THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 11, 1994 TAG: 9412090113
SECTION: HOME PAGE: G2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARCIA MANGUM, HOME & GARDEN EDITOR
LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT decked every banister, mantel, doorway and tabletop for Norfolk's Holly Homes Tour, but another spirit was in the air as well - the spirit of community giving.
As the new editor of the Home & Garden section and a new resident of Lafayette Residence Park, it seemed my duty to attend the home tour in the neighboring Lafayette Shores. But as I walked from house to house, I realized that this was not a duty but a pleasure - and a privilege.
Unadorned, the homes are beautiful. Adorned by the women of the Norfolk City Union of The King's Daughters, they are works of art.
About 125 women worked for four days to deck the houses in holiday finery for the two-day fund-raising tour last weekend, and the results were stunning.
Certain themes emerged this year - primarily a return to natural materials, and the predominance of burgundy and gold in the decorations.
That was good news for me, because I'm lucky enough to live in a neighborhood with an abundance of pines, magnolias, boxwoods, ivy, nut trees, hollies and other evergreens, ours for the picking.
Collect a basketful of greenery from the yard, gild it with gold spray paint and you're good to go. As one woman on the tour remarked, ``I've already bought my can of gold paint.''
Other ideas I picked up from the tour included:
Place poinsettias around the room in gold-sprayed paper grocery bags, with the tops rolled down.
Tie small dried pomegranates, dried citrus slices and delicate dried flowers to the Christmas tree limbs, along with artificial miniature grape leaves and grape clusters. Gold-coated pine cones, berry clusters and poinsettias were tied on one tree, but instead of being snuggled in the limbs, they were wired to the tips, giving the tree a dramatic weeping effect.
For the kitchen counter tops, fruits were studded with cloves and arranged in various forms, but a new touch was using a zester to carve designs on the skins of the oranges, making them look like ornaments.
To attach elegant swags on stairways and mantels, use putty, the kind teenagers use to stick posters to the wall. For heavier swags, green pipe cleaners make easy fasteners.
Decorations need not be expensive. In the very elegant waterfront home of Sara and Bruce Bishop, a stunning Christmas tree was decorated primarily with baubles found in a dollar store.
As I tried to translate the elaborate decor into ideas I could use, I realized one of the most useful decorating hints was simple: Look at every nook and cranny as potential places to draw the eye with decorations.
In these houses, even the bathrooms were decorated, but some of the more eye-catching pieces were those in unexpected places. In the home of Rebecca and William Gibbons, two swags were over facing sides of interior doors in the entryway. Greenery in the corners of the fan-shaped windows flanked the fireplace in the home of Sandy and Dennis Fewell.
By the time I reached the home of Iris and Price Dodson, filled with nature's treasures, I was ready to head home and start picking greenery.
But I took a few more minutes to see the Holiday House, built for the event by Westside Builders and decorated by Design Concepts. A portion of the proceeds from its sale will be donated to the Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters in Norfolk. It, too, was exquisitely appointed and contained the not-to-be missed Holiday Boutique, with baked goods and gift items made by the circles to benefit the hospital.
In addition to all the beautiful decorations, the homes' interesting furnishings were pointed out by members of the King's Daughters circles and their younger counterparts in the junior circles. In Hampton Roads, where many residents have lived in many places, such tours can be like visiting galleries around the world.
In the Fewell home, there were German cookie tins, an English mantel and wash table, a Philippines screen and shell collection, an Indonesian puppet and artwork from China, Egypt and Italy, to name a few.
My neighbors deserve a big thanks for their generosity in preparing their homes (how would you like hundreds of people to see your bathrooms?) and for being willing to vacate their houses for two days. Some of the homeowners have children, but there wasn't a trace of kid clutter.
This is the 18th year the women in the King's Daughters Circles have donated their time and talents to the holiday tour to raise money for the Children's Hospital. Last year they raised $9,000, this year an estimated $12,000.
On Tuesday I was privileged to attend another holiday tour at the home of Fort Story commander Col. Franklin F. Wise and his wife, Jeanne. Also known as the old Fort Story Weather Station or the Cape Henry House, it was beautifully bedecked by the Cape Henry Woman's Club of Virginia Beach.
It's too late to catch these tours this year, but others remain throughout the area. I recommend them if you're looking for inspiration to start decorating and get into the holiday - and community - spirit. by CNB