FOR YOUR HOLIDAYS
Who doesn’t like a Valentine’s Day surprise? It’s either a few words on a card, a box of chocolate, or a carefully selected bouquet of flowers…the list of typical Valentine’s gifts is quite long. It’s my own little tradition to buy a book for everyone (age appropriate and interest related), and use its first page to write a personal message of… Continue Reading
I hope you haven’t already taken down your Christmas decorations because I have an easy way for storing Christmas lights. I tried this method last year and for the first time, I didn’t have to go through the struggle of tangled lights! And this last November, when I brought in all the decoration boxes, I was pleasantly surprised… Continue Reading
As per the Greek tradition, the first day of the year is celebrated with family and friends, sharing a well cooked meal and cutting the New Year’s Pie (Vassilopitta) which has a hidden coin for the lucky one of the year. This year, it will only be the four of us, but this is not keeping… Continue Reading
Artificial floral branches can be extremely expensive! Depending on their dimensions and quality, they often vary from $10 to $30 and sometimes even more! The problem is that you need three or four branches at the very least, to fill up a vase, so it turns out that a decent size arrangement can be quite pricey! I… Continue Reading
There was a time way before the internet when recipes were exchanged on paper. That’s exactly how I got the recipe for these chocolate cookies; a colleague had brought into the office an American cookbook (and that was not very common in Greece in the early 90s!) and I photocopied a couple of recipes, including… Continue Reading
Who wouldn’t smile at the sight of this message from Santa? My bright and red HO HO HO wooden letters are definitely the happiest of all my Christmas decorations! The best place to hang them is in my son’s room and there are a couple of reasons: First, color wise, the room already had hints of red here and there.… Continue Reading
These shiny and red Christmas ornament balls give the illusion that they are floating in the air while, in reality, they are just sitting on plain glass jars. It took less than five minutes to put everything together and create a frugal but magical set-up that brought instant Christmas happiness into the family room. The white string of lights is affixed around… Continue Reading
This year, I just can’t have enough pinecones around the house! I love them so much, not only because I can get them for free, but also because they can be used in so many different ways! I’ve already made an oversized topiary with some large pinecones, I used some beautiful, huge ones to decorate my Thanksgiving table,… Continue Reading
I absolutely love presents wrapped in unexpected ways! One time, many, many years ago I had absolutely no wrapping paper to wrap a shirt I had bought for a friend who was celebrating her birthday. I emptied a box of rigatoni, placed the shirt inside and added a “bow” with various kinds of pasta (penne, tagliatelle nests and whatever… Continue Reading
My Christmas canvas art is full of little bells that… jingle all the way! Inspired after my “Canvas Art With Brass Monogram” project which I shared a few months ago, this one is only for Christmas but it will surely add a happy and festive note throughout the holiday season. I simply put together small metallic bells that create the chorus of my all time favorite Christmas… Continue Reading