Because my son’s now fiancé was joining us for the first time over the holidays, I wanted to pull out all the stops with my Christmas decorations and table settings. So I updated the nutcracker theme tablescape, adding the painted glasses and napkin rings. You can see the restyled tablescape at the end of this post.
When I went to Dollar Tree to pick up the clear goblets, I discovered they had a lot of nutcracker theme items for Christmas. That gave me the idea of using nutcracker tree ornaments to make simple napkin rings.
Inspired, I quickly got to work painting the images of three different color/styles of nutcracker faces on six goblets. Unfortunately, there wasn’t time to share how I painted the glasses or put together the napkin rings last year.
Both projects are very inexpensive to create, and the napkin rings are super fast and easy to make.
Do you love bees? I have a bit of an obsession with them, since my name is Debbee! It’s even reflected in the name of my blog, Debbee’s Buzz —the buzz being all the things, places, projects and people that I love. Over the years, I’ve also shared eight posts full of bee theme ideas.
Since 2017, the UN has designated May 20th as World Bee Day. It’s purpose is to raise awareness of the importance of bees and beekeeping, and about the threats to pollinators by human activities.
Bee sure to check out the organization’s website, World Bee Day, which provides information on events and celebrations all around the world.
To mark the occasion, I’m sharing a roundup of bee theme ideas and ways to celebrate the importance of pollinators. There are party, table setting, food and beverage, gift, craft, and decor ideas.
Hubby and I recently took a glass pulling class together, where we learned the basics of making sculpted flowers.
For Christmas, my son’s girl gave us a gift certificate to attend a hands-on (so to speak lol!) learning session at the Pittsburgh GlassCenter. We waited until after the omicron wave had receded before scheduling. Attendees had to be vaccinated, but the center recently dropped the mask mandate.
Classes are limited in size and fill-up quickly! There’s a wide variety of offerings. Families and friends can book their own private session. In fact, a family of four was in our class to celebrate their teen’s birthday.
There was a wide diversity among the total attendees in our session, which also included a young couple on their wedding anniversary, and a single woman who had received the class as a gift.
No one had tried glass making before, and we were all excited — although a tad nervous. In the end, everyone seemed to enjoy the glass pulling class, and were looking forward to taking home their sculpted flowers.
After over four and a half years of blogging, I’ve shared a wide selection of seasonal tables, napkin folds, decorations, wreaths, crafts, and activities that welcome spring and celebrate Easter.
Here in Pittsburgh, spring seldom really arrives before mid to late April. Even then, we’ve been known to have the occasional snowfall! There’s nothing worse than having to bundle up in a winter coat to go to church on Palm Sunday or Easter. And, since the holiday can occur between March 22 and April 25, there can be years we’ve barely finished enjoying Easy, Hearty Irish Stew for St. Patrick’s Day, before its time to regroup for Easter.
But this year, they are predicting warm weather for Easter, and the forsythia, bulbs, and flowering trees will be in blooming.
Today, I’ve assembled a roundup of 12 ways to celebrate Easter and change of seasons — all in one place! Simply click on a photo or title to see each post or DIY tutorial in their entirety.
Just a quick post today to share my latest marbleized pumpkin project before I pack them up for our holiday trip across the state.
This second group of decorated pumpkins were made as a gift for our youngest son, who is hosting Thanksgiving at his 101 year-old, Philadelphia row house. D had planned to have everybody last year, but the pandemic upended our plans.
Originally, I envisioned arranging the marbleized pumpkins as part of the Thanksgiving centerpiece on this year’s table. They were meant to compliment another gift — a blue table runner appliqued with pumpkins and gourds in shades and patterns of gray.
I gave them a trial run in my dining room for the Liberty Blue Thanksgiving Table & Turkey Napkins. But, the blues and styles of the marbleized pumpkins didn’t “play nice” together with the runner and vintage dishes. So I pulled the pumpkins from the centerpiece and went another direction for the tablescape blog hop.
However, I still think several small groupings of the seven pie and faux marbleized pumpkins will look festive with our son’s midcentury modern furnishings. Blue and metallic silver and gray colors, should go nicely with his home’s decorator accents in dark navy and deep golden yellow shades.
Thanks for buzzing by! I'd love to hear from you, please leave a comment.
Hi! I'm Debbee, a maker of all manner of things, who likes to incorporate themes into craft projects, holiday and seasonal decor, table settings, and parties. My friends call me, the Queen of Theme lol!
Home is the suburbs of Pittsburgh, but I also enjoy exploring the world with my husband. We raised two wonderful sons and are now early retirees.
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