YuleLog Ornament Collector's Bulletin Board Forums Discussion Ornament Collecting Discussion FREE! Decorating Ideas

I've been away from the boards for a while, busy working. Some of you may remember me (I hope) and that I am professional holiday designer who loves to share her work, ideas, etc. with other holidayaholics like me. If you went to the KOC event in Kansas City last month, you may have seen my 2 videos that Hallmark showed during the event.
As a matter of fact, I have set up a blog that is nothing but FREE seasonal decorating ideas because I love to share. Only one design features Hallmark so far, but hopefully, I will post more of that closer to Christmas. Anyway, in a tight economy, I think it's refreshing to find something free, so enjoy it and if you have any feedback, I'm all ears! Especially if you'd LIKE to see some MORE ideas using Hallmark ornaments, please let me know. Thanks and I'm glad to be back.
Here's the FREE blog site: http://www.seasonalhome.wordpress.com
DON'T FORGET to look at the "CATEGORIES" on the right side of the page so you can check out all the free ideas I've loaded up so far... ENJOY! :-)
CHECK PAGE 2 (of this thread) FOR YOUR 1ST FREE "HALLMARK ORNAMENT" IDEA, from me to you! Enjoy

Great Blog, loved your pictures of the Outdoor Decorations for Fall. Yes, I'd like to see some of your decorations with Hallmark Ornaments. Thanks for sharing!

Joyce

Thanks Joyce! I'm hoping that you are not alone and that more collectors want and need ideas. How about that idea fellow collectors? Would you be interested in something like that?

It really keeps me inspired to know I am inspiring others. Thank you for your kind comments. :-)

You are very talented.
Mary

Thank you Mary. :-) I thought sharing would be a nice way to come back to the board and I hope you were inspired. I plan to get my fall decs out today. How about you? I am going to try some new, cool things, this year, that popped into my non-stop brain. I'll try to add an additional posting on my blog to share them with all of my fellow holidayaholics. Happy Fall Ya'll!

You are so talented. I wish I had 1/8th of your talent. Great Ideas. Thanks for sharing.

Elaine

There are a lot of people in my area that do the fall lawn decorating with the bales of straw/hay, pumpkins, mums, scarecrow folks, and corn stalks.

Love your use of the apothecary jars. Very easily adaptable from season to season and holiday to holiday.

Thanks for sharing.

Deana

I love all your ideas, would like to see more. Thanks for the post. Keep them coming.

Sandy

Thanks Elaine, Sandy and Deana! I am so happy & grateful for this wonderful feedback. Some days, I wonder if I'm the only holidayaholic left in the world. :-) You should have seen my first Christmas tree... ugh! But, experience was my best teacher. I absolutely love hearing that collectors want MORE inspiration and ideas they can copy, especially where their ornaments are concerned. We sure have enough of them... now, I believe we need new ideas for displaying them to keep us inspired. I hope you agree. I'll keep checking back to see how many collectors are interested in that idea. Thank you, again, for letting me know that you enjoy the inspiration so far. Happy Fall!

Girlfriend about time you show your talents off.I have learned so much , I thought a Christmas tree had only a few light thrown in it a a few balls and done !! Now I am the proud owner of closets full of " themed " stuff and of course a BIG Hallmark collection.So warning if you start watching her ideas you get hooked !!So keep on going I need more ideas to display my ornaments.

To start things rolling... here is just one of the ideas I'm working on. It encompasses the 2009 Hallmark Reach Program ornament set, featuring Santa and his reindeer. And this is just the tip of the iceberg of ideas I'm working on. Please respond on this thread if this is the type of thing you are looking for, as a Hallmark collector. Thanks and enjoy!
P.S. If you need the "how to", feel free email me. I don't mind giving instructions and answering holiday decorating questions or dilemmas, if you have any.

I would love some new decorating ideas!! Keep them coming.

Yes, keep them coming! I am not naturally talented when it comes to crafts and decorations but I can copy ideas well and would love to try some of yours!! Thanks!

Thanks and please post more!

Is this your home?
Also (and this is what people ask ME!)
When do you start decorating?
How long does it take?
Where do you store it?
What is your favorite theme or decoration?

I have the youtube video bookmarked and watch it often!

Thanks guys!
And to answer Elaine's questions (I guess it is fun to ask someone else)... Yes, I take all of my own photos for my Christmas designs and in my book as well as my videos at my home. I typically begin decorating for Christmas on November 1st because I install my first holiday client early, on 11/15 this year. Plus, the last 1/4 of the year is when I'm always receiving invites to talk to groups (about the importance of traditions); 3 in the next month I have to squeeze in. I'm done decorating within a week. It helps when you do it for a living... you get very fast at it. I am VERY lucky that I have a 3-car garage in which I can devote 33% to holiday storage. Don't ask me how much ribbon I have (eek!). My favorite decorations are the ones that mean the most to me: the special Hallmark ornaments from my 4 boys' childhood & the ones they made for me. My next fav are light & motion because they entertain & fascinate my neighbors kids and my extended family so well. Like most of you (I'm sure), I LOVE food themed ornaments in general too.
Thanks for watching my YOUTUBE videos. Some are older than others (as you can tell by the morphing of my kitchen, etc.) I have a total of 5 Christmas, 2 Halloween & 1 for my book on youtube in case you haven't found them all. I'm also working on a very detailed one that will show you how to completely decorate a tree (secrets of the pros!), which I'll post when it's ready. Too much to do later this year, so I'm enjoying my time on the boards now. Thanks for asking! :-D

I just got my fall decorations out this week and they are all sitting in my dinning room as life threw me a few curves this week. I made it through all right and I would LOVE to have your decorating ideas and especially ones using my thousands of Hallmark ornaments. I have many Spring, Easter, Halloween and Christmas ornaments from Hallmark and am also the owner of way too many glass ornaments!They are just so classic to me I have to have a tree of those too. I would love ideas on different ways to use them too. Thanks for all you have shared already! Nancy

I'm sorry, I don't remember you. I checked your past posts but nothing is on file to jog my memory, beyond these past few days.

You showed some very lovely decorating ideas and I'm looking forward to your Christmas decorations. Thanks!

Hi Nancy, I understand curve balls, so I've added another idea below to pick up your spirits... enjoy. And stay tuned to my future posts. I'll let everyone know when I have completed my "Hallmark Inspiration" website.

Thank you for your thoughts on my blog Stacey. It has been a few years ago that I was on... life has just been sooo busy. But, I'm back to re-meet my old friends. And here is another idea that I think some of you will enjoy. The photo is one of my older ones, so not great quality, but you will get the idea. This is a nature-inspired theme on which I used lanterns with real votive candles. And here's a "huh, what?" moment for you... I replaced the wick of each candle with an individual light from a strand of miniature Christmas lights. It took some careful pre-planning, but worked like a charm. I also used the Hallmark word expression ornaments (Hope, Peace, etc.) because they match a nature theme so well. There are many other elements involved in this tree that I will go over in more detail if I can manage to get my Hallmark Inspiration website completed. I finished this tree off with under-lit snow, but many other things would work. Just some of the Hallmark series that would be awesome on this tree: Sketchbook by Marjolein Bastin, Beauty of the Birds, Mitford, etc. I hope you like it and can see past the bad photo... Questions? ask away! :-)