Holiday Decor Guide: 9 Ideas for Your Outdoor Space

Now that December has arrived, it’s time to get your holiday decorating game on. Decking your halls may be a breeze, (wrap some garland, hang some mistletoe, trim the tree, and you’re basically set), but what about your outdoor decor? If you’re a little stumped when it comes to getting your yard yuletide ready, fear not – we’ve got some great ideas for you to try! Don’t let your neighbor’s epic light show intimidate you, follow our advice and you could have the best looking house on the block!

Wonderful Wreath – We love this modern take on the traditional Christmas wreath. Instead of using branches, you can make this beauty with a ceiling medallion (found at most hardware stores). Add a bit of bright green paint and a ribbon and you’re good to go.

Image via HGTV

Beautiful Bundles – These rustic balls of holiday lights add a festive feeling to your outdoor space. Place them on your porch, in birdbaths, and up trees to cast some beautiful light on your wintry yard.

Image via Better Homes and Gardens

Ornate Ornaments – Hang some ornaments from your porch to add some holiday whimsy to your entryway. We especially like the use of white and silver balls here, to imitate the effect of falling snow (plus they look great with the green!).

Image via Home Stories from A to Z

Vivacious Votives – Light your porch or walkway with sweet and simple votives. Adding a layer rock or Epsom salt for the candle to sit on will help keep things safe (you know what they say about unattended flames!) and looking good.

Image via HGTV

Lovely Lanterns – Too many little legs coming in and out of your house to make having live flames a good idea? That’s ok; try this neat lantern! Filled with brightly colored ornaments and some white lights, it’s a like a little burst of holiday cheer!

Image via Dimples & Tangles

Sweet Snowflakes – Live in a place that doesn’t get much snow or having an unseasonably warm winter? This snowflake garland is a great way to turn even the greenest, warmest spaces in to a winter wonderland! 

Image via Martha Stewart

Playful Pallet Tree – If your trees are too high to climb, too delicate to trim, or non-existent, try making a palette tree! Fairly straightforward to build, they can have a nice rustic effect on your yard.

Image via Buzzmills

Stupendous Sign – Spread the joy this season (literally) with a fun sign on your porch! We’re big fans of the wreath instead of an O, and the scene the surrounding mittens and skates create.

Image via Fynes Designs

Wicked Wrapping – Ok, let’s wrap it up, (your tree that is!). Instead of simply hanging your lights in your trees, try wrapping them around! This is such a neat look, and definitely worth trying if you really want to show your neighbors up!

Image via Christmas Lights Etc.

We hope these ideas help you spread some holiday cheer in your neighborhood. Make sure to share some get shots of your holiday decor with @HomeShows on Twitter and Instagram. We love seeing what you create! 

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5 Essential Front Porch Pieces for Fall

Fall is upon us and with the season comes a myriad of new ways to decorate your home. Who doesn’t love mixing things up now and again? One of our favourite places to makeover in fall is the front porch; with good reason too! There’s so much room for creativity and originality, which makes this project so interesting (and fun). In this article we share with you the five aspects of porch decorating we just couldn’t live without!

Pumpkins, Pumpkins and More Pumpkins

Nothing quite says fall like a huge, orange pumpkin on the stoop. That being said, this fall try a new spin on the old classic. Spray paint your pumpkins gold, white or black to make them stand out or use several different sized pumpkins for a less uniform look. The possibilities are endless.

Image via Home Stories A to Z

Rustic is the New Chic

The ‘rustic’ trend looks like it’s here to stay, so why not incorporate it into your porch decor this year? Adding rustic pieces can accomplish a homier, more relaxed look that will welcome just about anyone! Use natural pieces such as hay bales, dried cornstalks and pinecones or include some bigger items like distressed urns and furniture, apple baskets, or even a straw welcoming mat. 

Image via Country Living

Lead the Way with Lanterns

Whether they are paper, metal or glass, lanterns always pull together a porch space beautifully. Try hanging the coloured paper lanterns in all sorts of shapes and sizes from the roof above your porch to create depth in the space and catch the eyes of your guests. Glass lanterns look wonderful with candles or sticks inside. Place these on your porch beside your pumpkins or hay bales to make the space look polished.

Image via Better Homes and Gardens

Wreaths are Vital

Your door is what every person sees first when looking at your porch. Make sure it's looking its best by putting a festive wreath on it! You can find wreaths made of almost everything that makes us think of fall, from leaves to pinecones, to mums. If you're craft-oriented, try making your own. Just make sure it ties into the overall theme of your porch before spending much money; things can get pricey!

Image via Refresh Style

Don’t Forget to Leave Some Leaves

Coloured fall leaves are arguably the first things on everyone’s mind when fall is mentioned. Bring your childhood nostalgia of jumping through piles of leaves to the forefront of your home by adding a scattering of leaves across your porch. Add them to baskets or bouquets for the perfect finishing touch to any space! 

Image via Sweetopia

For more home decor and advice make sure to visit the Ottawa Fall Home Show! It's the place to discover the latest home and garden trends for this season. This exciting event is taking over the EY Centre September 24-27, 2015. 

Don't have tickets yet? Right now you can get 2-for-1 on Facebook. Treat a friend or family member to the show - we can't wait to see you there!

EY CENTRE
SEPTEMBER 24- 27, 2015.

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The Nightmare Before Christmas: Decorating Between Halloween & The Holidays

It’s November, which means that pumpkin you carved a few weeks ago for Halloween is starting to stink. Now it might not have fully collapsed in on itself like ours did, but we’d be surprised if it wasn’t already fairly rotten. You know what you have to do. You may have gotten attached because you did carve it and all, but it’s time to get rid of your pumpkin. However, in doing this you’re opening up a whole new can of worms: what should take its place? For most of us it’s too early to put up the holiday decorations – that comes after Thanksgiving. So how do you transition away from Halloween without going full blown winter wonderland? Consider our ideas below for late fall decorations. These seasonal pieces should have your decor covered until turkey day.

Pine Cone Garland - You don't necessarily need a mantle to decorate with these guys. We love the idea of hanging them around a door frame or banister.

Image via The Sweetest Occasion

Monogrammed Wreath - The rich colors in this wreath are beautiful and luxurious, plus the monogram adds a personal and welcoming touch.

Image via Rantings Of A Creole Princess

Fall Doormat - Try getting a burlap or plain doormat and jazzing it up. You could do a leaf print like they did here or a turkey one for Thanksgiving.

Image via Life Is A Party

Glittery Leaves - All that glitters isn't gold, but we think these leaves look great. Hang them inside or out.

Image via 6th Street Design School

Wooden Tags - Don't want to hang a wreath? We think these creative tags are a very original replacement for the traditional door decoration. And we love the message!

Image via that's my letter

We hope these ideas help you to fill the gap between Halloween and the holiday season. If you already have post-Halloween decorations up we've got to ask: what are they? How do you celebrate the end of fall? Let us know! 

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Autumn Craft Challenge

Here at Marketplace Events we love getting crafty. We’ve done pumpkin paint offs and found lots of eggspiration. We’ve asked you to share your best DIYs and in turn we’ve given you lots of tips and ideas for projects. To celebrate fall we’re following our creative tradition and doing what we love best: an autumn craft challenge. We asked our colleagues to scour the internet and their childhood memories in search of the best autumn crafts for the home. Everyone had a minimal budget and three weeks to create something seasonal. Here’s a taste of what we came up with.

To see all the projects we created visit our Facebook page. Make sure to tell us what you think by voting for your favorite. The winning office will receive bragging rights and a pizza party, so don’t be shy – tell us who you think deserves to win. For more fall project ideas check out our Autumn Craft Challenge board on Pinterest. It has all of the projects we created (and a few others we think would be fun to try).

 

Did you know that connecting with us on Facebook has perks beyond getting to see fun craft challenges and home decor tips? It also gives you access to exclusive discounts! Right now when you like us on Facebook you can get two tickets for the price of one to the Marketplace Events fall home show of your choice. Happy Fall from Markplace Events!

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Colin & Justin’s Guide To Healthy Christmas Decor

Drawing inspiration from a recent survey by Claritin which reports that allergies are heavily prevalent during the holiday period (and not just during the warmer months, as many folk might perhaps presume) Colin and Justin offer their tips to reduce the associated problems.  Their guide will help you enjoy an allergy-friendly holiday season… where the only tears in your eyes will be from the lovely family times ahead.  Frustrating as it sounds, allergies can potentially spoil all the festive fun.  If, that is, you don’t think about eradication.  So take heed...

  

Real Christmas Trees

Genuine trees can be a haven for dust and pollen – add in allergies to tree sap, and real problems can lie in store. 

The Duo's Tree Top Tips 

• Bag an allergy-friendly tree - dodge pine as the pollen can be a major allergy trigger.  Fir and spruce are better, with the Leyland Cypress - a sterile hybrid -  a good choice as it doesn't produce pollen.
• Shake it up!  Some tree farms have mechanical shakers to remove dead needles as well as some of the dust and mold.
• Bathing beauty -  before bringing the tree indoors, spray with water and dry overnight in the garage.  Use Nature Clean veggie soak to remove pesticides that have been sprayed on the tree – another major irritant.

Faking It

• Keep it clean – if your tree has been stashed in the garage then it’s probably it’s full of dust and even mold.  Give it a good wash (just like a real tree) and dry before bringing indoors.
• Gassy? Choose a polyethylene tree with less PVC content and you’ll cut down on gasses and be kinder to your home and the environment.  Home Depot stocks this type of product.
• Eco friendly – seek out tree ‘alternatives’.  Choose from metal framed shapes, card board trees like the one below from Cascades.  Also, you could opt for driftwood stacks (Homesense have some great options) to make a style statement.

Cardboard Tree from Cascades

Tips for Christmas Decorations

• Dust off your baubles – these, if they've been lying around, may be coated in grime or mold.  If possible, unwrap outside to avoid spreading dust inside. Wipe off with a soft cloth before hanging.  At the end of the season, wrap in fresh paper, rather than re-using old paper.
• Clean your wreaths - Vacuum or dust with a soft cloth.  Use a vacuum with a Hepa filter, like the Dyson Animal, and keep dust in the cleaner, rather than in the air.

• Dodge scented candles - these can cause stuffy noses and irritated lungs. If you crave a little atmosphere, try unscented beeswax candles.
• Buy local - visit Christmas fairs and invest in small independent makers who can tell you all about manufacturing and provenance. 
• Green card – showcase Christmas cards in a holder like this one below from Umbra and use it for the rest of the year to show family photos!  Keeping cards off surfaces allows you to reach and remove dust...

Crowd Card/Photo display by Umbra

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For more information you can visit the guys online at www.colinandjustin.tv or check out Colin and Justin on twitter by clicking the button below!

 Follow @ColinJustin 

Stay tuned to our Home and Garden Events Facebook page for news on home show appearences and helpful hints from our friends Colin and Justin!

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Feeling The Wreaths: Best DIY Fall Wreaths

Pinecone via Just Another Day

It's Fun Find Friday! And although you may not want to admit, fall is creeping up on us. So instead of being down and out, I propose we get a little crafty! Since it can be difficult to garden in the fall, decorative wreaths (inside or out) can be great decorative features that are simple and long lasting.  So go ahead and make your own!

Top Picks #DIY Fall Wreaths

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