In brief
Holiday home tour: Tour the historic Charles Angel House in Coupeville from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
The home was built in 1890 for Charles Angel, publisher of the Island County Sun, and is listed on the National Historic Register.
The 12th annual tour also includes the San de Fuca schoolhouse, which has been restored to its original design. Along the tour, visit a modern home shaped like an octagon treasure chest featuring a showcase of more than 100 miniature snow village houses, as well as two historic homes from the late 19th century.
The Coupeville Choralaires perform at 1:30 p.m. at the schoolhouse dressed in full Victorian costume.
Tickets are $15, $7.50 ages 6 to 12, and include a booklet with history on each location, as well as a map. Tickets are available at Island County Historical Museum, 908 Alexander St., Coupeville.
For information, call 360-678-3310 or visit www. islandhistory.org.
Poinsettia festival: Molbak’s hosts its annual Festival of Poinsettias featuring 13 new varieties of poinsettias.
The annual festival continues through Sunday. The free festival features 46 varieties of the winter plant. Participants can listen to festival holiday music, sample Danish pastry with coffee and have photos taken beside a 10-foot “poinsettia tree.”
Hours of the festival at 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Fridays, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays. Molbak’s will be closed on Thanksgiving.
Molbak’s is at 13625 NE 175th St., Woodinville.
For information, call 425-483-5000.
Holiday tea and tour: Dearborn House and Stimson-Green Mansion open their decorated doors for public tours beginning at 1 p.m. Tuesday at Dearborn House, followed by a reception at 2:30 at Stimson-Green Mansion.
The $25 includes the tour of decorated homes, refreshments and tea. Reservations required. Proceeds benefit Historic Seattle and the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation.
Dearborn House is at 1117 Minor Ave., Seattle.
For tickets or information, call 206-622-6952.
Sofa, so good: Jami Taff of Potomac, Md., was redecorating her family room and couldn’t visualize where to put sofa and chairs.
Taff, who has an entrepreneurial side, figured there ought to be a way to arrange furniture without risking back injury. So rather than pulling heavy couches and chairs from place to place, she laid newspapers on the floor in the shape of her furniture. Finding that process cumbersome, she asked a graphic designer to make life-size templates out of sturdy paper. A great idea, said her friends, who encouraged her to market the concept. Lay-It-Out was hatched.
Now Taff is manufacturing kits of furniture templates, marked with both inches and centimeters so they can be folded to the correct size. Sold at www.rowefurniture.com for $14.99 each, Lay-It-Out kits include shapes for sofa and chair; two beds; pool table; or rugs. Coming soon: pianos, accessory tables, and pieces for dining room and nursery.
Keep it green: Extend the lives of Christmas wreaths by snipping half an inch off stem ends and submerging the wreath in a pan of tepid water for an hour. When the wreath has dried, spray the needles with an anti-desiccant, available at garden centers.
Indoors, keep wreaths from direct sunlight and sources of heat. Outdoors, place wreaths on the exterior of storm doors to avoid solar heating.
Types of gifts: Any writers on your list? Treat them to a miniature of the iconic red 1969 Valentine typewriter – the original was designed for Olivetti by Memphis founder Ettore Sottsass – to hang on the tree. Made of mouth-blown, hand-painted glass. $28. The MOMA Web store also offers many other interesting artifact ornaments like the VW Beetle and the dial-style telephone replicas.
Museum of Modern Art. www.momastore.org.
Light safety: Before you light up your Christmas tree with those tangled strings and strings of old bulbs, take heed of these safety tips from Home Depot:
* Check that all lights and extension cords are labeled with the Underwriters Laboratories (UL) trademark.
* Inspect lights for smashed sockets or loose wires, which can cause shock or fire. Use one long extension cord instead of linking several shorter cords.
* Be sure you’re not overloading your extension cord with too many amps. If holiday-light packaging lists watts rather than amps, convert by multiplying your cord’s amp rating by 120. The total is how many watts the cord can handle.
For more tips, visit www. homedepot.com.
Tool time: The editors of Fine Homebuilding and Fine Woodworking review the top tools – everything from belt sanders to tape measures – in the 2005 Tool Guide by The Taunton Press. Available for $9.99 at bookstores and newsstands.
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