HOLIDAY DECORATING IDEA 2. Start with an open, backless white wooden frame (not solid white, but white with hints of the underlying wood showing through – this will make the frame resemble a patch of bare earth with a dusting of snow atop it).

Next, affix a lightly frosted Christmas tree branch to the upper left corner of the frame. A bushy branch works best. The branch should be just large enough to touch the bottom frame.

If you position and trim this branch correctly, a small part of it will extend outside the top and left of the frame, while the majority of it will fill half to two-thirds of the frame area. Use the remaining inside area (the empty space in the right half or third of the frame) to mount a candle, a stack of perhaps three tiny boxes bedecked in shiny blue or red foil wrapping paper, or any other holiday object capable of being seated on the bottom of the frame and rising no more than halfway up the inside space.

......to be continued......