My first take on holiday decorations

This is my very first blog post and I want to start by saying it is intended to be a lighthearted look at home decorating in many forms and is not to be taken as a serious “How To”! It is mostly based on my experiences and as I know I have a quirky sense of humor I hope you will take it with the friendship and admiration with which it is meant.

When I moved with my family to Massachusetts from England in 1994, there were two major things that struck me about the exteriors of homes in the area – the large numbers of American flags flying on properties and the varied and imaginative ways that homes were decorated for the various holidays. You will pretty much never see a Union Jack being flown on a home in England (unless it is for a Royal occasion) but we are patriotic in our own understated British way. Our way of cheering uncontrollably at an exciting event is to shout Hip, Hip, Hooray three times in unison! Some of the decorations on homes here are for religious holidays such as Christmas and Easter, and others mark cultural or historic holidays such as Valentine’s Day and Independence Day. We didn’t celebrate Halloween in England when my children were small, although they do these days, and Valentine’s Day was for grownups and was a particularly romantic day for a marriage proposal. I feel that Thanksgiving is a truly American holiday that we didn’t celebrate in England but that I have come to love dearly. It is a chance to celebrate with our families and friends without the distraction and frustration of getting the right gifts for everyone, to step back and be truly thankful for what and who we have in our lives. Consequently, all this exterior decorating was new to me.

Decorating the outside of our homes is a way of showing the world that we care about and celebrate these holidays, as well as prettying up the sometimes bland face of buildings. The effect they usually have is to make people smile and what a good thing that is! Wreaths seem to be the most popular item for all holidays as you can add anything to a wreath and it sends the message for you and looks good on the front door. This is not something I learned growing up as we didn’t decorate our homes so my first attempt here in the US was a pretty spectacular spring wreath. I can pat myself on the back here for a second but then I have to give the credit where it is really due – two glasses of wine, a glue gun and a lovely selection of plastic flowers and greenery from Ames! Plastic flowers – I can already hear the groans from the purists among you but I hadn’t done this before and let’s be honest, from the road you really can’t tell what the flowers are made of if you choose the right ones that are seasonally correct and in realistic colors. These days I do try to use natural products but I still wonder about the appeal of a dead corn stalk propping up the driveway light post? In the Chinese art of Feng Shui dead plants are not good for the energy of your home but I guess their addition to the compost bin afterwards can redeem them.

Halloween is coming up so let’s address that. People add a few vegetables to their doorsteps, mostly pumpkins and gourds, together with some lovely plants, and the overall effect is often a riot of gorgeous fall color when the last of the summer plants are fading. This is an easy way to bring light and happiness to your neighborhood. I have seen some truly magnificent carved pumpkins and my hat is off to anyone who can do that. It is not one of my skills but I can admire them from afar. If you put a tea light inside it will flicker and make it even scarier! Once Halloween is over make sure to remove them if you don’t want a moldy mess on the step by Thanksgiving!

Here are a few ideas that my kids did that are pretty effective. Stuffing an old pair of jeans and standing them waist down in the dirt looks like someone is buried head first – pretty scary! We had spider webs drifting through the trees and some white sheets draped from the branches so they waved in the wind and looked like ghosts. There was no street lighting in our neighborhood so we used some uplighters to highlight the decorations which made them look extra spooky – the neighborhood kids loved them! I decorated my door wreath with mini pumpkins and fall leaves from the garden – that glue gun still comes in pretty handy! If you use a basic twig wreath you can remove the decorations and re-use it for other seasons. I am a huge believer in recycling whenever I can.

It is all about creativity. Whatever you use to decorate your home will be beautiful and will send your personal message to the world that you want to make them smile. You are doing a good thing – keep it up!