Christena Stamm fills a clear glass vase with pinecones then tops a variety of greens and holly. Showcase some of your favorite holiday crafts by placing a wreath around the base. Give new life to old wreaths by removing discolored rib bons and balls and replacing with gingham ribbon and > r e Vou Have For Holder- LOU ANN GOOD Lancaster Fanning Staff EPHRATA (Lancaster Co.) You don’t need a lot of money to fill your home with holiday warmth if you’re Sylvia Updegrove. She transforms ordinary flea market finds and attic treasures into unique decorations and gifts. You can perform the same delightful touches with her ideas and those presented by others at separate holiday programs spon sored by Berks, Lebanon, and Dauphin County extensions. To transform your home into a holiday delight, you may not have the exact items presented here but these ideas can get your creative juices flowing so that your home can be an expression of you. “Never throw anything away,” said Sylvia, a retired extension home economist. “Use what you have.” Decorate With Collectibles * Have some of Granny’s tin baking pans? If not, make some newer ones look old by soaking in vingar. Insert tatted circles or but tons inside muffin tins and hang on the wall. • Take a tin or copper Jell-O mold, and plop a small wreath or greens inside. Make a bow by tear ing a long strip of fabric from homespun. Add holiday orna ments or pine cones and hang on m the wall. • Hang old tinware and utensils from green roping. • Unconventional uses for yes terday's bedspreads, linens, and doilies; Cut apart individual seg ments of doilies and make orna ments for the tree or to decorate Christmas stockings. Or use the lace behind a small grapevine wreath. Use old linen napkins and fill with potpourri and lie into a ball. Use to make a dress for a small ted dy bear and add some lace and old buttons. Use an old chenille bedspread to make some snowmen and top with a hat made from a circle of felt that is gathered and pulled together to slip on its head. Place several snowmen in a basket. • Take vintage canning jars and fill with old Christmas balls or some lace or buttons. • Bring new life to timeworn teddy bears, dolls, toys, and books by displaying them in a novel way. Tie a fabric snowman to an old skate and add a miniature tree. Or lie on a teddy bear, glue on some old blocks, jacks, tinker toys, and marbles. Wrap an old book with raffia, and add a note that reads: A friend is a rare book of which only one copy is made. Some other clever sayings to attach to appropriate gifts include: “Grandmothers are like buttons— they hold things together.” Or, “The best antique is an old friend.” Or “When I give to you, what I make with my hands, I share with my heart ” • Recycle items in unusual ways. Group together three fun nels. Add greens and jute bows. • Take an old potato masher, spatula, or sieve. Tic on a ginger bread man, Spanish moss, rose hips, and static. Hang with jute. • Unique ornaments; Tinker toy and erector set pieces. Tattered Monopoly card tied with a bow and game houses glued on top. Teddy bears and oilier stuffed ani mals snuggled into tree branches. Sylvia said that if you want a new item to look old, spray with Add Holiday Aura • Dim the lights and place frag ant candles in every room. • Light a fire. • Play Christmas music. • Simmer cinnamon and apples on the stove. • Hang holiday cards and old photographs with colorful ribbons taped to a doorway, window, or a mirror. • Hang ornament in an unex pected location such as door hand les, backs of chairs, or from curtain rods. • Tie an ornament around a napkin as a napkin ring or tie to gift bow on a package. • Accent candles with fresh greens, berries, and pinecones. Yesterday’s chenille bedspread can be recycled into these delightful snowmen. Group together three funnels, add greens and jute bows for a festive holiday touch. Bring new life to timeworn toys by displaying them in novel ways. ■’ Doer* ■ • Bundle together herbs and cin namon slicks and place on tabletop or hang on the wall. • Dress in festive colors. Tie a ribbon around the dog or cal’s neck. Put bells on the children’s shoes. • Fill a basket with Christmas balls orpincconcs and use as a cen terpiece. • Wreaths and garlands made from fresh greens, decorated with fruit or small ornaments, arc per fect for fireplace mantles and armoires. • Stacks of plates, crystal goblets filled with ornaments, and silverware tied with a bow arc unique decorations and add charm (Turn to Page B 4)
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers