Holiday Decorations

When it comes to holiday decorations, some of us are traditionalists: year after year, we stick to familiar arrangements in accustomed places, cherishing the continuity. But some of us are decorating adventurers, always on the lookout for new ways to decorate our homes in honor of the season.Whatever your attitude, you're likely to find something to please you at the Baltimore Symphony Associates Homes for the Holidays house tour next weekend, with 11 area floral designers transforming five local homes into festive fantasies.

MRS. FORMWALT! Guess what I got!" shouted my young friend Nick over the phone.As the mother of sons, I long ago stopped trying to guess anything. Since 1993, I have gone through life in a perpetual state of anticipating the next mini-crisis wrought by the parade of young men who habituate the 6-foot perimeter around my refrigerator.But Nick was different. One of Glen Burnie High School's brighter Gophers, I knew this young man had recently visited several prestigious colleges, including Yale, Georgia Tech and the Air Force Academy.

Santa's handy helpersTangled wires, rickety ladders, missing fasteners, burned-out bulbs - let's face it, getting those holiday decorations on the house is no picnic. But help is at hand: R.A.R. Landscaping of Baltimore has launched Christmas Decor, a franchise company that does the work for you. Christmas Decor will design a display, buy the materials and put everything in place. After the holidays, they'll come and take everything down, creating a careful map of the display so it's easy to replace the next year.

THIS TIME of year, I dream of Christmases past.Lying awake at night, thinking of the tasks yet to be done before the big day, I clear my head of stress by mentally traveling back to the home I grew up in on a street that no longer exists, except in my mind's eye. During these waking dreams, I explore minute-by-minute the magical texture of the days I once knew as a child, when anticipation of Christmas was orchestrated by home and community traditions more...

FireWestminster: Firefighters from Reese and Manchester assisted Westminster at 3: 47 p.m. Sunday, responding to an apartment fire in the 300 block of Pleasanton Road. Units were out 56 minutes.Westminster: Firefighters from Pleasant Valley assisted Westminster at 4: 22 p.m. Saturday, responding to an oven fire in the 600 block of Thornbury Court. Units were out 35 minutes.PoliceWestminster: A resident of Avenel Circle told police Saturday that property was stolen from his vehicle while it was parked outside his home.

Each Christmas, Colonial Williamsburg's floral services staff creates what may be the most famous traditional holiday decorations in America. For the past 60 years, hundreds of thousands of people have visited the historic area to take part in Williamsburg's celebration of Christmas. Countless magazine articles and books have been written about the decorations, made from the natural materials -- such as greens, berries, fruit, cones and pods -- that would have been available in 18th-century Virginia.

Around the house* Use a dollop of mayonnaise to clean hands after handling evergreens for holiday decorations. The oils in the mayonnaise will remove sap and grit and will also moisturize skin.* Each time an item has been charged, write a check for that amount, record, and stash the check in an envelope until the bill arrives. A dwindling balance helps control the urge to spend.

David Hopkins kept his Christmas tree up for 13 months. He meant to remove the artificial tree from its perch in his Rossville club basement last January. But then he and his girlfriend, Denise Debes, got busy rearranging furniture in their home, and they never got around to taking the tree down."And once it got to May and June . . . we figured we were halfway to Christmas, so we just left it up," Hopkins said.Evelyna Valentine had her tree out the door Dec. 27. She always takes her tree down a few days before New Year's Day because she believes nothing "old," including Christmas decorations, should carry over into the new year.

Ready or not, it's time for Christmas. Holiday celebrations already appear on this week's calendar. One of the region's first great houses to welcome the public to view its holiday decorations is Oatlands Plantation in Leesburg, Va. "Christmas at Oatlands" begins Saturday and continues through Dec. 30.This year the mansion has changed its theme from a Victorian Christmas to one of the Edwardian period. The year is 1903, and electricity lights the world. Those who had electricity in their homes were proud of their modern convenience, so swags of lights replaced candles in holiday decorations.

At Essex Elementary School, visitors are greeted by a Christmas tree and other obvious symbols of the approaching holiday.And the children will have had holiday celebrations before starting their winter break today. "It's been a tradition around here, and it's a tradition we're going to continue," said Assistant Principal Kenneth Lawton.Across Baltimore County, at Chatsworth Elementary School in Reisterstown, visitors "would not walk in and realize we are approaching any holiday. The school is not decorated," said its principal, Lenore Chapman.

Williamsburg Holiday Decorations Package What's the deal?: Take a step back in time to a simpler Christmas at historic Colonial Williamsburg, Va. Candles, decorations, costumed performers and musicians set the tone for a spirited, down-home 18th-century holiday. The Holiday Decorations Package includes accommodations, lunch at a tavern, passes to the historic area, a walking tour of holiday decorations and the book Christmas Decorations from Williamsburg. What's the savings?: Rates start at $81 per person, per night at the value hotel The Governors Inn. The Hotel Guest passes, which include general admission, also give 50 percent savings on evening programs.

This year inexpensive, natural decorations are popular, as people turn to more traditional baubles to decorate their homes for Christmas. With boughs of holly, fresh fruit, fresh greens, pine cones, wired ribbon and brown paper bags, a family can decorate their entire home for little or no expense, said Patti Pearce, owner of Flowers by Design, a floral shop on Main Street in Bel Air. For years, Pearce has decorated homes and storefront windows in...

When December snowflakes fall, I get overwhelmed by the notion that I should electrify the homestead for the holidays. Usually, I simply remain stretched out in my Barcalounger, and this feeling passes. Then I promise myself that next year, sure as there are idiotic snow drivers and rising utility rates, I am going to put up tasteful outdoor decorations. Recently, I pried myself out of the Barcalounger long enough to huddle with some outdoor lighting professionals to find out how they set the world aglow.

When a controversy erupted this month over "holiday" trees in the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, it seemed like an old argument about the use of public property for religious purposes at Christmas was back to bedevil politicians, religious leaders and harried travelers. A rabbi threatened a lawsuit if airport officials failed to add an 8-foot menorah to the airport's holiday display and airport officials opted to take down the trees rather than face the legal challenge. But the dispute was quickly settled when the threat was withdrawn and the holiday trees went back up. That rapid agreement reflects a truth that defies the contentious spirit of this age. For two decades or more public officials in most communities have been finding ways to provide season-appropriate decorations in public buildings through the December holidays without offending most religious sensibilities.

The Mount Hebron High School choirs will present their Winter Concert at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 15 in the school auditorium. The Madrigal Singers, Girls' Chorus, the Chorale, the Concert Choir, BarberShop and BeautyShop groups will perform. On the program is Vivaldi's Gloria, performed with orchestra. The school's bands will present concerts at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 19. The Wind Ensemble and Jazz Ensemble will be featured. The Symphonic Band, Symphonic Winds and Dixie Jazz Combo will perform Dec. 20. Admission is free.

ARE YOU CONVINCED THAT TASTEFUL Halloween decorations are an oxymoron? If your neighbors decorate their yards with homemade tombstones, line the walk with garbage bag pumpkins or hang ghosts made out of old white sheets from the trees, you may be convinced good taste has taken a holiday. But designers and party planners say Halloween decor doesn't have to be a horror show. Forget heavy chains, skeletons and creepy skulls. You can have fun decorating without setting off an alarm for the "style police."

Children smile and look in amazement when they visit the Colby house in Columbia. They watch Santa's elves busily make toys as Christmas carols fill the nighttime air. They marvel at the display of Santa and his reindeer soaring toward the Colby's chimney. "Does Santa live here?" some children have asked. The house, at 6428 Deep Calm in Owen Brown village, belongs to Butch and Barbara Colby, aka Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus - a title derived from the couple's Christmas spirit and the more than 55,000 Christmas lights illuminating their corner property.

It's that time of year again, those last few days before Thanksgiving arrives and the holiday season begins in earnest. That last little window of time where you can either try to ease into the holiday spirit or decide to jump in with both feet. For whatever spirit you might be in, there's likely a winter festival or event to match it: from a simple showing of handmade wreaths to an over-the-top spectacle of dazzling lights, from a Thanksgiving parade to a tour of historic homes. While you are out, you can start your gift shopping, find food and drink, or just enjoy a beautifully decorated landscape.

It's that time of year again, those last few days before Thanksgiving arrives and the holiday season begins in earnest. That last little window of time where you can either try to ease into the holiday spirit or decide to jump in with both feet. For whatever spirit you might be in, there's likely a winter festival or event to match it: from a simple showing of handmade wreaths to an over-the-top spectacle of dazzling lights, from a Thanksgiving parade to a tour of historic homes. While you are out, you can start your gift shopping, find food and drink, or just enjoy a beautifully decorated landscape.

Playing professor for a day at Towson University last week, Bob Ehrlich picked a bunch of newspaper stories apart line by line to show students how he'd been done wrong. But the governor left out the best example - the biggest political reportage scandal since Judy Miller first let Scooter Libby go off the record. I refer, of course, to Inflatagate. It began a week ago in this space, with a column on the big inflatable pumpkin and other Halloween decorations outside the governor's mansion.