Cyber Monday & Simple Tools to Make Holiday Decorating a Snap!

Happy Cyber Monday! 

Even for those who really do hold out until after Thanksgiving, the Christmas decorating and shopping season has officially begun, and we couldn’t be more excited! To share our excitement, we’re offering FREE SHIPPING and an additional 20% OFF on all Sterling Pear products through the end of today (use coupon code CYBERMON at checkout).

Based on what’s going on at our own homes, we’re guessing that some, if not all, of you are trying to figure out how to display your favorite decorations from years gone by and also make room for the pretty new things you’ve added to your holiday collections. With that dilemma in mind, we’d like to suggest three little items that can make a world of difference in the way you decorate:  Garland Ties, Stocking Holders and Wreath Hangers.

Garland Ties

Garland Ties:  Simple and understated as they are, garland ties can revolutionize the way you display greenery on mantelpieces, railings or banisters. The ties secure your garland in the right position without you having to scramble for an old twist tie or a piece of string to hold your decorative vision in place, and they’re much more attractive! Our burgundy, brown or gold ties add just a touch of style to complement the deep green of your garland.

Stocking Holders

Stocking Holders:  With your garland sitting pretty, it’s time to hang the stockings by the chimney with care. Last year, we carefully spaced four permanent hooks into the underside of our mantel. Whoops. This year (or actually early next year), we’ll need another stocking and another hook. Instead of getting out the drill again, we’re going with stocking hangers. They are beautiful, temporary and don’t damage the mantel. From mantel clips, to elegant scrolls to festive candy canes, stocking hangers will highlight your stockings without hurting your surfaces.

Wreath Hangers

Wreath Hangers:  Two weeks ago, we talked about how much we love wreaths because they offer decorative versatility to your front entrance without breaking the budget. You probably know someone who has a different door decoration for every season. Wreath hangers, like our magnetic or adjustable wreath hangers, make this type of year round decorating a breeze and easily complement your favorite Christmas wreath. One of our latest additions to the Sterling Pear line is our Red Ribbon Holiday Wreath Door Hanger - it is classic and just so festive.

We would love to see how you use simple tools like garland ties, stocking hangers and wreath hangers to simplify and beautify your holiday decorating. Please send pictures, and your tips and tricks, to info@sterlingpear.com.

Don’t forget! Celebrate Cyber Monday with FREE SHIPPPING and an additional 20% OFF through the end of the day using coupon code CYBERMON at checkout only at www.sterlingpear.com!

Contributed by Terrie Petree for Sterling Pear

New Ways to Give Thanks this Thanksgiving

It’s that time of year when families draw closer, cherished recipes come out of hiding, and there’s that palpable buzz in the air that says the holidays have arrived! At Sterling Pear, we know we’re not alone when we say that we love this time of year, and we like to focus on the things that make Thanksgiving truly unique – it’s a purely American holiday devoted to being grateful for the bounty we enjoy in our lives.

Thanksgiving, for us, is the holiday dedicated to remembering the difficult beginnings of our country and, in turn, the wealth of opportunities and resources that we enjoy as its citizens. We are mindful of the people in places like the Philippines or Syria who are experiencing difficult times. And in a time when our country may seem deeply divided, it’s nice that we can all pause on Thursday to be thankful for the liberty and history that we share.

This Thanksgiving season we have found two great new traditions to start in our own families– Gratitude Trees and Giving Tuesday.

The gratitude tree, a simple and heartfelt way to give thanks.

Gratitude Trees:  A recent issue of a children’s magazine encourages children to make a Gratitude Tree. Children write down things that they are grateful for on colored paper in the shape of leaves boasting festive fall colors. The more they are grateful for, the fuller the tree becomes. In the sample we saw, the leaves said things as simple as, “I am grateful for mommy and daddy,” “I am grateful that dinner tastes so good,” and “I am grateful my eyes are pretty.” What a great activity to help your children remember all the little things we should be thankful for!

Giving Tuesday:  Our other new tradition this year is another way of showing thanks. It’s called Giving Tuesday and its goal is to become one of the big holiday shopping landmarks (hopefully to rank with Black Friday and Cyber Monday), but the focus is on giving to charitable causes instead of buying gifts. Giving Tuesday officially began last year and is the brainchild of the United Nations Foundation. Mark your calendars because Giving Tuesday is on Tuesday, December 3. If you’re Twitter friendly, check out #GivingTuesday or you can go to www.givingtuesday.org for additional information.

Last but certainly not least, we’re thankful for you! When we pause on Thursday to count our blessings, our Sterling Pear friends and customers will be on our list! Wishing you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Autumn Decor for Your Front Entrance

Nestled between the fun of Halloween and the joy of the holidays, the month of November gives us a brief but beautiful window of time when we can indulge in the bright oranges, reds and yellows of autumn. At Sterling Pear, we think that fall colors are some of the best and most inspirational for decorating! This year we’re especially excited about autumn door decorations that really showcase the warmth and brilliance of the season.

Perhaps what we love most about door decorating is that it’s a simple and easy way to keep your home looking current. For example, the look of a square autumn leaf wreath is perfect; the square shape is a fresh, modern take on the traditional door wreath, and the entire project can most likely be made with items you have on hand.

Our child friendly version of the square autumn leaf wreath

We decided to give this square leaf wreath a try in a kid’s version and drew inspiration from our friends over at thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com. 

We collected leaves from our neighbor’s yard and, rather than buying a square wreath frame, we simply cut a square out of cardboard and glued the leaves directly onto the cardboard. Our final result wasn’t as polished as the picture that inspired us, but even little hands covered in glue can’t mess up the simple beauty of red fall leaves. 

One side note: these leaves were collected in San Diego where fall weather is as sporadic as trees that drop their leaves. We easily collected enough for our wreath; imagine what you can do in areas where the fall harvest is more plentiful!

If you prefer more traditional autumn shapes, we love the combination of Indian corn and cornucopias. Indian corn is easy to find, and the corn’s blues, yellows and reds are so vibrant that you can easily make simple decorations that look beautiful.  Try tying a few ears together with a ribbon, or we’ve seen lovely door decorations with Indian corn and fall flowers tied together with bright ribbon. Even better, grab another handful of those red leaves from the neighbor’s yard and arrange them with the flowers and the corn in a cornucopia for your door!  The possibilities are endless!

Suggestion: After your wreath or fall arrangement is complete, you can use beautiful wreath hangers with colorful ribbon to hang and showcase your masterpiece on your front door. 

We would love to see how fall has inspired you!  Send us a picture of your fall masterpiece and we may showcase it on our blog to inspire others.  Email your photos to info@sterlingpear.com.

One final note, if you’re wondering how to hang a square wreath or, perhaps even more challenging, a cornucopia, we suggest tying a pretty ribbon around the top of your wreath or just below the mouth of the cornucopia. Then, use a wreath hanger to hang your decoration. If you don’t already have a wreath hanger, have a look at some of ours.

Contributed by: Terrie Petree for Sterling Pear

Joyous Wedding Wishes to a Sterling Pear Co-Founder

The setting couldn’t have been any more beautiful: an always weather and picture perfect San Diego, California coupled with a bride and groom that were aglow with their love for each other and excitement of their big day!

It’s been a busy spring and summer for Sterling Pear’s co-founder Janet Hayden who married the love of her life Scott Bishop, in a beautiful April ceremony at the LDS San Diego Temple followed by a ring ceremony in beautiful Pacific Beach. 

Mr. and Mrs. Scott Bishop

As her friend of almost 20 years (has it been that long?) and business partner of almost 8 (crazy how time flies), it’s been an honor to see their love story from conception to present day! The love and respect they have for each is clearly evident and extremely well deserved. 

Isn't she stunning?

It is belated, but wishing you a wonderful life together full of happiness Mr. and Mrs. Bishop! Now make sure you use one of our Wedding Keepsake Chests to store all of your wedding mementos! 

Now all Keepsake Chests 20% Off through July 31, 2013

Contributed by: Heather Hadfield, Co-Founder, Sterling Pear

Real Eggs, Really Easy Easter Garland!

If you are like me, I'm sure you have that group of friends who are not only strikingly beautiful and fantastically smart, but are also stylistically crafty as well.  To me, this is a "Holy Trinity" of sorts.

These traits describe my dearly missed friends in Washington, D. C. area to a “T”.  I get green with envy each time I see them getting together to put their classy craftiness to work and really miss the fun chatter and banter (and sometimes even musical numbers) that come with each get-together.

My friends have honored me with being able to share their latest and greatest in crafting efforts:  beautiful Easter Egg Garlands made out of real eggs.

First, their list of supplies started with:

• Dozens of real eggs
• Fishing line
• a Dremel hand drill
• Cookie sheets
• Food coloring dye (mixed with a little white vinegar to get the best color)
• Toothpicks
• 1 ½” – 2” Ribbon

The Prepping

To prep the eggs they carefully drilled a small hole in the tops and the bottoms of each egg.  Using a toothpick inserted into one of the holes, they swirled around the egg yolk so that the insides could be blown out in to a sink.

After the insides were removed, they gently washed the eggs and set them on a cookie sheet to be placed in a 300 F oven (for 8-10 minutes) to harden up the shells.

As soon as the eggs cooled they were able to dye the eggs in an assortment of fun Easter colors.

The Pretty 

When the eggs had fully dried from the colored dye, fishing line was used to string the eggs together, making sure to use an assortment of the colors.  Festive ribbon was then used to finish-off the edges of the garland strands. And in the words of the immortal Amber, “Badda-Boom, Badda-Bing, we had ourselves some garland!”







The overall consensus was that it was pretty quick and an easy project  (the longest part was dyeing the eggs).  Thank you dear friends for letting me share your genius!

Contributed by: Heather Hadfield (Dietrich), Sterling Pear