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Outdoor Christmas Decorating
Outdoor Decorations...For An Apartment
How to make the outside
of your apartment reflect all of the warmth of the
inside
So, Christmas is just around the corner, and you're sitting up in
your apartment, wondering how on earth you can possibly decorate
your door. Most people stick with a wreathe, or not even that,
because many apartments have rules against putting a nail, or tack
in the door. For people who live in an apartment with a balcony, it
can seem a little silly to put decorations, or lights out there.
Well, why not? Who knows, if you get it done early enough, the rest
of your building might join in. There are ways to make your
apartment just as beautiful on the outside, as it is on the inside
this Christmas season.
There are a couple of things you can do with your door. The first
of course, is a nice wreath. But if all you're going to do for your
door is a wreath, go to the florist, and get a really nice, custom
made wreath. Select flowers, or poinsettia. and other bright
colours for your door. Or, if you'd prefer, go to your favourite
crafts sore, and collect your own supplies to make a wreath at
home. For an easy wreath, just pick up the circular frame first,
and choose some decorative silk poinsettia-- which sometimes you
can find with glitter around the edges, really making your wreath
stand out, plastic holly, and tiny gold or silver Christmas
ornaments. Weaving the wire stems of the poinsettia and holly into
the wreath is easy, but use a hot glue gun to stick on your
ornaments here and there. When you're finished, spray on some
glitter, found in aerosol cans at hobby stores, and let it sit to
dry for at least a couple hours, before hanging it on your door.
If your landlord is a stickler for stuff that doesn't leave marks,
don't use that sticky clay stuff that's advertised around this time
of year. It peels the paint right off of any surface, and whatever
was hanging from it falls. Instead, try to find Scotch brand wall
adhesive; it comes with little hooks, and the adhesive peels off,
and sticks to the wall. You can hang a wreath easily with this, and
when you're ready to take it down, just peel it away slowly.
Another way to brighten up your door, is instead of just going with
a wreath, get a length of fabric or silk ivy, --not spruce; spruce
just doesn't fill space as well. Weave a few silk poinsettias into
your ivy, and make sure it's long enough to go completely around
your door frame, and if possible, measure your door before hand to
know how much ivy you'll need. Afterwards, pick up a string of
white lights, of green, -green looks especially nice if you're
using white poinsettias in your ivy, --and weave your lights around
and around your ivy. After you've finished this step, you're ready
to put your decorations on your door frame. Use regular clear tape,
preferably wide clear postal tape. Scotch tape will come off, and
masking tape is too tacky; if your landlord doesn't mind tiny
holes, just use a stapler. The great thing about this decoration,
is that it looks gorgeous whether illuminated, or in the daytime.
Decorating your balcony is easy as well. Use the ivy and poinsettia
with lights around your railing, or you could just put up the
lights. White lights are usually the best choice, if you're not
sure which colour you want to choose, but red and green are equally
seasonal and look great. Don't forget, if you get your lights up
early enough, the rest of the building is more likely to
participate in hanging their lights too. If not, well, at least
your guests will know which apartment is yours!
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