{"id":16503,"date":"2022-07-26T13:44:48","date_gmt":"2022-07-26T20:44:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/noelophile.com\/?p=16503"},"modified":"2022-07-26T13:44:48","modified_gmt":"2022-07-26T20:44:48","slug":"creating-magic-part-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/noelophile.com\/?p=16503","title":{"rendered":"Creating Magic – Part One"},"content":{"rendered":"
by Noella Noelophile\u00ae<\/h6>\n
\"Christmas<\/a>

(Royalty-free image by Leonhard Niederwimmer from Pixabay.)<\/p><\/div>\n

This article contains affiliate links.\u00a0 If you make a purchase through one, I may receive a small commission.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

July 4th has come and gone.\u00a0 Out in my area, the county fair’s in full swing.<\/p>\n

According to my grandfather, that means summer is almost over.<\/p>\n

Now, just a minute.\u00a0 Technically, summer is just over four weeks old!\u00a0 And as a kid, I never understood why Grandpa would say that.<\/p>\n

But I completely get it now.\u00a0 And this week, I’m beginning to craft for Christmas.<\/p>\n

What’s great about that, is that there’s time to think about what kind of magic I want to create.\u00a0 How about you?\u00a0\u00a0 When you think ahead to Christmas, what kinds of things do you envision?<\/p>\n

Along with my regular posts, I’ll be publishing several posts, this summer, about some ways to create the magic. \u00a0 (And yes, these do<\/em> contain affiliate links!)<\/p>\n

Lighting<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\"Multiple<\/a>

(Royalty-free image by Pexels<\/a> from Pixabay.)<\/p><\/div>\n

Nothing changes a mood like lighting.<\/p>\n

As a teenager, I participated in a church Christmas pageant.\u00a0\u00a0 And when the show was over, the sidewalk to the church steps was illuminated–with luminarias.<\/p>\n

Have you made those?\u00a0 They’re very easy: the 1960s versions involved brown paper bags, each with a candle embedded in sand at the bottom.\u00a0 You opened the bag, poured in enough clean sand to cover the bottom and come up about two inches in the bag, then set the candle in the center.\u00a0 Then, setting the bag up wherever it would be, the candle would be lit–beauty in an instant.<\/p>\n

With California’s drought and fire risk, should you want to create luminarias, may I suggest battery-powered LED tea lights, as opposed to lighted candles. \u00a0 Setting them\u00a0 in clean sand is still a good precaution.\u00a0\u00a0 And while the fire hazard is minimal with low-powered LED lights, how about having a carton of baking soda nearby–just in case.<\/p>\n

OK, this is the link…<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\"Multicolored<\/a>

(Royalty-free image by Gerd Altmann<\/a> from Pixabay.)<\/p><\/div>\n

Meanwhile, if you’re thinking of lighting your home and need exterior Christmas lights, here is a link to one of my affiliates: LEDMall.com.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Their laser lighting technology involves an outdoor optical system which you plug into the ground on a stake.\u00a0 It then projects up to seven different colors of lights on your home.<\/p>\n

Their sparkly white lights are my favorite, but they do have up to seven colors which their device can project, as well as motion patterns and special Christmas themes.<\/p>\n

And, one additional idea<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\n

\"Multiple<\/a>

(Royalty-free image by Annette Meyer<\/a> from Pixabay.)<\/p><\/div>\n

Here’s one more light-related idea for you.\u00a0 For Christmas, or any other time.<\/p>\n

Every Christmas, my favorite uncle made a special centerpiece on his living room coffee table.\u00a0 He’d take a tall glass bowl and put red glass Christmas ornaments in it.\u00a0 He’d use two sizes, large and small, and they’d look like fruit from an enchanted tree.<\/p>\n

But he didn’t stop there.<\/p>\n

Around that glass bowl, equidistant from one another, he’d set a dozen votive candles.<\/p>\n

\"Lighted<\/a>

(Royalty-free image by S. Hermann & F. Richter<\/a> from Pixabay.)<\/p><\/div>\n

Walking into his living room felt like looking at Christmas, in the very heart of his home.<\/p>\n

My uncle said he’d seen the idea in a magazine.\u00a0 Wish I knew which one, I’d certainly give credit where credit is due!<\/p>\n

Imagine the different variations possible on this idea.\u00a0 And it doesn’t have to be just for Christmas.<\/p>\n

What if that dish were filled with silk flowers for summer?\u00a0\u00a0 White and gold birds and trim for a wedding or shower?\u00a0 Glittery pumpkins for autumn?\u00a0 Red Valentine hearts?\u00a0 Or even some special symbol that’s important to someone you love, for that person’s birthday or your anniversary?<\/p>\n

Something else you can do: use LED candles in votive glasses–and set them atop an inexpensive circular mirror from a local discount store or craft store.\u00a0 Now you have “twice” as many lighted candles, lighting up Christmas–or any other special occasion.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Noella Noelophile\u00ae This article contains affiliate links.\u00a0 If you make a purchase through one, I may receive a small commission. July 4th has come and gone.\u00a0 Out in my area, the county fair’s in full swing. According to my … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1464],"tags":[2182,63,2183],"class_list":["post-16503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-craftstuff","tag-christmas-magic","tag-decorating","tag-lighting-ideas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/noelophile.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/noelophile.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/noelophile.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noelophile.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noelophile.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16503"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/noelophile.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16503\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16528,"href":"https:\/\/noelophile.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16503\/revisions\/16528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/noelophile.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noelophile.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noelophile.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}