My Presentation in November!

I have been getting ready for my November presentation. These are so much fun , I give decorating ideas for the Holidays, do a tutorial on napkin folding and show all how to tie beautiful bows and store them correctly. A lot of my groups are Women's Clubs, Luncheon Groups etc. These are made up of all ages but so many are of the Mature persuasion. I try to encourage them to decorate for themselves, as so many have stopped because they don't have Kids or Family to visit. I stress the importance of doing it for their own happiness. I show them how to make a small vignette on a dining room table or to just put some favorite ornaments in a dish that they will pass everyday, it doesn't have to be a full tree, but just seeing a few of the things you used to decorate with can truly lift your heart. I also make two arrangements that they raffle off. This year I noticed in so many of the Holiday Decorating sites they were using more sleighs this year, and they have also shown pitchers as the containers for their arrangements, so I did the same. The Sleigh was a find at a Church Bazaar, and the Pitcher was from a friend years ago, the gift was well used and she would love the idea of my passing it on for someone else to love!

Since the pitcher had a more rustic look, I kept with a Forest Theme. I saw on Pinterest the decorated pine cone and decided to try it and I loved the way it turned out! Just a really fun way to use up all those ribbon pieces we tend to save for what I don't know! Cut ribbon about 2 1/2 inches long and glue ends together, take one of your loops and put a dab of glue on the end and insert in between the petals of the cone, start by using a slightly wider ribbon for the top row and then alternate your rows of coordinating ribbon the rest of the way. Put a little decoration on top, I used red glitter berries and made another loop of ribbon and glued in the middle for the hanger. I added this to the side of the arrangement and finished off with a wide red bow.

With the Sleigh, I stuck with the same theme of Forest. Using a big gnarly Poinsettia, Pine boughs covered in Snow, red ornaments and finished it off with Red and Green Plaid Ribbons, and I love the pieces of red glitter loops! For some reason my pictures are showing Fuchsia, but believe me thy are true Christmas Red!