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A French-Inspired Garden and Home by Judith Stringham

French Country Christmas Event 2020 | Small Business Adapts

Sunday, November 22, 2020

This year, 2020, is the TENTH year for the French Country Christmas Event. Can a small business offer its customers a beautiful Christmas shopping event in a safe way? How does a small business adapt to new ways of doing business during an international health crisis and provide safe shopping experiences? 


French Country Christmas Event in the garden shed for the tenth year
The answers lie in following health officials' guidelines. 

  • Wear a mask. 
  • Wash your hands.
  • Distance yourself from others by at least 6 feet. 
To comply with these guidelines, my small business has found new ways, to my business, to implement safety precautions.  

Read about how I have adapted to provide a safe shopping experience for my customers, and look at this year's garden shed photos to get ideas about how to arrange Christmas decor in your own home. 

Inked Blue Bulletin Board Debut

Saturday, November 14, 2020

Today is the debut of my inked blue bulletin board. Just in time to create collages for holiday inspiration.  

For the past year, dark inked blue and gold have become a favorite color combination for my home. Navy blue has always been a favorite paired with white or red or both, but recently I started plans to update an old wood-framed bulletin board with  a blue cork board and gold wood frame. 



Inked Blue Bulletin Board Debut post about why and how to update an old bulletin board
Read about why and how I transformed an old inexpensive bulletin board into a freshly painted blue cork board with gold wood frame and get ideas for your own bulletin board. 

How NOT To DIY Flock A Christmas Tree

Monday, November 9, 2020


A few years ago I learned how NOT to DIY flock a Christmas tree. In case you would like to flock a real tree or a faux tree, you may find a few tips from my experience to save you time, money, and energy. 


November is the time to buy artificial flocking snow to DIY a flocked Christmas tree

Now is the time to buy the artificial snow before suppliers sell out for the season. You can wait until later to actually apply the DIY snow, but if you wait to buy supplies until you are ready to flock your tree in December, you may not be able to get the artificial flocking snow.