Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 24 November 2000 — Page 22

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THE INDIANAPOUS RECORDER

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 24,2000*

Christmas tree decorating from the experts

Did you ever wonder why those beautiful Christmas trees in store windows, magazines and floor display s looked so much different than your tree at home? Why they reached out and made you stop and stare, ohhh and ahhh at their dazzling glimmer? Did you ever examine these exquisite trees for ideas and when you tried them at home it just didn’t look the same? There is a trick (or two) of the trade in decorating Christmas trees and Minn.-based Midwest of Cannon Falls, a leader in the giftware industry, is willing to reveal some of their top secrets to you. With 13 showrooms across the U.S. and one in Hong Kong, these experts have holiday trimming down to a science. (1) Selecting aTree: Remember it will have a visual impact and be the focal point of your room throughout the holiday season. The size of your tree will partially be determined by how much space you have in your room, but also keep in mind these factors to enhance showing off your ornament collection. The more branch tips on the tree, the more ornaments you can hang. If you want an informal look, choose a tree with long needles and upswept branches. For a formal appearance, select a tree with short needles and horizontal or downswept branches. If you are purchasing an artificial tree you should take storage into consideration and choose a tree that allows you to store it with the lights attached. (2) Lighting the Tree: A general rule of thumb is to use one strand of lights per foot of tree. Of course the simplest way is to purchase a prelit tree that is hinged for easy storage. But if you are starting from scratch, remember the lights should be strung throughout the tree, not stretched over the tips of the branches. Tuck your lights around the trunk, weave them in and out of the length of the branches to give the tree depth. Keeping the amount of lights uniform throughout the tree is important. (3) Adding Garland: There are several ways to place a garland on a tree. The most traditional is to swag your garland, beginning on the bottom, at the back of the tree. Swag the garland from tip to tip, using 12” to 20" swags, depending on the width of the tree and then twist the garland on each tip. The swags should become smaller as you go up the tree. Other styles are to double swag the garland with one row falling lower than the other or to spiral the garland at an angle on the tree. There are also many types of garlands to choose from. Midwest of Cannon Falls suggests everything from traditional berry or gold leaf garland to elegant vintage blown glass beads and stretches your imagination with designs of fish, sporting equipment or gumball garland. (4) Using Filler: Filling the spaces inside the tree creates an enchanting look from the inside out. This is the step that many

household tree decorators don’t know about. Filling inside spaces adds interest and compliments the overall mood of the tree. You can use ornaments, ribbon, garlands, fruit, toys, mirrors, small gifts, cards or pinecones, whatever fits your theme. (5) Theming your Tree: To make a strong statement, it is important to choose a dominant subject or color for your tree. Most trees look best with a balance of texture, shape, size and color, but this should be tied together with one element being dominant. For example, if your existing ornament collection has no theme, you can create one by introducing a significant quantity of one color or shape. (6) Design: Repetition establishes design and can help create the theme of your tree. Using different shapes in the same color or repeating the same texture in different colors also works. Midwest of Cannon Falls makes choosing ornaments easy by categorizing their products into themes that can mix and match with each other, such as the antique look of Christmas Past blending with the nostalgic toys of Santa and friends or the elegant old world sporting look of Stag’s Head Inn and Pine Tree Lodge. The key is to keep your theme in a basic motif—outdoors and nature, angelic and romantic, folk art and handcrafted, Western and Southwest, antique glass and heirlooms, nostalgic and family, etc. (7) Hanging Ornaments: First you must determine how many ornaments you will need for the size of your tree. Chris Tkachuck, visual manager for Midwest of Cannon Falls says it’s not an exact science, but she uses a rough formula to achieve the look she likes for her displays which is approximately 40 ornaments per foot of tree. For example if you are decorating a 7-foot tree you will need about 280 ornaments. She also notes that you will establish symmetry to your tree by hanging the largest quantity of ornaments first, then the next largest and so forth. Be sure ornaments are suspended and hang freely so they are not touching other branches. Shiny finishes should be hung before matte or soft finishes, and bright colors before muted colors. Each size, shape, texture and color should be distributed over the entire tree. Larger ornaments should be placed on the lower part of the tree for balance. For dramatic effects you can cluster several ornaments, combining different colors, sizes or shapes in one bunch, bound together with ribbon or a bow. These can be placed symmetrically throughout the tree or joined and placed as a swag spiraling the tree. Tkachuck candidly offers another of her important tree decorating hints. “A faithful decorating staple I always use, especially with glass ornaments, is our green coated ornament hooks. We have two different lengths so I get an assortment of height when placing oma-

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ments which adds dimension. I prefer the green coating because the wire seems invisible against green tree branches. The best thing about these hooks is that you can pinch and lock them so your ornaments won’t fall off the tree.” (8) Dare to be Different: One reason display trees grab our attention is because they dare to be different. Midwest of Cannon Falls has used actual wood chairs, footballs and sports equipment, garden rakes with vegetables, bouquets of dried flowers and fancy hats blended into the branches of their trees. Adding bold new ideas makes the tree fun and it is certain to create conversation. If you want to decorate your tree with ornaments your children have made throughout the year, be imaginative by adding stuffed animals with Christmas ribbon, train sets, favorite storybooks and rocking horses. Fill in with ornaments that compliment your child’s interests. Make the entire tree your children’s story with their personal belongings. They’ll love it! Another interesting way to highlight favorite or heirloom ornaments is to use motion. Midwest of Cannon Falls notes that their number one selling item for the past several years has been the Omamotion motor, designed to move ornaments up and down or in a circular pattern. Youcanalsoadd magic to your tree with the liquid motion of Bubble Lites. First appearing in the early 1940s, these colorful fluid lamps have again become a sentimental favorite, reintroduced in a variety of colors and styles. Balanced throughout the tree, motion can add an exciting new dimension to tree decorating. (9) The Tree Skirt: Covering the base of your tree can be as thoughtful a process as choosing your tree.

Holiday film fare looks promising

By KAM WILLIAMS Traditionally, Hollywood holds off from releasing its best movies until the end of year for a couple of reasons. First, the Motion Picture Academy, which often exhibits long-term memory loss, best remembers recent films at Oscar Time. Secondly, attendance is heavy at holiday time, given the combination of extended vacations and inclement weather which make a cozy theater the perfect escape. An examination of this season’s offerings reveals an impressive array of Oscar hopefuls. But every year has its share of surprises by newcomers both before and behind the camera. Here ’ s a sneak peek at the movies getting the most buzz so far. • “102 Dalmations” (Thanksgiving) Dog added, but Glenn Close takes center stage, reprising her role as Cruella, in sequel to Disney classic. • “Quills” (Thanksgiving) Adaptation of historical play with Geoffrey Rush as Marquis de Sade, institutionalized sex-addict, whoexplores issues of freedom and censorship during visits by bawdy maid Kate Winslet and frustrated friend Joaquin Phoenix. • “Unbreakable” (Thanksgiving) Samuel L. Jackson as the spiritual soothsayer who explains to Bruce Willis why he’s the only survivor of a train wreck. Expect another big twist

from “Sixth Sense” director, M. Night Shyamalan. • “Finding Forrester” (Dec. 6) Sean Connery as a reclusive, Pulitzer Prize-winner who takes an aspiring homey under his wing. • “Dungeons & Dragons” (Dec. 8) Popular board game translated into magical fantasy starring “American Beauty” Thora Birch, Marlon Wayans and Jeremy Irons. • “Proof of Life” (Dec. 8) Russell Crowe and Meg Ryan in the film that reportedly almost wrecked her marriage to Dennis Quaid. Distraught wife enlists aid of mercenary to rescue hostage hubby, kidnapped in Banana Republic. • “Vertical Limit” (Dec. 8) Chris O’Donnell as mountain climber who comes out of retirement to save his sister, who is trapped on K2, because she is there. • “Dude, Where’s My Car?” (Dec. 15) Cheech and Chongish marijuana comedy about a pair of potheads who have misplaced their means of transportation. • “The Emperor’s New Groove” (Dec. 15) Disney kiddie animation features voices of Eartha Kitt, John Goodman and David Spade in South American tale about a prince-tumed-llama befriended by a bewildered peasant. • “What Women Want” (Dec. 15) Romantic comedy with Mel Gibson a mind-reading executive who discovers that what every girl wants is him.

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Creating a personal statement in rently features purples in their

After all, the tree skirt doesn’t just cover the base of the tree, it is spread out as an invitation for all those gifts to entice us until Christmas day. For a uniform look, Midwest of Cannon Falls offers tree skirts with matching stockings to hang on the fireplace. Many homes use a traditional tree skirt handed down from family to family. If you don’t have an. heirloom, or can’t find a nee skirt that fits your theme, use your imagination. Try a favorite quilt or throw, a poodle skirt for a rerto theme, colorful rugs or Christmas towels, fabric that ties in with your ornament color scheme or favorite wrapping paper. A children’s nee skirt could be pages from a coloring book the children colored and taped together. Let your imagination soar! (10) Topping the Tree: A nadition in many homes is the final nee decoration step — lifting the youngest child up to place a special star, finial, bow or angel on top of the tree. This crowning touch creates memories and makes the statement that the tree is completed for another season of family celebration. Now that the experts have offered some of their holiday decorating secrets you won’t have a single excuse for not producing the most unique nee in the neighborhood. Midwest of Cannon Falls designs specialty gifts, collectibles and home and garden accessories, offering ideas for year-round decorating. You can get more information by logging on to their Web site a t www.midwestofcannonfalls. com. Courtesy of ARA Content, www.aracontent.com, e-mail: info@aracontent. com

today’s holiday decorating dovetails with the trend of flea market finds and junk-style. v Antiquing has become so popular,” Uss states. “Shabby chic is considered today’s most popular trend. Items that have been discarded are now being retrieved and revived. The style includes mixing items whose elegance has faded over time, yet the patina of age and wear resonates with beauty and personality. As one discovers unique and cast off items, it’s as if they say to you, ‘There’s a story here.’ Ornate cast-offs put into the right situation can be stunning. These pieces are elevated by the company they keep when you marry them with other items that are interesting. It’s fun to contrast things that are sleek, clean, simple and new with pieces that ornate and old.” Liss stresses not to worry about the correct mix. The content isn’t as important as is the expression. “The mix will be right if it is truly a soulful expression of ones personal taste.” The concept of bringing the outdoors inside is as strong as ever. The love of gardening continues as the number one hobby of Americans. Natural elements mixed with a wide variety of ornaments with a gardening bent brings us back to the concept of contrast. “Feeling comfortable with adding birdhouses, nests, natural twigs and tree branches into your tree and going so far as to add fresh flowers and letting them dry naturally while on the your tree, creates an exciting natural element. “When these more rustic, natural pieces are placed next to the shimmer of gilded wire and the luster of glass in golden earth toned ornaments it creates a peaceful ef-

fect.”

“And don’t forget your outdoor trees,” Liss reminds us. “Celebrate your total environment by decorat-

popular amethyst theme with soothing amethyst colors of nature. Shades of purple will be introduced again in their 2001 line of home decor and holiday decorating. Reuoi spending to last year’s Paris rurtqii way, this season also points to thifii color blue with lustery, smoking light blues, revealing a crystalliitfpiJ shimmer. ft Referring to a theme Liss helped develop called Bejeweled, shb states, “Married with whites ^ lighter tones, it’s contemporary ift'9 feeling, reflective of a more ma^

hire feeling.”

She also emphasizes that red never goes out of style, it just show! us different personalities. Tones of f • red have changed with the millen> v nium and this year are influenced by blue. “We will be seeing bluek reds again, but they are very vi^ brant and bright, ‘wowy’ and bold/ Red is a celebrational color. Christmas will never walk away frortf‘>i red.” t ti Pink is also up and coming. Listr f t said, “We haven’t seen a resuf^f gence of pink since the ‘80s. It i^f big this year in home decor. Pink id- '- aligned with glamour and style and is very influential right now. Pink comes to us directly from the fashion runway.” ‘ Liss stresses the trend of usings new materials and fabrics together}*'»• “Color is important but we musL'l also talk about texture. Mohaii>u cashmere, suede, leather, boucl6*! knits, textured matelasse, fabrics* » with a mix of materials create afiq? interesting statement. yij:! It’s all about feeling comfort***'I able with an eclectic mix. Onctqryou decide your color family yoi**rf carry through with texture and fab^ ric. Everything is interesting, no**” one color or direction is right or wrong.” * As consumers are looking to see what’s hot in the marketplace this*>* year, Liss and her peers have al-

year 2001. n “Shabby chic, flea market anlj

junk styles will become even more popular in home and holiday decor. Serene and tranquil, monochromatic looks will enhance a cultural, spiritual focus. Global awareness and the honoring of cul uA tures, customs and handicrafts wilPQ continue to develop as people en^ 9 * joy memories of travels and dreaifl 3£ of foreign destinations.” tra

“Essentially we are in the busK 1 '*

ness of reinventing the traditional icons of Christmas and putting IPQ

theater, creating set and costume . new spin on them within the con In ^ design, her graphic design train- text of new trends through color!^

material textures and styles. An^

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com, cranberries and other tasteful holiday delights. Use your imagi-

nation.”

“I enjoy the personal expression element to decorating. It is so much fun when people realize decorating is about celebration and being themselves. They discover that choosing what they actually like gives them an incredible sense of

joy,” she said.

Liss has been with Midwest of Cannon Falls for the past 15 years. She admits that her design credentials, which include a degree in

• “Thirteen Days” (Dec. 20) Historical drama with Kevin Costner as JFK’s chief of staff during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. • “Cast Away” (Dec. 22) Tom Hanks’ annual holiday offering about Federal Express fatso who crash lands on a deserted island and slims down on a four-year crash diet. • “Dracula 2000” (Dec. 22) Wes Craven (“Scream I, II & III”) fright fare updates classic tale to present-day New Orleans where Jennifer Esposito and others fall under bloodthirsty Count’s spell. • “Family Man” (Dec. 22) Nick Cage as a lonely bachelor who wakes up in a parallel universe married to ex-girlfriend with Tea Leoni, kids, dog and all. • “Miss Congeniality” (Dec. 22) Comely comedy showcases Sandra Bullock as undercover FBI agent who dumbs down and boobs up as Miss New Jersey on trail of terrorist threatening to detonate beauty pageant. • “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” (Dec. 22) Coen Bros update of Homer’s Odyssey with George Clooney, John Turturro and John Goodman. Updated as 1930s epic about a trio of escaped cons trying to make their way back home. • “All the Pretty Horses” (Christmas) Matt Damon headlines as 1940s Texas cowboy who finds trouble and love south of the border in Chicana Penelope Cruz.

ing, three dimensional package design and her work as art director and photo stylist of catalogs for large department stores have all been equally valuable to her current career as creative director. “People often ask me where I get ideas and how I find out about upcoming trends. Midwest of Cannon Falls has commonly been known as a trend setter in the giftware business and it comes from long hours of research, combined experience and a bit of intuition. The giftware industry is inspired by home decor, visual display and multi-media environments. We also scour through fashion magazines and watch what’s hot in the fashion industry. What’s going on in the runways of Paris right now will affect us next year. That’s where all trends begin and gradually move into the home decor and

giftware industry.”

Liss refers to the importance of being aware of what is popular reflected in both color and texture. She tells us that purple has risen as the most popular color for the holidays, after red and green. Purple is festive and considered neutral since so many other colors work with it. She said, “The purple family is so broad and versatile you can take it in many directions. It pairs with reds, for a vibrant hot feeling, where combined with gold and silver it emotes a more subdued statement. Blues bring in a monochromatic celestial feeling. Tones of lavender blend well for a softer feeling. Purple also compliments rose, magentas and pinks. It’s a color that evokes strong feelings — its personality traits can be passionate, regal and very strong or traditional, funky and modem.” Midwest of Cannon Falls cur-

gels, teddy bears, toy

snowmen and Santas will never gd* 1 ' away. These elements simpl^ 1 ' 3 change in how we interpret therrt** 1 into new designs,” Liss admitted!;^ adding, 1**3 “New designs, whether they arfe^ 1 created by Midwest of Cannon Falls 01 designers or are your own personal*' f statements, continually change and grow as they tie the season to^ 1 gether with nostalgic memories and* ^ fresh new thoughts.” ,&f I As people discover the soul oP f *' Christmas decorating, they begirt 11 " to create multiple vignettes of holi^^ day decor throughout the house, blending and coordinating withirt *' individual room environments. Pf** is not unusual for homes to havrt 1 ^ multiple trees, one in the family* 1 room, perhaps one in the dining room or children’s play area. W'** this way opportunities for celebrate ^ ing with traditional icons, famil^'*' treasures, children’s themes as well' ^ as fashion themes based on colot* 0

increase.

What’s hot? Decorating trends rt for 2000 and 2001 show us therfc^! are no set rules. '*’ irri Today’s decor speaks from th& r ' heart and passions of the persofr '* who isn’t afraid to be bold and n * make their own statement As Liss states, ‘To experience life fullyv* 11 you must color outside of the lines.** 0

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To learn more about Midwest dp 1 Cannon Falls product line or t&t find a retailer near you, visit r ^‘- www.midwestofcannotffalls.com. Courtesy of ARA Contend www.aracontent.com, >d*/ e-mail: irffb9aracontent.com' **

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