I would like to welcome Kayte Terry from the blog This is Love Forever – she has a new book out ‘Applique your way’ from Chronicle books and is on a blog tour, today she is going to discuss how to applique for the Holidays!

Appliqué Your Way By Kayte Terry. Chronicle Books; Spi edition (September 30, 2009).

Hi everyone! I am so excited to be on Whip-up today to talk about my new book Appliqué Your Wayfrom Chronicle, and give you some ideas for how to use applique to decorate your home for the holidays.

Applique is the perfect way to spruce up your holiday decor because you are often just embellishing simple items that you already have around the house. And, many projects from my book can be adapted for holiday time just by changing the colors or motifs.

These woodland creature ornaments made by contributor Patty Sechi (aka my mom) are perfect for the tree and are sure to become a holiday heirloom for years to come. My mom adapted these ornaments from ones that she made when I was a kid and we still cherish them each year! They take only a few hours to make and can be customized in any color combinations you like. If you don’t have a tree, what about hanging ornaments from a window or a branch suspended from the ceiling? Or, what about making these ornaments as gift tie-ons?

How cute is this banner by contributor Caitlin of Nice-etc? You can change the letters to spell out “Joy” or “Merry and Bright” or “HoHoHo”. Perfect for hanging on the wall or a mantel place. You could also simply sew cut-out felt letters onto stockings and tree skirts!

The holidays bring lots and lots of houseguests. This appliqué tea towel from contributor Kristen of Cakehouse Designs is made by cutting out motifs from vintage linens and sewing them onto solid cottons. This could function as a perfectly festive hand towel as is or consider using vintage Christmas linens for a more traditional look. This pattern can also be adapted to make lots and lots of pretty holiday table linens like napkins, runners and tablecloths.

Speaking of the holiday table, these doily trivets are a fancy but functional way to protect that table from hot dishes. The colors can be customized to match your holiday style or you could even change the pattern slightly so that the shapes look more like snowflakes!

What are you your decorating plans for the holidays?

Thanks so much for letting me share some holiday decorating ideas on Whipup! For more about me, you can visit my blog at thisisloveforever.com. The full blog tour itinerary is posted at the Chronicle site.