Pip Berry Garland Decorating Ideas

My dear friend Liz asked me to write a little post explaining how to create a "Cozy Corner". Before I begin to show you how I make my cozy corners, I want to explain that I use the same concept when creating the corners that I do when I create flower arrangements, hearth decor, as well as pretty much everything that I design. I start out with the basic items that I want to use to make the cozy corner design, flower arrangement, grouping, etc… I find that arranging things in different heights and using different textures within the design is important. Therefore, I always try to have several items of varying heights that are always sitting there and are "staples" (for description purposes) in all of my arrangements whether they are sitting in a corner or on the hearth or scattered on a shelf and sometimes used as a receptacle to hold flower arrangements. These items consist of an array of items such as wooden ladders, large crocks, baskets, trays, candle holders, etc… Also, when choosing the Seasonal items that I add to the staples, I try to pick taller, shorter, fatter, and thinner items to give the eye a variety of fun things to gaze upon. Also, I use a lot of mini light strings in my decor , I love to sit and look at subtle, twinkling lights that meander through the groupings.

Okay, so here we go. As you can see, these arrangements are both being displayed in the same corner:

You will notice that there are a couple of things in both photos that I used as my staples; the Longaberger basket under the throws and my grandmother's sewing basket; you will notice that the Longaberger basket is taller than the sewing basket which is important to add height, depth and interest to the finished creation. Regarding the placement of the rest of the decor, I usually work from left to right, backward to forward, building on top of, beside, and in front of the baskets as I go. I use a varying array of items from wooden words, stuffed scarecrows/snowmen/etc…, themed pillows, and so on…

The next two pictures are groupings that are displayed in the same corner as the two pictures above. Again, I started out with the same staple items, the Longaberger basket and the sewing basket; I added the ladder to the decor this past summer and it will remain as one of my staples moving forward as we traverse through the Seasons:

To bring those staple items into the specific Season for which I am decorating, I add Seasonal items such as throws, pillows, signs, wooden words, pip berries garland, cloth napkins (tied around the ladder in the case of the picture on the left) and burlap bows. When creating these arrangements, I worked with the ladder first and when I was happy with that design, I moved all the way to the left and started placing items on the Longaberger basket beginning with folding and draping the throw over the basket, then I placed pillows and started moving to the right and placing items onto the sewing basket, then I moved forward and down to the floor placing the finishing touches.

This is another cozy corner where I create different looks for different Seasons; this is located beside my kitchen hutch. My "staples' for this corner are two red wooden crates.

The crates are the same exact size but I have them turned different ways. I build the Seasonal decor starting on the top and working my way down and inside the crates. I use decorative items with varying heights and build from back to front on and in each crate treating each as its own section but keeping in mind that I want it to look like one cohesive unit when I'm finished.

Let's move to the fireplace hearth, these pictures highlight the left side of the hearth. The staple pieces that are always in place here are the wooden ladder wrapped with the lit pip berries garland, the tall candle holder to the left, and the Longaberger basket (on the floor).

I built these arrangements similarly by starting with the ladder, then moving forward and to either side using decorative items of varying heights and textures.

Here is a collage picture of what I do with the right side of the hearth. The staple items for that side are the large crock , the Longaberger baskets to the right, and the tall lantern candle holder. Those items stay in place throughout the year.

**Regarding the crock, I made it into a centerpiece by placing a ladder wrapped with a lit pip berries garland down into it and adding metal stars that lay on a bed of pip berries**

picstitch

Here are pictures of two centerpieces made for different Seasons in much the same manner as the cozy corners described above. The staple items for this centerpiece are a burgundy wooden tray, 2 rod iron candle holders, a plaid cloth placemat and a rectangular lace doily.

You'll notice that I used the same pip berries garland in the tray and wove it around the candle stick holders in both centerpieces, but I changed out the other items to switch the centerpiece from one Season to another (in this case, I went from a more generic design to a one with a Christmassy feel).

Now, I'm going to try to do a little tutorial describing in words and pictures how I put an arrangement together utilizing the same staples–the tray, rod iron candle stick holders, plaid placemat, and rectangular lace doily.

The first thing to do is to gather together all of the decorative items that one *might* use to create the arrangement. Then, place the placemat, doily, and candle stick holders where one wants them on the tray. (I did make the pip berries garland that surround the candles in these pictures).

After the staples are in place, start to build the arrangement by wrapping a leaf garland around and between the candle stick holders. After that place the "Harvest" sign and the Scarecrow. Then fill in some of the empty or baron looking spaces with sunflowers and a pumpkin. This literally took me 5 minutes to make, and honestly, it wouldn't take you any longer. 🙂

Here is the finished centerpiece:

And this is where I chose to place it:

I will add one more example of an arrangement that I had out of my front porch last Fall. This grouping was created on a small wooden deacon's bench, I followed same basic steps as I described for all of the arrangements/groupings above.

I started with a Fall themed throw blanket, and I built the rest of the grouping beginning with the Scarecrow on the left moving to the right and ending down on the porch. I placed the pip berries garland last weaving it in and around the other decorative pieces.

I hope upon hope that this helps to explain how I bring my cozy corners, groupings, and centerpieces to life for each passing Season. I know that y'all can do it and if you have any questions at all, I'm always available and will do my very best to give you complete answers that will hopefully help you make your own unique and special designs. 🙂

One more picture of the pups, they are so good and pose so nicely for their pictures. ❤

Until next time, y'all take good care! ❤

**In crafting there are no mistakes just unique creations**

Greetings Everyone!

As I have mentioned before, my hubby and I just moved into our retirement home a couple of years ago. We went through the entire building process and waited 7+ months for our new home to be built. The reason we went with the new build is because we found a pretty piece of property with a good many acres (hubby's wish) in a neighborhood, in a cul-de-sac (my wish) and we were also able to make every single choice that would make it our own. There were many reasons why we chose this model to build not the least of which was this pretty staircase.

I had had staircase railing decorating ideas flying around in my head for the entire time that the house was being built. One of the first ideas that came to fruition was a burlap swag idea that I'd seen somewhere on Pinterest. We did it our way and we started with a bolt of burlap fabric that I found at Joann's Fabric. My hubby and I laid out burlap on the floor (I wish I could remember how many yards I purchased, but I'm sorry to say that I cannot–we did use an entire bolt though) out into one long piece and folded it accordion style and wrapped masking tape around it every so often to keep it folded in place until we hung it up. Once that was completed (no easy task honestly) we evenly draped it like you would a swag curtain between each post on the staircase and then took the masking tape off and tweaked each swag until it looked like we or I had envisioned. I also made a flower arrangement and attached it to the bottom and on top of the bullnose section of the staircase; that pulled it all together nicely. I then made bows and attached them to all of the swag points; I loved how it turned out and I kept it up for quite some time.

Then Fall rolled around and I decided that I would keep the burlap in place but make new Fall themed bows and a new arrangement for the bullnose. This is how that turned out:

Of course Christmas decorating was next. We removed the burlap and replaced it with pine garland wrapped in white lights, I made new Christmas bows, and a new arrangement for the bullnose. I really loved how those lights looked, so, so pretty. My hubby also attached a remote control to the lights so that we could turn them on and off at will; that was so convenient.

After Christmas my daughter and I were chatting and she reminded me of a new and different staircase railing idea that she and I had discussed around Christmastime. That idea is what my hubby and I brought to fruition and what we have hanging on the railing now. I purchased pip berry garlands from The Pip Berry Barn and this is the garland that I chose to pair with my everyday home decor, it has worked beautifully. (I highly recommend purchasing Pip Berry Garland from this online store; the strands were so full and beautifully made, absolutely awesome) I also purchased strings of 100 white lights with a brown cord and plugs at both ends. These are the white lights that I purchased. We used two strands to do the stair decor, but I purchased extra strands for the inevitable, eventual, and necessary replacement parts. My hubby has attached the same remote control to the lights so that we can turn them on and off at will (I usually turn them on after dark and turn them off when we go to bed)

Of course I made new bows out of burgundy checked wired ribbon which matched the ribbon that I've used in many a centerpiece, arrangement, and wreath throughout our home. I purchased the ribbon online too because I couldn't find what I knew I wanted around here. This is the ribbon that I purchased. And then I made a new flower arrangement out of burgundy and burlap gerber daisies and pip berry picks, wrapped white lights around that arrangement and tied it all together with a bow. This is what hangs in our house for my "regular" or "generic" decor. I only change out the bows and flower arrangements for Fall and Christmas now-a-days; I love the look *that* much!

When I decorated for Fall, I simply changed out the bows and made a new arrangement for the bullnose. Here is that finished project:

I came up with a different idea for the staircase decor for this Christmas (2015). I've wanted to create an ornament and pine garland for a couple of years now, but, I knew that it was going to cost me a fortune to do so…not to mention give me a headache or two because yes, I'm a pretty patient person when I'm creating, but the patience required to create such a garland might just push my 'envelope' a bit. 😉 Anyway, here are some pictures of what I came up with this year. If you'd like to see how my hubby and I put it together, you can check out my Blog entry entitled: Staircase Ornament and Pine Garland. Here are some pictures of this year's creation:

Keeping the staircase decorated throughout the year really helps to warm up our space. And with the addition of the lights in the evenings, it really feels comfy and cozy in here. I've been so very happy with each and every change that I've made to the original idea and I'm sure I'll continue to tweak and hopefully improve the look as time marches forward. 🙂

Until next time, y'all take care! ❤

**In crafting there are no mistakes just unique creations**

Hi All!!

One of the main reasons that my hubby and I chose this model of home to build for our retirement home was because of this kitchen. It is definitely my dream kitchen and I feel humbled and blessed to be able to cook in it daily. While our house was being built, I was doing a bit of building of my own, I was building the decor that I would be arranging on top of the kitchen cabinets. First, I have been collecting Longaberger baskets for decades so I knew that some baskets would definitely be part of the design. I have also been collecting Dickens Houses for decades, and I've always added them into my decor no matter the time of year, so I knew a few of those would also be incorporated into the design. I love wooden plates and had collected quite a few of those too. To round out what I needed to complete my vision of the cabinet decor, I spent many a day collecting lanterns and battery operated candles to go in them as well as a *very* large plate and a couple of metal stars (for above and on either side of the hood).

The day finally came for me to arrange the cabinet decor. I truly had no idea where to start, so I gathered everything that I had earmarked for this project and laid it all out on the island.

My hubby went and retrieved a ladder; I sweetly (honest) directed and he placed things where I asked (bless his heart, he had to readjust a few items several times until I was satisfied with the placement). It didn't take us long to get in a rhythm and we had everything placed in no time. 🙂

I am really happy with how it all turned out! To add, my hubby attached little chargers to the candles and plugged them in up there–during the building process we had arranged to have wall electrical sockets installed above the cabinets and they all run to a switch down on the wall. Because he did that, I never have to replace the batteries in the candles and they stay on all of the time. 🙂

As you will see in future blogs, I love soft lighting and what it adds to the overall feeling of a room. My goal is always for a room to feel warm, welcoming, and cozy, I feel as if I accomplished that goal with the overall decor selections and my hubby's help with placement and the magic he performed with those battery operated candles. I love it when a plan that has been formulating in my brain comes to fruition! 🙂

**In crafting there are no mistakes just unique creations**