From My Notebook - Country Christmas Decorating

Celebrate the holiday with a country theme.

~ Use quilts and afghans draped over chairs or sofas to lend a cozy look, and hang some cross-stitched or embroidered samplers on the walls.

~ Purchase old-fashioned looking tins and use them for potpourri, candles, cookies and candy.

~ Hang knitted or crocheted stockings.

~ Use old tin kitchen graters or muffin tins as candle holders... a nice assortment of candles fit easily in the muffin tins, and the graters look great when placed over a burning votive.

~ Find an old patchwork quilt or chenille spread at a yard sale, and use it to make ornaments, stockings, pillows or wreaths.

~ Use pine cones, greenery, apples and cinnamon sticks for decorating

~ To decorate the kitchen or dining area ... red and white homespun fabric for table runners or mug mats... gingerbread men... gingerbread houses... popcorn and cranberry garlands... stuffed felt ornaments made from cookie cutter "stencils"

~ For a nostalgic decoration use children's old train sets, wooden blocks, small cast-iron stoves, small wagons or rocking horses decorated with greenery and lights.

~ Fill a basket with pine cones, greenery, bare branches and lights for an attractive display inside or out.

~ Find old Christmas books at yard sales or thrift shops, tie a few together with a strip of gingham fabric, and place them on a table, or in a basket.

Spend some time over the next few months looking at items in your own home to see what lends itself to a "Country Christmas" look.