If you celebrate the winter solstice and you are anything like me, you immediately start hanging decorations as soon as the Thanksgiving leftovers are stashed away. Regardless of your religious beliefs, decorating your home in evergreen branches or putting up a Christmas tree and adding embellishments is a beautiful way to come together with friends and family and to warm your home with good cheer.  One of my favorite parts of decorating the tree is getting to pull out all the ornaments I’ve collected over the years.  There are, of course, the traditional ball ornaments and lights but it is truly the creative and unique ornaments that add a personalized touch to my tree that I absolutely love. Below are some fun, interesting and beautiful ornaments to inspire your holiday decorating!

Wooden Sea Creature Ornaments

Plastic Game Controller Ornaments

Floral Blue and White Ball Ornament

Funny Hooligan Ornament

Photography Camera Ornament

Planet Saturn Ornament

Yummy Strawberry Ornament

Mosaic Ball Ornaments

Terrarium Clear Ball Ornament

Artsy Hand-Blown Glass Ornament

There are tons of specialty ornaments out there to help you find the perfect theme for your tree. However you decide to decorate for the holidays, just remember to have fun and celebrate the joy of being alive!

Read more here: sixdifferentways.com

We all know the scrumptious slice of pumpkin pie with a glob of whipped cream on top of it, but did you know you could use pumpkin for oodles of delicious dishes?

1. Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

1. Tease the seeds out of the pumpkin innards with your fingers and rinse them in a colander

2. Boil the seeds in a pot of well-salted water 1o minutes

3. Drain and spread on baking sheet

4. Toss with 1 tsp. olive oil

5. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until the seeds are toasty brown

2. Pumpkin Pasta Sauce

1. In a large nonstick skillet, sauté several cloves of garlic and half a diced onion

2.  Add 1 1/2 to 2 cups pumpkin puree and stir to combine

3. Add vegetable stock if needed to thin the sauce a bit

4. Add minced fresh sage or rosemary and serve over whole-wheat penne pasta

3. Pumpkin Ice Cream (Requires Ice Cream Maker!)

1. Add 1 cup canned or fresh pumpkin puree and add 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice to your favorite vanilla ice cream recipe

2. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions

4. Low-Fat Whole Grain Pumpkin Pancakes

1. In a large bowl, whisk together 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, .5 tsp ground nutmeg and .5 tsp ground ginger

2. In a separate bowl, mix together 1 egg yolk, 1 cup canned pumpkin, ¼ cup brown sugar, and 3 tbsp apple butter. Stir in 2 cups of skim milk until well-blended

3. All at once, add milk mixture to dry ingredients and stir just until combined.

4. In a medium bowl, beat 3 egg whites until light and fluffy (you can use a fork, whisk, or electric beater for this). Fold egg whites into batter

5. Ladle batter by 1/4 cup amounts onto a preheated nonstick griddle lightly sprayed with cooking spray, Cook until evenly browned on both sides

Recipe makes about 20 pancakes (when the 1/4 cup measure is used)

5. Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

1.  In a blender, combine 1/2 cup ice, 1/2 cup vanilla nonfat yogurt, 1 tsp. honey, 1/4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice and 1/4 cup pumpkin puree (add half a banana if you’d like)

2.  Puree until icy and smooth

6. Pumpkin Cream Cheese Spread

1. Add 1/2 cup canned pumpkin

2. 2 Tbsp. sugar (or sugar substitute to taste)

3.  1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice to 8 ounces of low-fat cream cheese

Pumpkin is an extremely versatile squash that works great as a fall decoration and tastes absolutely amazing in a variety dishes.

Go here to see the original: sixdifferentways.com

Call me old fashioned but I am still a fan of listening to vinyl records,  but these days it is certainly not as convenient as grabbing your MP3 player or iPod for music on-the-go. I have seen hundreds of vinyl records being given away for free on Craigslist or you can pick up a stack for cheap at your local thrift store. You may even have vinyl records lying around your house that are scratched, warped or unlistenable for reasons other than just damage (perhaps your musical taste has evolved!) Instead of just tossing them aside, you can reuse them for decorative or functional pieces for your home décor!  Here are a few of my favorite ways to creativity use vinyl records:

1. Canvases

You can use vinyl records as canvases to paint on. If you want a smoother surface to work with you can spray on a couple layers of primer before you paint.  I like to use acrylic paints but you can explore and experiment with different paints to get the effect you want. If you are apprehensive about painting free-hand on your vinyl canvas, you can also use a stencil. Vinyl records make cheap, effective and beautiful canvases!

Vinyl Record Canvas – Paint

Vinyl Record Canavas – Paint / Stencils

2. Bowls

You can turn your old records into really stylish bowls. I would choose a record you actually enjoy but might be damaged or a record with a cool label because the labels can be seen at the bottom of the bowl. These vinyl bowls make great fruit bowls, catch-all trays, and containers for potted plants. You can even hang your record-bowl design as wall art.

Vinyl Record Fruit Bowl

Painted Vinyl Record Bowl

3. Cake and Dessert Tray

Using 3 to 4 vinyl records of varying sizes or the same sizes and a few plastic cocktail glasses, you can create your own musical dessert tray. This is a great idea for themed parties or to simply show off your amazing crafty side!

Vinyl Record 3 Tier Dessert Tray

Vinyl Record Cupcake Serving Tray

4. Side Table

You can easily create a sturdy vinyl record side table. All you need to do is hot glue the vinyl record (the top of the side table) to a plant stand (the base of the side table) and VOILA! You can enjoy your newly vintage vinyl table!

Vinyl Record Side Table Materials

Vinyl Record Side / End Table

5. Earring Holder

Use a vinyl record to make a stylish earring holder by heating a metal skewer and poking it through the vinyl record. This earring holder is a great way to beautifully display your earrings as well as keep them organized. No more tangled messes!

Vinyl Record Hanging Earring Holder

Vinyl Record Earring Holder

6. Wall Art

You can cut interesting and fun shapes out of vinyl records and hang them throughout your home as art installations or 3D wall decals. Vinyl record wall art makes great conversation starters and adds a touch of edgy design to your home.

Vinyl Record Butterfly 3D Wall Art