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THURSDAY DECEMBER 22, 2016
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In the Garden
Growing a Christmas tree from seed E
ven during this holiday season, with winter upon us, you might find some gardening to do. Growing a Christmas tree from seed, for example. That’s no short-term proposition. But the long wait is offset by the wide selection of trees from which to choose, their negligible cost and — best of all — the satisfaction you get from growing your own tree. You’re sure to eye your own, seed-grown Christmas tree with more affection than you’ve ever felt toward a tree loaded onto the roof of your car from a sales lot. Aside from patience, all you need to get started are LEE REICH a plastic bag, a pen, a couple of handfuls of potting soil and the seeds. OPTIONS IN PROCURING SEEDS It’s late in the season, but you could collect seed yourself if you know of some nice-looking, mature trees of species suitable for decorating and keeping through the holidays indoors. The most popular trees for this purpose include Scotch pine (Pinus sylvestris), white pine (Pinus strobus), Norway spruce (Picea abies), Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), balsam fir (Abies balsamea) and white fir (Abies concolor). Then again, your choices need not be limited to those popular species. Maybe your taste runs toward a tree with the long, languid needles of a Himalayan pine (Pinus Wallichiana) or the stubby, bluish needles of a Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens). Most conifers ripen their seeds in late summer or early fall, the cones’ scales spreading to disperse their seeds in the weeks or months that follow. If you lay hands on some intact, mature cones, put them in a paper or burlap bag so their seeds won’t be lost when the cones open, a process that can be speeded up by keeping them warm or even heating them a bit. The other option, of course, is to buy the seeds. For small quantities, go to J. L. Hudson (Star Route 2, Box 337, La Honda, CA 94020, www.jlhudsonseeds.net) or Tree Seeds (www.treeseeds.com); larger amounts can be purchased from such sources as Sheffield’s Seed Co. (315-497-1058, www.sheffields.com) and F. W. Schumacher (www.treeshrubseeds.com ). AN ARTIFICIAL WINTER Many conifer seeds will sprout quite readily if sown fresh out of their cones, although sprouting is often erratic. Once stored though, they usually need some treatment before they’ll come to life. Start that treatment — essentially an artificial winter — by soaking the seed for 24 hours; that’s “autumn rain.” Then rinse the seeds well to wash away any germination inhibitors; drain; and put them into a plastic bag along with moist potting soil. Seal the bag shut and put it in your refrigerator. The seeds need to sit in the moist coolness of the refrigerator for one to three months, after which they’ll be convinced that winter is over and it’s safe to sprout. This treatment might be advisable even for freshly harvested seeds to improve or make less erratic their germination. Now, anyway, isn’t the best time of year for seeds to be sprouting. NURSERY CARE Leave that plastic bag tucked away in the back of your refrigerator until spring. Check it occasionally because once some seeds think winter is over, they are so eager to get started that they’ll actually sprout in the refrigerator. Conifer seedlings grow slowly and offer little competition to weeds, so when you do plant them, do so either in containers or in a carefully tended garden row. Seedlings in containers need more watering care; seedlings out in See Tree p. 2D
This undated photo shows a pine seedling in New Paltz, N.Y. Growing a Christmas tree from seed, a pine, shown here, takes a long time but is very satisfying. (Lee Reich via AP)
This photo provided by Brown Davis Interiors shows a rich purple console inside a penthouse apartment bedroom. Designed by Brown Davis and crafted by Keith Fritz Fine Furniture, the Barry console is part of a collection of richly-hued furniture that takes a cue from Art Deco and makes it thoroughly modern. (Moris Moreno/Brown Davis Interiors via AP)
2017 home decor trends are all about ease, comfort By KIM COOK Associated Press Decor trends take us on a little emotional journey every season. Some speak to how we’re feeling, some to how we want to feel. For 2017, trend spotters say we’re looking for ease and comfort. Even at the luxury end of the decor spectrum, the look is less stiff suit, more velvet smoking jacket. ‘EPHEMERAL’ “When you look at this palette, it’s a Sunday morning,” says Laurie Pressman, a vice president at the Pantone Color Institute. These delicate hues — what she and others are calling an “ephemeral” trend — evoke airiness and light. Gentle whites and chalky pastels, which gained popularity over the last year or two, now combine with darker yet soothing neutrals like marine, earth, moss and heather. Textures are soft. Woods are low-luster. “You can fall into it and relax,” says Tom Mirabile, a New York-based consumer trends expert. Crate & Barrel’s spring collections include generous dollops of pistachio and aqua, bringing these nostalgic hues into kitchenware
Stark Carpet’s Antilocarpa in smoke, stone and silver.
This undated photo provided by West Elm shows Roar & Rabbit’s sexy, sophisticated swivel chair, which evokes classic continental midcentury styling. The lush berry hue is another 2017 trend, as jewel tones continue to ride a wave of popularity started last fall. (West Elm via AP) and accessories. (www.crateandbarrel.com ) Kitchenaid’s newest mixers and bowls come in pretty shades of cornflower and b u t t e r c u p . (www.kitchenaid.com ) And watch for lots of yellow, says Stephanie Pierce, design director at MasterBrand Cabinets. “From pale butter to dark mustard, yellows are cropping up everywhere,” she says, in
styles ranging from midcentury modern to country farmhouse. Some motifs are getting re-worked in subtler ways. California-based designer Alison Palevsky points to animal prints like antelope and cheetah done in gray and beige instead of the traditional colors. “The pattern adds immediate interest and texture to any room,” she says, citing
LUXURY’S NEW LOOK If “ephemeral” is decor’s languid glass of lemonade, “luxe” is a goblet of heady merlot. Jewel tones, lustrous leathers and heftier, colored metals appeal to a new “visually expressive” generation, says Pantone’s Pressman. “It’s all about the finish — shine and luster.” Shiny brass and copper have been growing more popular, note Mat Sanders and Brandon Quattrone of the Los Angeles-based interior design studio Consort. “But 2017 will be about embracing the beauty of aged metals in furniture, hardware and fixtures.” Look for burnished finishes in pieces large and small. You’ll see Art Deco references as well, and more of the simplicity and elegance of Danish, Italian and French modernism. Some classic pieces are being reissued, like chairs designed by Danes Finn Juhl and Hans J. Wegner. Miami designers Todd Davis and Rob Brown are See Trends p. 2D
This photo provided by The Tile Shop shows a kitchen with British designer Ted Baker’s gorgeous new glass art tile collection's Shadow Floral in the backsplash. It combines two of 2017’s most interesting decor trends, moody hues and dramatic florals. (The Tile Shop via AP)
2D The Mining Journal
Thursday, December 22, 2016
House to Home Mortgage Index 30-YEAR Rate-Fee/Pts.
15-YEAR Rate-Fee/Pt.
High rate
4.5
1
3.625
1
Low rate
4.00
1
3.25
1
Average rate
4.225
1
3.425
1
This graphic represents a Tuesday survey of regional lending institutions. Figures are based on rates at Range Bank, Northern Michigan Bank, mBank, Marquette Community Federal Credit Union and TruNorth Credit Union.
WHICHCRAFT: Personalize a snow globe with family pictures By HOLLY RAMER Associated Press CONCORD, N.H. — There’s something so simple and sweet about shaking a snow globe and watching the glittery flakes swirl around a tiny winter scene. But it’s not so simple to create a custom snow globe featuring your own family, as I discovered when I tested three DIY techniques. The first challenge is shrinking your kin down to size. Photographs are the obvious choice, and one method I found used photos printed onto shrink plastic instead. But how to protect the images from the liquid? Laminating the photos, either professionally or via packing tape, are popular options. Most tutorials featured glitter as the “snow,” but I found some variation in the liquid used to fill the globes. Some called for just water, while others added glycerin to make the glitter fall more slowly. Another technique used a mixture of corn syrup and water. Sadly, none of the techniques produced stellar results. In the end, I concluded that it might be fun to make one of these globes as a one-time table decoration for Christmas dinner, but I wouldn’t count on any of these techniques to produce family heirlooms. Here’s what I found, with each method rated from 1 to 10, with 10 indicating the least expensive, easiest and best results: 1. LAMINATED PHOTOS I spotted a detailed tutorial on making personalized snow globes using laminated photos on a blog called “Our Best Bites” (http://bit.ly/1XCP7iF). Unlike the author, I don’t
own my own laminating machine, so I had to have my photo laminated at Staples. It was not expensive, but added an extra shopping trip to the project. Once laminated, the photo is then trimmed to fit inside a jar, and glued to the jar lid along with any bits of greenery or other decorations. I used a tiny bottle brush tree, and soon realized I should’ve heeded the instructions to put it in water for a few hours to make sure it wouldn’t break down or leach dye into the water. My first attempt resulted in muddy, grayish green water, presumably from the tree. Once the photo and any decorative items are glued in place, water, glycerin and glitter are added, and the lid is screwed on. COST: 6 EASE: 5 RESULTS: 5 1. PACKING TAPE PHOTOS The Photojojo.com blog (http://bit.ly/2hK3V2E ) promises “Make Your Own in 15 Minutes (or Your Money Back!)”. I didn’t have my stopwatch handy, but I think I came in under that time. This was the simplest technique. Cut two photos to fit inside a jar or bottle, cover them with clear packing tape, and pop them in the container with a mixture of water, corn syrup and glitter. While I used the same size jar for all three tutorials, this method would allow for using a wide bottle with a narrow neck. The container isn’t turned upside down, so the photo is just rolled and inserted, rather than attached to a jar lid. While this technique was quick and easy, my photo was wider than the packing
tape, so there is a slightlyvisible seam where two pieces of tape overlap. I also have doubts about whether the tape is really waterproof. COST: 7 EASE: 8 RESULTS: 7 1. SHRINK PLASTIC, SORT OF The “Family Portrait Snow Globe” featured on the blog “A Kailo Chic Life” (http://bit.ly/ 2hgUnLp) is adorable. Unfortunately, I was not able to replicate it and ended up coming up with my own take on this idea. The original tutorial calls for printing a photo on inkjet shrink film to make a tiny, 3-D form that is glued to a wooden base, surrounded by bottle brush trees and salt, and covered with a glass globe. I accidentally ordered translucent shrink film instead of white, and my local craft store did not carry the necessary product. I also could not find the globe and wooden base used in the tutorial, and found the suggested online purchase options too expensive for a DIY craft project. Instead, I stuck with the same jars I had used for the other versions. And because this technique involves no liquid, there was no reason to worry about water-proofing the photo. I simply printed my photo, glued it to a piece of cardboard to make it a bit more sturdy, and cut around the image. While this proved easy, and less messy than the glitter-and-liquid options, it also isn’t really a snow globe. It’s more like a terrarium.
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the garden need only occasional watering, but close guarding against weed encroachment. Neither the containers nor the garden row will be the plants’ permanent home,
just nursery areas. After a couple of seasons in the nursery, transplant the trees, which will still be quite small, to more permanent locations where they can grow until ready for cutting. Plan on about 10 years until harvest, depending on growing conditions and the kind of tree.
Tre n ds
using color-infused woods in a Deco-inspired collection crafted by Indiana furniture maker Keith Fritz. (www.browndavis.com) There are chic new frameless mirrors at West Elm with Deco flair. Curvy armchairs from Roar & Rabbit, as well as the Delphine console with marble top and brushed bronze hardware, evoke a continental sexiness. (www.westelm.com)
Look for drama in other wallcoverings too, where artistry is flourishing. California photographer Don Flood’s micro-images of abalone shells, insects, agave leaves and minerals are blown up into bold wallpapers. (www.fliepaper.com ) Calico Wallpapers’ Satori collection interprets Japanese pottery techniques in tones of burnished metallic and clay. Their Fragments collection evokes rainy, fog-bound mountains. (www.calicowallpaper.com)
SETTING THE MOOD “The moody palate was huge” at spring’s Milan Furniture Fair and is catching on among retailers, says New York designer Drew McGukin. “I’ve been encouraging my clients to incorporate color in bold applications, like countertops,” he says, citing in particular a new hue from Silestone “that captures the essence of soapstone — a deep, dusty, blue-gray hue softened with white veining.” (www.silestone.com ) Benjamin Moore’s Color of 2017 is Shadow, a deep grayed purple. And homes magazines are touting Farrow & Ball’s eggplant Brinjal, Behr’s Havana Coffee and Dunn-Edwards’ Mackintosh Midnight as moody musthaves. (www.benjaminmoore.com; www.farrowandball.com; www.behr.com)
OUTDOORSY Relaxing and refreshing, this trend hits all the “green” notes with an emphasis on a natural palette, organic silhouettes and sustainable materials. Think farmstead, writ urban. “It’s kicking off your shoes, whether you’re indoors or out,” says Mirabile. Crate & Barrel’s chunky Big Sur furniture, in white oak, fits the vibe, as does a verdant assortment of faux banana trees, orchids and magnolias. Donna Garlough of Joss & Main has noted the tropical look expanding. “I’m seeing citrus trees in the mix — wallpaper with lemon branches, and botanical sketches of orange trees,” she says. “Complementing the trend, colors like kiwi, citron and chartreuse made a splash at last fall’s decor markets, meaning they’re probably
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going to hit homes and stores in 2017.” Pantone recently named Greenery their Color of the Year, citing its zestiness and vitality. Wayfair’s got some green iron side chairs with an industrial look, as well as a transitional loveseat in the hue. (www.wayfair.com) Sky and ocean blues are perennial favorites, in cloud-patterned textiles in PB Teen’s collection, and in embroidered, chambray and shibori table linens at Pottery Barn. Also at the retailer are galvanized steel serveware and kitchen storage items with an easy, rural vibe. (www.potterybarn.com) Florals are a key component of the outdoorsy trend this spring; they’re on everything from lampshades to lounge chairs. British designer Ted Baker has a new collection of painted tiles with lush florals and chinoiserie rendered in rich hues on sleek glass. (www.tileshop.com) MIXED BAG “The new look of global is not one single country,” Mirabile says. “It’s almost indefinable — call it neoglobal, or geo-hybrid.” Pressman sees an eclecticism created by our personal and online travels. Think a Chinese vase with an ikat print pillow, for example. It’s a collected, curated and comfortable look with appeal to homebodies looking to refresh their homes for the new year.
COST: 6 EASE: 7 RESULTS: 6 This Dec. 18 photo taken in Hopkinton, N.H., shows three handmade snow globes. Personalizing a snow globe with family photos is possible, though not particularly easy, depending on the method. (AP Photo/Holly Ramer)
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This undated photo provided by West Elm shows West Elm’s Delphine buffet in walnut veneer, a marble top, and brushed bronze hardware which suggests the chic yet comfortable style of midcentury French and Italian furniture. That continental look is a strong trend going into 2017. (West Elm via AP)
This Oct. 14 photo provided by The Tile Shop shows a detail of British designer Ted Baker's gorgeous new glass art tile collection which includes this Shadow Floral. It combines two of 2017’s most interesting decor trends, moody hues and dramatic florals. (AP photo)
Thursday, December 22, 2016
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Thursday, December 22, 2016