Posts tagged holiday

Red, White & Blue!

Jul02
2010 Leave a Comment Written by Alicia

usa flagThe beauty of Independence Day, or more commonly referred to as the Fourth of July, is that it’s a holiday that every single American can celebrate. It brings all groups together to celebrate one country. It celebrates the Declaration of Independence, declaring our independence from Great Britain in 1776. It celebrates the freedom we enjoy each day that we live in this country, freedom to worship, to work, to own our own homes.

To remind us and to celebrate this milestone of our country, we shoot off fireworks, attend parades, host barbecues, take boat rides and altogether enjoy a long weekend of good food and good company. While participating in all of this festive fun, we need to remember what we’re celebrating by showing our pride for America. America needs our pride and support.

READ MORE »

Posted in Home Improvement, Tips and Ideas - Tagged , , , ,

Top 5 Tips for Storing Your Holiday Decorations

Jan15
2010 Leave a Comment Written by Carrie

Christmas-Trees

The holidays have come and gone. If you already have a system for storing your decorations, keep doing what you’re doing. However, if you have recently moved into a new home or are looking for a new way of organizing, this article is for you!

Here are the top 5 tips for storing your holiday decorations:

  1. Trees
    • DO NOT store a fake tree in its original box. The cardboard will deteriorate over time.
    • DO store your tree in a commercial “tree bag” if it is a whole tree or inside several black garbage bags if it comes in two or three parts.
    • If you do not have room inside a hall/basement closet, the garage is a great place to store a holiday tree, especially if it’s six feet tall.
  2. Ornaments
    • Small ornaments fit well inside empty egg cartons, so save those convenient containers throughout the fall months.
    • Although it may be tough to keep track of the original boxes belonging to older ornaments, try to keep the box in which each ornament is packed. It is a lot easier to store boxes rather than oddly shaped ornaments.
    • If you cannot find an original box, plastic cups and shredded newspaper work just as well.
  3. Candles and Potpourri
    • To prevent scratching, wrap candles in newspaper or tuck them inside old socks.
    • DO NOT store candles in a very warm places, as the wax will melt. Even the slightest bit warmth may leave with you a misshapen candle.
    • When it comes to potpourri, there is no way around storing little bits and pieces other than to dump them in a plastic container. Make sure the lid is secure; duct tape it if you have to.
  4. Figurines (and linens)

    • Treat figurines the same way you would ornaments. If an original box is unavailable, try newspaper.
    • If you have holiday towels or linens, easily store them by wrapping them around your figurines (or even by laying them in between layers of ornaments).
    • The best place to store figurines would be on a shelf inside a closet. If you have to put a box on the floor, keep it towards the top to avoid breakage.
  5. Lights
    • Cut a large piece of cardboard, perhaps the side of a box, into a rectangular shape. Then make small slits on each side and keep them an inch or two apart. Wrap the lights around the board, tucking the cord in each slit as you move down.
    • Carefully wrap the strand in a circular motion and place the strand into a plastic bag. If you toss the lights in unprotected, they may tangle or even break.
    • The garage may not be the best place to store lights if you live in a cold climate. You may find that a lot of the works don’t work after sitting “outside” in the cold.

How do you store your holiday decorations? Share your ideas below!

Posted in Home Improvement, Tips and Ideas - Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

Buying with Buy Owner = the Perfect Resolution

Dec29
2009 Leave a Comment Written by Alicia

House

If you’re settling in on the perfect New Year’s resolution for 2010, make it this one: to buy your next home with Buy Owner! By doing so, you will be choosing the simplest, quickest method of finding the home of your dreams, you will be completely in charge of your own search and, on top of all that, you will be doing it with the tools right at your fingertips!

When you’re ready to start browsing properties, you can visit www.BuyOwner.com and search thousands of listings for sale by owner. You don’t need to make a commitment to anyone else, or pay anyone else to help you search. You just search in your leisure, and you take the next step when you’re ready.

To help you find exactly what you want in a new home, you can use the Advanced Search option. This allows you to search for a specific price range, a particular type of property style (such as a single-family home or a condominium), certain features you want included with the house like a pool or a garage and so much more!

As you are browsing, you can also use the Housefly tool to see what properties other visitors are viewing. Is the house you like getting a lot of views? Are there other popular properties that catch your attention?

Once you’re ready to commit to the process of buying a new home, Buy Owner can help you receive a loan through our mortgage partner. Sales representatives and customer service staff will also be available to help answer any questions you may have during the process.

To help answer the questions that new or experienced homebuyers might have during the buying process, Buy Owner provides loads of blog articles to fill you in on the current market and what you should know as a homebuyer.

Make 2010 a successful year by using Buy Owner to find your new home! Then, next New Year’s, you’ll be making resolutions from the comfort of your new home.

Posted in Buying Tips, Tips and Ideas - Tagged , , , , ,

Happy Holidays!

Dec25
2009 Leave a Comment Written by Blog Master

go-green-christmas

From our Buy Owner offices to the dining rooms of your homes throughout the nation, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Posted in Selling Tips, Tips and Ideas - Tagged ,

Holiday Decorating Safety Precautions

Dec18
2009 Leave a Comment Written by Alicia

candle

Most homeowners or renters look forward to showing off their holiday décor this winter, and we love to look at it as much as you love to show it off! However, did you know many house fires and electrical dilemmas occur around this time of year, along with physical injuries? To prevent these possible predicaments, here are some quick and easy safety precautions to follow when setting up your holiday décor.

To prevent physical injuries:

• Set your tree in a stand that is sized and weighed correctly for the trunk of your tree. In other words, if you chop a larger tree than usual this year, don’t expect your old stand to hold this tree up too. This will prevent falling trees.

• Try to hide your outdoor wires behind bushes, away from the walkway. Inside, have the wires line the outer walls. This will prevent tripping injuries.

• When hanging lights on the roof, have someone hold the ladder in place. Wear shoes that will grip the roof. Hang lights in the daylight. This will prevent falling injuries.

• When lighting candles, use a long lighter or match. Only allow adults to light candles, or children under strict supervision. This will prevent burns.

• Opt for tinsel, garland and other non-metal decorations that are not hazardous if consumed by a child or pet. This will prevent poisoning and choking.

• Wear gloves when dealing with lights, cords and plugs, and work only in conditions that are not overly dry or moist. This will prevent electrocutions.

• Hang heavy or breakable ornaments low on the tree. That way, if they fall from the tree, it will help prevent scattered glass. Also, keep all breakable decorations away from a child’s grasp.

• When picking up heavy boxes filled with holiday décor, bend your knees and use your whole-body strength to lift. This will help prevent back injuries.

To prevent electrical problems:

• Cover outdoor electrical outlets with duct tape. This will prevent rain and snow moisture to drip into the outlets. Also, make sure the extension cords and lights you use outside are made for outdoor use.

• Use an electrical strip to connect multiple plugs together. Do not attempt to connect one electrical strip with another strip, or to use more wires than there are plugs. This will prevent electrical fires.

• Turn all the lit decorations off at night. This will prevent possible fires. You might also want to consider unplugging decorations too, which will save energy.

• Replace damaged cords and lights. When replacing a burnt bulb, make sure to replace it with a bulb of the same wattage. This will prevent electrical problems.

• When purchasing an artificial tree, make sure the label reads “fire resistant.” With real trees, make sure it’s fresh rather than dry and brittle. This will prevent fires.

• Keep lit candles in clear view, burn out when leaving the house or going to sleep, and keep away from flammable objects, such as the tree. This will prevent fires.

• Do not throw wrapping paper into a fireplace. The paper burns fast and intensely, which could cause a sudden burst of flames. This will prevent fires and burns.

• Clean out your gutters before hanging lights on the roof, and opt for smaller bulbs instead of larger ones. These steps will prevent hot lights from burning dried leaves and starting fires.

Posted in Home Improvement, Tips and Ideas - Tagged , , ,

10 Winter Decorating Tips: Interior

Dec11
2009 Leave a Comment Written by Alicia

holidaycards

Last week we offered 10 winter decorating tips for your exterior. Now, it’s time to discuss interior decorating for the winter holidays! Although the exterior is what every guest will view first, it does not have to be what they remember most. In the warmth of your own home, without venturing out into the bitter cold, you can give your personal space cozy ambiance that everyone will want to spend time in!

Here are 10 winter decorating tips for the interior:

• In the winter months, daylight disappears earlier than ever. Create a holiday spirit inside by turning your overhead lights on dimmers and lighting an array of candles! Purchase a large candle, tie a bow around it and place it in the middle of a wreath on a table. Or purchase numerous small candles and scatter them around each room. Choose wintery scents, like evergreen, gingerbread or cinnamon spice.

• If you have a Christmas tree, it should be located in the largest or most popular room. If your house displays a large front window, setting the tree in front of it is an ideal way to decorate the inside and out! Place a tree skirt around the bottom, where gifts can be placed, and decorate the tree with your personal approach, whether that be lights, garland, tinsel, ornaments or all of the above!

• Can’t decide whether to display a real or artificial tree? Real trees radiate a natural glow and scent, but they are a chore to chop down and attach to your vehicle. Artificial trees are expensive at first, but they are a cinch to set up each year. To help you decide, read this past article for more helpful advice.

• If your house contains a fireplace, use this highlight to your full advantage! After all, you’ll want Santa Claus to be impressed when he arrives through the chimney! Line the mantel with lights or garland, hang a wreath above or on the mantel, set Hanukkah candles in the middle of the mantel, hang stockings, or create a nature scene made up of poinsettias, pinecones, pine needles and red berries. On cold evenings, keep the fire burning brightly!

• To make every meal this month more special, create a memorable centerpiece for your dining room or kitchen table. Purchase one already made, or fashion one yourself! This could be made with candles, roses, poinsettias, wreaths or homemade creations. For example, set up a sleigh on the table, with or without reindeer, and fill the sleigh with post-dinner treats!

• Afraid of the environmental impact that your decorating will produce? Read this past blog about how to have a green Christmas. Decorate with recyclable items, host a green dinner party, and reuse your decorations after the holidays! Read the article for more great advice.

• Holidays are not the time to skimp on homemade goodies! When hosting guests, showing your home to potential home buyers or just enjoying a Saturday afternoon at home, fill your kitchen with natural scents! Bake sugar cookies with holiday cookie cutters, create a gingerbread house masterpiece to display, brew up some flavored coffee or provide a bowl of marshmallows to accommodate the never-ending mugs of hot cocoa!

• Add little knickknack décor to end tables, coffee tables and windowsills all around your house! In many minds, it’s nearly impossible to overdue it with holiday decorations (unless, of course, you’re in the process of selling your home). Examples could include nativity scenes, sleighs, Santa, reindeer, holiday containers full of candy or mints, scented candles, bowls of pine cones, leaves sprayed in silver or gold, etc. Pretty much, anything goes.

• Use a staircase or balcony railing to your advantage. Wrap it with garland and lights, attach bows, hang holiday stockings from it or hang ornaments in each opening. This is a great space for adding eye-catching vibrancy!

• Don’t celebrate these popular holidays? Still enjoy your cozy, warm interior during the upcoming cold months ahead! Keep a fire in the fireplace, with marshmallows nearby to roast. Bake sugar cookies. Decorate with pine cones, pine needles, etc. Light scented candles. Lots of these holiday decorating ideas can be used by anyone, anytime!

Posted in Home Improvement, Tips and Ideas - Tagged , ,

Happy Thanksgiving!

Nov26
2009 Leave a Comment Written by Blog Master

thanksgiving

From our Buy Owner offices to the dining rooms of your homes throughout the nation, Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted in Selling Tips - Tagged ,

Thanksgiving Decorating Tips

Nov06
2009 Leave a Comment Written by Alicia

pumpkinFALL

Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and though we’ve previously discussed how home sellers should keep holiday decorations to a minimum, there is nothing wrong with adding fall flare to your home or with adding warmth and coziness to your layout.

Wow your dinner guests with homemade or purchased decorations that not only show off the vibrant colors of fall, but that also celebrate the coming together of friends and the beginning of our founded nation. In the hype of winter holidays to come, Thanksgiving décor is sometimes forgotten, but it just as lovely and important as any other holiday.

To decorate for your Thanksgiving, try to incorporate some of these ideas:

• Show off some cornucopias! Place a few medium-sized examples around the home, or just display one large example as your table’s centerpiece. Fill this treasure with real or fake fall leaves, acorns, pine cones and twigs, or fill it with brightly colored flowers, fruits or vegetables! As a goody bag for your guests to take home, Disney’s FamilyFun.com suggests filling sugar cones with multi-colored hard candies and writing each person’s name on a cone with cake icing!

• Dedicate a table or a corner of the room for pumpkins and an array of uniquely shaped and colored squash and gourds! These can be found in your local grocery store, or you could make a day out of choosing some at a local pumpkin farm. You could even serve the squash as part of the meal! One popular fall recipe includes cutting an acorn squash in half, scooping out the seeds, placing some butter and brown sugar in the middle, and cooking the squash in the microwave for 10 minutes.

• To promote green living to your family and friends, host a green Thanksgiving, using only eco-friendly decorations! Our Green Thanksgiving blog provides you with an abundance of options, which include serving soup in hollowed-out baby pumpkins or adding an autumn scent with candles made out of recyclable goods! You can read all kinds of eco-friendly decorating ideas.

• Remember the pilgrims and Indians that made this day possible? Decorate with wheat stalks or cornstalks, to celebrate the harvest. Hang Thanksgiving stickies on your windows that display a pilgrim and Indian setting. Fill a vase with colorful feathers. Surprise your guests with homemade Indian and pilgrim hats! For instructions on how to make these hats, visit ziggityzoom.com. You could even tell everyone to dress up in costumes, or as the host, dress up alone!

• No matter what side dishes you decide to serve, every Thanksgiving meal has one thing in mind: turkey. Celebrate this common element by displaying stuffed animal turkeys, window stickies with turkeys, or just drawings of turkeys. One renowned way of creating an artistic, personal turkey is to trace your hand, draw the face in your thumb, and color your fingers different colors for the feathers.

Thanksgiving decorations should be quick to set up and quick to take down. After the last guest finishes his or her slice of pumpkin pie and heads out the door, you could quickly toss the hollow pumpkins and homemade turkey drawings, take down the window stickies, fold up the Indian costume and store away the cornucopia for next year. Keep things simple!

Posted in Home Improvement, Tips and Ideas - Tagged ,

Celebrating a Green Fourth of July

Jun26
2009 1 Comment Written by Carrie

usaflag

No matter where you live in the United States, the summer season is upon you, and July 4 is right around the corner. As part of our green decorating series, Buy Owner is here to share a few ideas on how you can make your Independence Day celebration a little more eco-friendly.

• Recycle decorations from previous holidays. If you have strings of white twinkle lights stashed away in a closet, pull them out and hang them around windows or on a fireplace mantel. They can be hung just about anywhere, not solely on a tree! If you used red and white candles during the Christmas season or on Valentine’s Day, you could also put them out for July 4.

• Decorate with fruit bowls. In the summer, there is nothing like taking a bite of a juicy apple, a sweet peach or a tart pineapple. Pick your favorite fruits and arrange them in a bowl. This will add a bit of the summer season to your home’s interior and offer party guests a refreshing snack at the same time.

• Create a themed garden. If there is space in your front lawn, plant a garden and spruce it up with red, white and blue hues for Independence Day. Neighbors and party guests will enjoy the curb appeal of your yard. Choose red, white and blue flowers. They will look great all summer long! You may add some lawn accents that you can purchase from a craft shop, storing them in the garage/shed after the holiday and reuse every year.

• Be green with your food. When planning a picnic, use Tupperware. Although it may save time to wrap your sandwiches in plastic and to bring paper plates, try not to. Reusable containers will require extra clean-up later, but you will be keeping your trash out of landfills and saving a few trees. If you want to eat ice cream, a cone is more eco-friendly than a paper cup. Feel like drinking a bottle of beer, water or soda? Make sure to recycle the empty bottles/cans.

Posted in Green Living, Tips and Ideas - Tagged , , ,

Entertaining after the Holidays

Jan16
2009 Leave a Comment Written by Becky

party

So it’s that time of the year again: the end of the holiday season and the beginning of yet another new year. You’ve taken down the mistletoe, put away the tinsel and packed up the artificial tree, probably not to see it again until next winter rolls around. There are no more Christmas parties to attend, no Hanukkah shindigs, no big New Year’s Eve bashes. But just because the holidays are over, it doesn’t mean you’re done entertaining.

Here are a few tips for entertaining after the holidays:

Use what you’ve got
If you’re like most people, chances are you spent more than you meant to during the holiday season. It’s normal to splurge a little come Christmastime, but that just means you shouldn’t go crazy with the spending after the holidays. Stick to a budget, and use what you’ve got. From paper plates to festive decorations, chances are you can find most of what you need around the house.

Play up your home’s best features
Things like wet bars and media rooms were made for entertaining. If you have special features like these in your home, use them! And if you’re lucky enough to live in an area without freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall, why wait until summer to entertain outdoors? Bust out the patio furniture and throw a backyard barbecue now to beat the winter blues!

Go with a theme
Whether it’s a potluck or a Super Bowl party, theme parties are a great way to get everyone involved. The possibilities are endless when it comes to theme parties, so be creative! If you can’t go outdoors, a beach or indoor Hawaiian theme might be a good way to counter the winter weather, while a wine-tasting party or a movie night is sure to keep things festive.

Posted in Home Improvement, Tips and Ideas - Tagged , , , , , ,
« Older Entries

About the BuyOwner.com Blog

Welcome to the BuyOwner.com Blog, your source for regularly updated market information!

Founded in 1984, BuyOwner.com® is the leading provider of real estate marketing services. We pioneered the "For Sale by Owner" (FSBO) market, which today represents over 20 percent of all residential real estate transactions.

You can read more about BuyOwner.com here.

Article Archives

Blog Roll

Real Estate Top Blogs Real Estate Blogs - BlogCatalog Blog Directory Add to Technorati Favorites Find the best blogs at Blogs.com. Blog Directory Home Improvement Blog Directory

Subscribe

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner