Help your home bloom for the holidays at showcase

Receive tips on decorating your home for fall and winter holidays at the Home for the Holidays 2007 MCC Floral Design Showcase, from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday in the McHenry County College Conference Center, 8900 Route 14 in Crystal Lake.

Back by poplar demand, the Floral Design Showcase will feature talents of the MCC floral design instructors and their students. The master of ceremonies will be Mark Martin, an MCC alumnus and the owner of Interior Tropical Gardens in Union. He is also a former instructor in the MCC floral design program.

Other featured MCC instructors and their specializations include: Gena Archambeau, who is in her sixth year teaching Basic and Intermediate Floral Design; Renee Blitek, owner of Renee's of Ridgefield, in her fourth year instructing students in Silk and Dried Designs; Jennifer Hunt, lead floral designer at Countryside Flowers in Crystal Lake, who has 10 years' experience teaching Advanced Floral Design; and Bob Payton, an MCC alumnus and the owner of Payton Floral in Barrington, who has taught Flower Shop Management for two years at MCC.

The instructors and their students will present their unique creations and share how-to tips that are taught at MCC. Attendees will be included in a chance to win fresh, silk, or dried floral arrangements, and additional pieces will be up for silent auction. Proceeds from the auction will go toward the MCC floral design program.

General admission is $10, using course ID NCC S41 002; $5 for MCC students, using course ID NCC S41 001. To reserve a seat with a credit card, call (815) 455-8588. For information, call (815) 455-8697.