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How to Decorate With Antique Lamps

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There is nothing that adds more elegance and automatic ambience to a room’s décor than an antique lamp. They are fantastic objects to have in a dining room or living room because they not only make a personal statement about you but because they are great conversation pieces. There is nothing like a 1930s big chandelier with large drops of ice hanging from it to help break the ice with your dinner companions.

One of the most interesting antique lamp fads that is around lately is the passion for chandeliers made out of deer antlers. These date back as far as the 1890s and straight through to today. They were standard lamp fixtures in medieval times in Europe (as they do have a bit of a pagan flair to them) but they are also considered to be part of American and Canadian furniture kitsch.

However keep in mind that when you buy one of these deer chandeliers that it is not always that politically correct. Some unscrupulous dealers are selling this type of thing on eBay as being made out of found antlers when what they have done is take the antlers off of live deer. This is a big ecological no-no. You are safest to look in antique shops and for chandeliers that look like they have been found on the ground. These antlers will not have sawed off ends. If they do have sawed off ends you might start the wrong type of conversation at your dinner party especially if you have invited any conservationists.

Yet another very popular type of kitsch antique lamp that is being manufactured right now is the “Sexy Leg Lamp.” This is the lamp that was featured in the movie “The Christmas Story.” It consists of a plastic molded ladies leg wearing a black high heel and it is topped with a shade that looks like a burlesque dancer’s skirt. If you have one of these in your home, your guests are sure to point out that “you have the same lamp that Ralphie’s Dad does.”

A kind of lamp that is getting harder and harder to find but used to be a common sight on top of television sets all over the world is the classic ceramic black panther that is topped with a shade made from paper pressed with glitter.

Perhaps the most popular of the antique lamps are the lava lamps. It is getting harder and harder nowadays to find a real lava lamp from the fifties or sixties. The knock offs that can be had for twenty dollars and be bought in a hardware store are simply not as nice as the ones you find on eBay or in antique shops. This is because the newer replicas tend to be a lot smaller then the original lava lamps that were sometimes tall enough to reach your knee. They also often contain glitter instead of the “lava” and their design is not as nice. If you manage to find a real lava lamp from the fifties then the design from the Atomic Age is certain to become a conversation starter.

How to Decorate With Feng Shui For Halloween

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It might seem a little weird to practice Feng Shui on Halloween but the upshot is that this ancient Asian art of object placement fits perfectly to this holiday. That is because Feng Shui is about safety and Halloween is one of these nights where you want to be conscious of that. Both the holiday and Feng Shui are also about metaphysics. Both are about harnessing energies and using them to one’s own advantage. In Feng Shui these energies must be positive. On Halloween the veil between this world and the next is said to be very thin so there is a possibility of attracting both evil and good energies. When you apply the rules of Feng Shui to holiday of Halloween they work very well.

First of all Feng Shui is about the clearing away of clutter. This is definitely a must if you have little Trick or Treaters visiting. To keep energy positive around your home on Halloween night make sure that your walk and front porch are completely clear of clutter. Get rid of things like hoses, rakes or anything that little feet could trip over. Sweep away leaves and plant debris as well. Remember that many of these little kids are in a lot of danger of tripping over their costumes in the first place!

Yet another Feng Shui must have element for attracting good energy is to make sure that your walk and home are well lit. This might seem like a strange request on such a “dark” holiday but the reality is that it is quite crucial for the safety of children and adults as well. There are all kinds of novelty “Christmas string” style lights that you can put up on your porch and in the front yard. You can also decorate your yard with lit hand-carved pumpkins or even better yet, get electric pumpkins. Electric versions are the safest of all as they reduce the chance of someone’s costume accidentally catching on

If you want to have more abundance and a freer circulation of money in your life then you can do a little bit of a prosperity ritual by handing out chocolate covered coins to children who come to the door. This symbolizes money being multiplied and coming back to you. You could also do the same thing with real money. Try handing out shiny copper coins in red envelopes as a version of the famous “Red Envelope Ritual” which dictates that everything that you send out into the Universe in red envelopes comes back to you nine times.

Part of Feng Shui is about being in sync with the holidays and the symbols of the Hallways. Black cats are lucky in China for their nine lives so decorating your window with them is a nice idea.