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Decic your halls vifith innovative
tips and techniques
Merchandiser for locally, gay-owned Replacements, Ltd., dishes on holiday decor
The holiday season doesn't have to
always involve the same old, same old when it
comes to decorating your home.
Take a few ideas from John Griffith. As
the lead visual merchandiser for gay-owned,
Greensboro-based Replacements, Ltd., he
sp.ends the entire year scouting and develop
ing innovative tips and techniques to deck
the halls and trim the perfect tree. So far,
Griffith's team has adorned nearly a dozen
trees throughout company's retail store. Each
tannenbaum is a story in itself, defined by
color and style and unique looks created by
combining ornaments with what some might
consider nontraditional trimmings.
"So many people settle for simply hanging
ornaments on their trees, but there is so much
more you can do by adding fillers that really
reflect your own personal taste and style,"
says Griffith. "Mixing in ribbon, fabrics, florals,
feathers and other natural elements create flair
and personality. Adding extra flourishes in the
right places can make the difference between
a pretty tree and an extraordinary tree."
Griffith says the hot colors for holiday 2012
range from soft pastels to rich jewel tones.
Popular ornaments this season reflect the
Victorian era, with glittering gemstones and
rhinestones being extremely popular.
And, don't be afraid to forgo the tradition
al tree topper. Instead, consider using twigs
or other natural elements arranged out of the
top of your tree. Griffith has even strategi
cally placed a tree beneath a chandelier for
extra glow.
If you don't have enough room for a tra
ditional sized tree, corner trees or the flatter
profile trees are an excellent fit for smaller
spaces. Or, Griffith suggests you may want to
go in an entirely different direction.
"I am into repurposing and recycling, so I
took the branches of an old artificial tree and
wired them together to create swags and then
decorated those with combinations of fabrics,
bows and ornaments," he says. "You can hang
swags on a mantel or place them on top of a
doorframe. They're a fun family project, and
you can even create them with different color
stories or themes for each room in your home."
Griffith literally has thousands of orna
ments at his fingertips. While most people
know Replacements as the world's largest re
tailer of old and new china, crystal, silver and
collectibles, the company has a vast selection
of ornaments from around the
globe. These range from color
ful blown glass to crystal and
highly collected silver.
"As individuals, we chose
ornaments for so many differ
ent reasons. Decisions may be
driven by color or theme, but
many choices are shaped by
past and future traditions," says
Keith Winkler, the company's
product marketing manager.
"Many people reach back to
ornaments that remind them of
their childhood, while others
are looking to start their own
traditions with annual collect
ible ornaments. For instance,
Wallace Silver makes an annual sleigh bell,
while Gorham Silver releases an annual snow
flake. These have been in production for more
than four decades and are a great tradition to
add every year."
Winkler says popular dinnerware manu
facturers including Lenox, Wedgwood and
Waterford all offer ornament lines. For those
looking for popular blown glass, he suggests
Fashion tree branches to create decorative swags.
the Merck Family's Old World Christmas line.
Those ornaments run the gamut from tradi
tional holiday figures, to birds, sports teams,
and pretty much any theme you can imagine.
If you are interested in more ideas, you
can find decorating and entertaining tips at
replacements.com, while Replacements will
post additional ideas throughout the upcom
ing holiday season on its Facebook page.::
— Content courtesy Brand Point
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Nov. 10-23.2012 qnotes 11