Wednesday, December 16, 2009

The Adorable Fairy Doors!


I spend at least one to two hours reading every day. When you make it a practice to read on a daily basis, a whole new world is opened up to you. The amount of information available on the internet is staggering. Casey, my daughter-in-law and partner, reads as much as I do and several weeks ago she happened to read a blog that mentioned "Fairy Doors" and we both thought it was the cutest idea! As I began researching this unusual topic, I was surprised to find how many people have added "Fairy Doors" to their homes and businesses.

I think this craze began in Ann Arbor Michigan (click on the second door on the Ann Arbor page to view sightings). Visitors and children are enthralled with hunt. Check out the "Fairy Door" Google installed in one of their conference rooms; the title on the Fairy Door is "Giggle," how appropriate! Perform a search in Google for "Fairy Doors." There is a lot of information out there (resources and blogs) regarding this subject. Judy Santoni and her girls visited Ann Arbor, click HERE to read their story. You will see that the possibilities are limitless!

If you have small children or grandchildren, this is a perfect idea to add a bit of magic to your home or business. What child wouldn't would love having a "Fairy Door" to visit? There are so many creative and imaginative things you can do with these. Start a tradition by encouraging children to clean their room, then, if they don't clean their room, the cleaning fairy comes to tidy up the room and leave a note saying she is disappointed and will visit again later hoping the room will be clean next time or maybe every night the fairy is moved to a different spot and, of course, you might mention the fairy door is only magical when they don't touch it.

You can purchase "Fairy Doors" from Enchanted Fairy Doors Shop or Monkeytail and Wellington or purchase dollhouse doors and adorn them yourself.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

'Tis the Season!


I love the Christmas season! Everyone seems extra friendly during the holiday season. This year (and I still can't believe it), I am not going all out with my usual Christmas decorating. Because I was out of town at the beginning of December, and also because Jerry and I are going to Casey & Owen's (my son & daughter-in-law and my two granddaughters) home to celebrate Christmas with them, I decided not to put up a tree this year. YIKES, this is a first for me and it feels strange! Next year, though, I am planning on decorating as usual and hosting a Christmas Open House.



This year Casey has been busy decorating her house with a little inspiration from Anthropologie. If you have visited the Green Hills store, you may have seen lots of stacked wood and their famous handmade snowballs. These snowballs are the cutest and are so easy to make. We asked our sales person if she knew how they were made and she spilled the beans. Jackpot!!!



Here is how to make indoor snowballs that "won't melt in your house!"
  1. Crumple up white kraft paper to the desired size. (Be sure to vary the sizes)
  2. Wrap the crumpled ball with plastic wrap at least 4 or 5 times.
  3. Wrap outer layer in Glad "Press & Seal" with the sticky side out.
  4. Roll sticky ball in artificial snow. (Artificial snow can be purchases at Target or any craft store.)
  5. Voila' ... you have the cutest snowballs ever!
Who knew they would be so easy and inexpensive to make?



Look how cute these jars are with the white lights, silver ornaments, and snow.

I love decorating with live greenery. Not only does it look great, it smells even better! Take time to enjoy the sights, smells, and good eats of this holiday season!