The holiday season is often filled with excess as we exhaust ourselves running around, finishing up work details, planning celebrations, and attending parties. We're also wearing darker clothes like brown and black, so if you're feeling drained and need a boost, wear bright colors or various shades of green to stay energized. For accessories, add scarves or jewelry in those colors.
This is also the time of year when we take inventory of the blessings that have come to us in the past twelve months; then we look for ways to have a happy and prosperous holiday season while spreading some good Feng Chic cheer. Here are a few tips:
1. Greet your guests with a fresh doormat and ornaments on the door. Bells are great to welcome in new energy! Ribbons interwoven with olive or pine branches make wonderful garlands or wreaths for your doors.
2. Nourish the love area of your home by using red to decorate it. Add some red flowering plants for new growth in love and relationships, a passion candle to spark old flames, and use a red picture frame to hold a photograph of your loved one. Red pillows are great for comfort and joy, and pinks are wonderful colors for love, too.
3. Since your kitchen is your home's nourishment area, welcome in the spirit of the holidays by creating a pleasant freshener of water, cloves, and cinnamon in a pot simmering on the stove (don't leave it unattended, though!). Have a large bowl of fruit of the season-especially red apples-in the kitchen to welcome your neighbors. Be creative: use fruits and leaves for your centerpieces.
4. This is a wonderful time of year for family activities in the den. Why not place a large puzzle on a table in the family communication area to stimulate love and friendship? Assign a child to take photos of your guests, and in February when the holidays are over, you can send photographs to your loved ones as gifts; this brings warmth in the midst of the winter doldrums. During the holiday season, though, you can decorate the room a bit by placing family photographs in different sized frames of the same element-such as silver-to evoke family unity and well-being.
5. In December it's important to encourage your feminine creativity. This is the time to use your silver servers at home. Silver is important because of its mirror qualities; now is the time to be reflective and to see the new energies coming in. Decorate your table with a balance of shapes; if your table is square, use round placemats; if it's round, use square mats. Light your candles.
6. As you walk around the block or around the mall and hear the music of Christmas, you'll realize it's definitely geared toward nature. At home, when entertaining, listen to symphonies, opera, traditional, ethnic, and tribal music. It's wonderful to pay attention to different cultural histories during this part of the year.
7. Turn your bathroom into a retreat-an oasis-just for you. Before your dinner party, take some time there for yourself to unwind and freshen up. Treat yourself to a new, soft bathrobe to cocoon yourself in. Turn on some relaxing music. And bring nature into your bathroom by making a fresh potpourri of the season.
8. Here's a fresh tip you can use right before a party: before your guests arrive, squeeze the juice of an orange into a spray bottle, add some water, and spritz it throughout the house to bring sweetness and a new spirit into your home for the holidays.
9. As you're tying up end-of-the-year business and sending out a lot of holiday cards, remember to brighten up your work area with good lighting. A crystal star used as a paperweight can help you organize your work space. The crystal will also remind you to be the star that you are! Remember also to place a fresh green plant on your desk for prosperity.
10. Now is the time to check your lighting and de-clutter your house! Give all unwanted household items and clothing to help various organizations. It's always wonderful to lend a hand.
As you bring the warmth of the season to your guests coming in from the chilly outside, remember that the biggest gift of all is your welcoming smile!
Diamonds are the most precious of the four most precious stones-the other three being sapphires, rubies, and emeralds. They were formed billions of years ago, deep within the earth (as far down as 250 miles). Only a small number survive the journey to the earth's surface in molten rock; fewer still are of a quality that can be made into a precious piece of jewelry. They were first mined in India at least as far back as 400 BC. 
