to complement any room.

One thing we would suggest is that if you plan to make a number of updates to a room, it is best to choose your rug early in the scheme of things, and let the colors of the rug guide you in your selection of fabrics for upholstery, curtains or drapes, accessories, etc. and after those are selected, choose your paint color. The reason is that it is easier to find a fabric that coordinates with your rug than vice-versa, and paint is completely effortless to match, so it should always be the last in terms of final selection. You can of course have a wall color in mind, we are simply suggesting that you choose the other elements before you pay to have the actual paint mixed.

Happy decorating!!!

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We want to return to home improvement for this post, and talk about one of the greatest additions you can make to your home. For those who love to spend quality time at home, whether it is your "nest" or your "castle" and for those who enjoy making your home beautiful with DIY projects, conservatories are a great choice. In winter, conservatories offer the opportunity to enjoy the great outdoors from a (warmer!) indoor room, while in summer they allow the homeowner to enjoy a refreshing view from a comfortable room.

Conservatories are also great for crafters ... there is something about viewing natural surroundings that is very inspiring for most of us. Setting up a studio in a conservatory is a perfect solution for keeping yourself comfortable and your supplies clean, dry, and safe while allowing for quick and easy set-up and enjoyment of the great outdoors while working on your crafts. The natural light is also the best for viewing actual colors and putting together various aspects of your work under real lighting conditions.


Many of our readers include gardening among their hobbies, and conservatories are especially perfect for gardeners, or those who enjoy propagating and/or growing indoor plants as well. Conservatories offer wonderful access to sunlight for plants, while being slightly filtered, and different areas within your conservatory will naturally offer more or less shading, creating the perfect environment for your plants.



For those of you who love to entertain, a conservatory also offers a dramatic setting for evening dining or parties. Imagine stringing small Christmas-style white lights throughout your lushly-planted conservatory and setting the table with candles, while the moon shines its light through glass walls and ceilings to illuminate a magical or romantic setting.




We especially love today's conservatories for their variety of lovely and unique designs. You can find conservatories in traditional architectural designs, such as Victorian or Edwardian, simpler designs for more contemporary homes, gable fronts that are especially well suited to various Americana styles, and very small designs for those wishing (or only having space for) a very small conservatory. Conservatory porches are another option. Whatever the homeowner has in mind for their conservatory, it can be created from among these designs.

Price is a consideration for most of us. Ordering as a kit and building the conservatory yourself will save greatly on costs. Check here to get an idea of conservatory prices when you do it yourself. UK customers can also request a brochure with information about building your own conservatory from the same website.

You can be enjoying your own conservatory soon!

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