Lace Birdie Napkins are 100% cotton and made from Amy Butler fabrics.

Atlanta-based artist Bella Bee sets a good looking table!

Etsy, $28 for 4

Homemade gingerbread houses are fun to make at any age.

I am indebted to Elise’s How to Make a Gingerbread House for making my first non-kit and non-graham cracker gingerbread house a success.

Per usual, I swapped whole wheat flour and succanat for the white flour and refined sugars.  I also used blackstrap molasses instead of regular molasses.

Another adaptation which turned out to be a lifesaver: using a cardboard six-bottle beer carrier as a structure around which to build the walls and lay the roof.  Without this my house would have certainly caved in.  It also meant I only had to cut out a cardboard pattern for the roof since for the walls I just placed the carton onto my rolled-out dough and cut around it with a knife.

By the time I finished it was late at night and I didn’t decorate.  The next day I elected to keep it the way it was.  I like having just the dark brown and bright white.

I constructed it atop a cake platter which worked well.  Now it serves as a holiday decoration that I can move as needed.

With leftover dough I made some gingerbread sandwich cookies.  Recipe to come!

The next time you arrive at a party, bottle of red/white/bubbly in hand, surprise your hosts with Popptags.

Special Popptags for the holiday season include: 

              ’Tis the season to get tipsy!

              You deserve the best.  I could afford this.  Happy Holidays!

Poppags, 3 for $9.95

This weekend kicks off holiday decorating.

I enjoy making my home look festive but I’m opposed to buying a lot of things that I’ll either have to store somewhere until next year or, let’s be honest, end up throwing away.

The above windowsill is festively adorned with:

Assembled, you have a pretty Christmas decoration. Come January, each of its parts is easily re-used for another purpose.

What a gorgeous teapot! Practical, too: microwave/dishwasher/oven safe!

By San Fernando Valley, California-based Alina Hayes on Etsy.

Fall is a great time to be a lazy host(ess) because it’s so easy to throw together a centerpiece of squash and pumpkins.

They’re colorful and seasonal, attractive and long-lasting. They can be arranged and re-arranged.

Then, when you get sick of looking at them (or when you’ve re-arranged to your heart’s maximum content), slice them in half, scoop out the seeds & stringy parts, and pop them in the oven, cut side down on a cookie sheet with an inch of standing water. Bake ’til soft. And eat.

When I throw a party, I like to label the foods in the spread. On a basic level, this communicates to everyone what the foods are (which is especially appreciated by any guests with allergies).

Moreover, labels are a convenient way to show off to your friends certain ingredients or recipe techniques. Certainly not everyone cares enough about food/cooking to do this, but in a circle of friends where crystallized orange peels and homemade crackers could be impressive and/or interesting, labels are good to use.

With labels, you don’t have to spend the party repeating yourself over and over, or trying to remember to tell someone that the dip has ham in it –whoops, too late– is miraculously vegetarian.

We’re standing outside the Korean deli, deciding which flowers to buy.

Will points to a pink bouquet.

I point to these.

“Green?” he says quizzically. “That’s the last color I’d pick.”

Well, I love them. And I think they’re growing on him, too.

There are two types of people: those who feel fresh flowers are worth the expense, and those who don’t.

Like many things, I spent years thinking they were overrated, which just happened to coincide with years that I never had any around. As soon as I started receiving them I realized how much they brighten a room.

It is very important to change the water and trim the stems daily to keep them looking nice. Just as crucial is tossing them out composting them as soon as they’re getting to be over the hill. If they’re flowers you intend to dry and preserve, that’s one thing. But saggy, droopy, floppy flowers just look sad. Fresh flowers are supposed to symbolize life and romance, not death and neglect.

Every time I glance at these flowers (still fresh!) I smile. Maybe it’s not a convincing argument for everyone, but things that make me smile without fail are worthwhile in my book.