hanging garland

I love hanging garland along the tops of my curtains

to create a simple, festive feel in my home.

It's colorful and reusable.

For years I had ivy wrapped around

white, twinkly little lights and left it up all year around.

Now, I change for the  winter holidays.

I usually hang fall garland in September,

to celebrate the season change,

but I'm a little slow this year.

And, the earth still revolved.

A revolutionary thought

for a TYPE AA person.

I love these curtain hooks.

Usually, I would use the ones that are

more rounded, but this is what I had on hand.

You slip the curved part over the curtain rod,

with the pokey part pointing up,

and slide the garland into between

the narrow opening.

The fall garland I purchased this year even had small little plastic circles,

alonge the main stem, for hanging purposes.

It took less than 15 minutes to hang,

and create that Fall feeling.

If I have enough garland, I like it to swag.

This year, it won't swag. 

The tag said each strand is 6 feet long,

that must be including the tag,

and the sales receipt.

I received a great comment on my blog yesterday.

To me, the comments are the

exclamation points,

the amen,

the cherry on the sundae.

They add so much to the blog.

From Mary Joy

"Don't forget to relax and enjoy

spending time with your family...your guests will love it."

My Mother-in-Law taught me a similar lesson.

She had all the decorating AND food preparation done ahead of each visit.

Since she used disposable aluminum pans for baking,

and disposable dinner ware,

there was hardly any clean-up.

Large family gatherings were so well-orchestrated,

we were able to sit around visiting and playing games.

She told me my job as a hostess was to look beautiful

and enjoy my company, that's why you work so hard ahead of time.

Yea, as much as I enjoy decorating and

creating that special holiday atmosphere for my family and friends,

it's really the family and friends that give the holiday

that special feel. 

*****

Wanna see what I did next?