December 9th 2009 The Original Diva of Decorating!
Snowflakes are kisses from heaven. ~Author Unknown
I’m a little jealous, my kids have a snow day today. At 5:40 this morning I gently kissed my 17 year old daughter. She groggily said ‘yeah, I’m getting up’, I smiled and whispered ’snow day’, with a sigh of relief she pulled the covers over her head and rolled back over returning to a blissful slumber. In a short while I’ll, brush my lips across his check and make the announcement to my son also. At 11 he’ll bounce out of bed, run to the window and start planning his day of sledding, snowball fights and building snow forts. It doesn’t matter if there is 2″ or 10″ snow, he starts the planning. I wish I could bottle that enthusiasm, and add it to my morning coffee!
Mother Nature truly is a Diva when it comes to decorating, but her decorations sometimes need just a little help to kick it up a notch! Geeze! I hope I haven’t offended Mother Nature! I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of her wrath! Yikes!
How can the Diva’s decorations be enhanced? Well, snow reflects light beautifully, so why not add a little more light. Luminaries. Line your walk way, highlight a stone wall, place around an everygreen tree like presents or place them among your snowmen!
Luminaries can be made from many materials.
Paper bag Luminaries are very popular, these are simple and easy to make. Simply take a brown lunch bag place sand or a few stones in the bottom and add your tea light candle. Add a interest by cutting designs into the bags! Paper bag Luminaries are quick to create, but they tend not to last long, the bags get wet and start to wilt or just break down.
Tin Can Luminaries are sturdy and fun to make. Collect soup cans or coffee cans depending on the size luminaries you choose to make. Remove labels, and use a nail and a hammer to create designs in the can. I personally love the natural ‘tin’ coloration but if you are looking for a more contemporary look, spray paint the cans. The added bonus of these luminaries is they can be used indoors too!
My favorite to create are Ice Luminaries. There is nothing more beautiful than the pale,
golden glow that the candles create as they shine through the ice. These do take some planning, at least 2 days.
Here’s what you will need……
- Large round plastic storage containers (I use the disposable ones if they crack or break its ok!)
- Small soup or tomato paste cans
- Stones for weights
- Lots of freezer space or just use your back yard if its cold enough!
Fill the large plastic storage container with 1″-2″ of water and freeze
On top of your frozen layer place can filled with rocks and fill remaining plastic container with water and freeze
Once frozen solid, place containers in hot water, this will soften the ice just enough to loosen it from the plastic. Then to remove can, fill the can with hot water and gently turn left to right until it breaks free. Your ice luminaries are ready to receive you candles!
For a fun spin on these ice luminaries try adding some of these festive elements to the water before you freeze…..
- cranberries (these will float to the top)
- glitter
- holy, or other holiday greens
- food coloring if you want color………..
Mother Nature has done a spectacular job once again! Ashley and Joey will enjoy their day off, they’ll soak their snow pants playing in the snow, drink too much hot cocoa, and have checks as rosy as Santa’s.
Snow days……..even as an adult they make me smile. I’ll take it slow as I brave the New England highways today. Instead of cursing the snow I’ll take a minute to appreciate the original Snow Diva’s work……..she really is amazing!
