Decorating For Christmas Archives

My Essentials For Christmas Decorating

November 17, 2018

Hi friends. I hope everyone had an amazing week. I was running in overdrive all week and still didn’t get everything checked off my to-do list. Needless to say, I’m so happy the weekend is here. Other than decorating for a client on Sunday, I’m hoping of a low-key weekend at home.

If you follow me on Instagram you know that I’ve already started decorating my home for Christmas. I’ve got a few more things to do and then I’m calling it done. I’ll be sharing sneak peeks of my decor next week and then the big reveal will be on November 28th as part of the Merry & Bright Holiday Home Tour.

As I’ve been decking the halls, I’ve gotten a few questions about what elements I think are key when decorating for Christmas. In today’s post I’m sharing my decorating essentials plus giving you a look at some of my holiday decor from past years. I hope my tips help make your home extra festive this year!

Christmas 2016

If you ask me, the most important element when decorating for Christmas is CREATING A THEME FOR YOUR DECOR. The theme can be based on anything–colors, a pattern or a specific design element. In 2016 my theme was A Bright & Bold Christmas and I used a mixed of colorful ornaments as the foundation to my decor. And last year I used my favorite colors, red and hot pink as my theme. Whatever inspires you, use that as your theme.

Christmas 2017–Pink Satin Ribbon // Red Stripe Ribbon (similar here)

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The second most important element when decorating for Christmas is beautiful RIBBON. Ribbon is one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to add color, pattern and texture in your holiday decor. And there are so many ways you can decorate with ribbon. I typically use ribbon on my tree and love adding it to my mantel decor as well. And beautiful ribbon is always part of my Christmas gift wrap.

2017– Gold Ribbon // Holly Leaf Ribbon // Wrapping Paper from HomeGoods

Tips For Decorating With Ribbon

Wired ribbon is best on Christmas trees because it’s easier to control the movement and positioning between the branches.
Non-wired, satin ribbon is great for making soft, single loop bows to hang on garland or a wreath. If you want a full, multi-loop bow, use a 1 1/2″ to 3″ wide wired-edge ribbon.
For added dimension combine two different styles of ribbon and tie a double bow or hang them together on your tree. To create visual impact, combine two different patterned ribbons together like a plaid and geometric.

Christmas 2017 // Pink Ornaments–Amara Living

2016

Christmas 2014–Harlequin Ribbon // Tartan Ribbon–Hobby Lobby

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Next on my essential holiday decor list is ornaments and not just one specific type of ornament but a VARIETY OF ORNAMENTS. If you look at Christmas tree decor on Pinterest, you’ll see that the most beautiful trees all have one thing in common, variety. Decorate your tree with ornaments in different sizes, shape, material and finishes to create a dynamic tree.

Christmas 2011

I also like to decorate with ornaments around my house, placing them in bowls or under glass cloches. It’s a simple decorative touch that’s perfect for a coffee or console table.

Christmas 2016

Christmas 2017

Tips For Decorating With Ornaments:

Your Christmas tree will really sparkle if you incorporate shiny gold, silver or glass ornaments that reflect the lights on the tree.
Wire small ornaments together in clusters of three so they stand out on your tree.
Incorporate ornaments into your bookshelf displays as a fun holiday touch.
Anything that can hang securely on your tree can be considered an ornament. In 2015 I hung framed photos and decorative cardboard coasters on our tree as ornaments.

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Whether real or faux, GARLAND is definitely an essential decorative element that you want to use when decorating for Christmas. In addition to hanging garland on the mantle and stair banisters, I like to drape it around mirrors, on the sideboard and over the headboard in our bedroom.

Christmas 2015

2017–Red/White Pillows–Ikea // Wreath Pillow-HomeGoods

2017

Tips For Decorating With Garland:

If you use faux garland but want the scent of real, add a few fresh greenery pieces into your garland. Fresh sprigs will also add texture.
Add embellishments like ornaments, decorative pics or magnolia leaves to enhance your garland.
Instead of running garland straight along the mantle, swag it to create visual movement and softness. Place ribbon or bows at the scallop points to highlight the lines of the garland.
When using fresh garland on a tabletop, always place a tablecloth, runner or piece of fabric underneath to protect the table surface.

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Another element that I like to add to my holiday decor are UNEXPECTED TOUCHES like framed holiday prints and holiday decor in the kitchen. Small touches here and there will make your entire home feel festive.

Christmas 2016

2017

Christmas 2014

Christmas 2017

Tips For Adding Unexpected Touches In Your Christmas Decor:

Decorate the areas that have the most visibility in your house. If you have family or company coming for the holidays, add festive touches to the guest bedroom.
UpStyle pillar or jar candles by wrapping them in holiday themed craft paper.
Tie a simple bow to the lid of ginger jars, on lanterns or tall candle holders.
Replace a few pieces of artwork around your home with a Christmas printable or holiday patterned gift wrap.

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The last item on my decorating essentials list is PRETTY WRAPPING PAPER. I like to coordinate my paper and ribbon with my theme so the gifts look extra pretty under the tree. I use a variety of paper designs and ribbon styles that tie back to the colors and patterns on my tree. And I add embellishments like a small ornaments, vintage jewelry or craft supplies to make each gift unique.

2017

2017

Christmas 2016

Christmas 2014

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For creative gift wrap ideas and tips, check out my Gift Wrap 101 Guide. And if you’re in Atlanta, join me on Dec. 1st for my Gift Wrap Workshop with Steve McKenzie’s and Verde Home. You’ll find all the details below.

‘Tis the season and happy decorating!

2017 Merry & Bright Holiday Home Tour–Part 1

November 29, 2017

Welcome to the Merry & Bright Holiday Home Tour. I’m so excited for this year’s home tour and all of the fabulous bloggers that are participating. Plus we have two awesome brand sponsors for this year’s tour, Amara and SmithHonig. I’ll share more about these great brands throughout the home tour series.

p.s. You’ll find links to all of the participating bloggers holiday home tours at the bottom of the blog post.

If you’re coming over from M. Jones Style, welcome! My friend Marsha is a southern girl at heart so entertaining comes naturally to her. Her holiday drink station is beautiful and makes me want to sit down and have a hot toddy. I can’t wait to see more of her holiday decor in the coming weeks.

Every year I start my holiday home tour by sharing the inspiration for my decor. If you recall, my theme this year was using my favorite colors, pink and red along with touches of white and green. I wanted our decor to be classic and playful at the same time and my original vision came to life just as I imagined.

Here’s a look at the inspiration boards I created earlier this year.

And here’s how it all turned out…

My Holiday Home

The foundation of my Christmas decor is always our tree and if I must say so myself, she’s a beauty.

I’ve been so busy these days that when my friend Don offered to help decorate my tree, I squealed with joy. Don worked for me when I had my store and is one of the most creative people I know. He came over one afternoon and we got to work adding honeycomb balls, deco mesh and close to 400 ornaments to the tree.

I topped the tree with a big silver star that I purchased over 25 years ago on a buying trip to San Francisco when I worked for Eddie Bauer.

I used a variety of ornaments on the tree including some beautiful blush pink ones from Amara. Amara is a UK-based home and interiors brand. The company sells a variety of decor and gift items from over 300 of the world’s more luxurious home fashion brands. And while based in the UK, Amara ships all across the globe making their product available to everyone.

Amara has a great selection of Christmas ornaments and decor and the blush pink set was perfect for my theme. The set includes 4 styles of round ornaments– shiny solid, solid matt and two glitter styles. I love the quality of the ornaments, and the variety of styles added to the whimsy of my tree.

My Favorite Colors: Hot Pink & Red

In addition to ornaments, I used a red and pink striped deco mesh instead of ribbon and love the wow factor it gave the tree.

decor mesh

And for even more WOW, check out these paper honeycomb balls that are nestled at the top and throughout the tree. How fun!

med & large paper honeycomb balls // small honeycomb ball from Ikea

red mercury glass trees from HomeGoods

Now let’s move over to the fireplace. Since we haven’t had our mantel installed yet, I draped my garland around the fireplace using Command Hooks to hold it in place. I hug a small wreath in the center and added clusters of ornaments to each corner of the garland. holiday decorating tip: clustering ornaments in groups of three is a great way to add impact on a tree or garland.

I also embellished the corners with bows made of pink and red ribbon from PaperMart.

1 1/2″ wide red ribbon // 7/8″ wide pink ribbon

I didn’t do much decorating on the bookshelves that flank the fireplace. I filled a couple of vintage bowls with ornaments and added a small mercury glass tree to one shelf.

You can learn how I made my rolling holiday giftwrap crate here.

blush pink ornaments from Amara

I absolutely love my Christmas decor and wish I could keep it up year round. It’s definitely beginning to look a lot like Christmas at my house but there’s still more to see. Come back next Wednesday, 12/6 for part 2 of the Merry & Bright Holiday Home tour. I’ll be sharing my dining room along with more of my holiday decor throughout the house.

Next on the tour is Love Your Abode. I had the pleasure of finally meeting Yuni a few weeks ago and she is such a doll. You all are going to love her holiday home…it so fun and festive. Hop over to Love Your Abode and show Yuni some love.

And be sure to stop by the other bloggers in the tour for more holiday decor and inspiration.

Merry & Bright Holiday Home Tour Participants:

Yuni @ Love Your Abode

Kate @ Chic On A Shoestring Decorating

Melanie @ Rover At Home

Tamyra @ Positively Southern

Meg @ Green With Decor

Marsha @ M. Jones Style

disclosure: I received products from Amara to use in my Christmas Decor. I am a big fan of the company and only share products and brands that I love. All opinions are my own.

How I Develop My Christmas Theme {and my theme for 2017}

November 2, 2017

I suspect that I am not the average person when it comes to decorating for Christmas. There are people who decorate the same way year after year because of tradition or they have their look down pat. And then there are people like me who like to change their decor every year which requires some thoughtful planning.

Before I tell you about my process for planning my Christmas decor, let me share one thing. Changing my decor every year doesn’t mean that I go out and buy all new stuff. It means that I decorate with items I already own but use them in a different way.

For instance, last year I combined solid colored ornaments with ribbons to create a simple and colorful Christmas tree. The only new item I purchased for the tree was the ribbon.

plaid ribbon // red & green ribbon from Costco

In 2015 I used only my red ornaments, some handmade garland and framed photos to decorate the tree. The only new items on this tree were some monogrammed ornaments I purchased at an after-Christmas sale.

harlequin ribbon // black and white ribbon

Planning my Christmas theme starts early every year. It actually helps to flush out ideas for the coming year when I take down my decorations and store them away after Christmas.

Here are a few things I think about when developing my Christmas theme:

What will my color statement be? I love traditional Christmas colors but I’m also a fan of non-traditional holiday decor. It’s fun to mix classic colors like red and green with modern colors like royal blue or pink.
What items do I already own? I take stock of what I already own and use that to guide my decor plan and create a shopping list for of any new items I want to purchase. Every year I buy a few new things like ornaments, ribbon or tabletop items like plates or linens. When I’m purchasing ornaments, I like to buy solid colors because they give me the most flexibility year after year.
What areas of my home will I be decorating? I like to have a touch of Christmas in every room so I think about each space and how I can add Christmas decor to make it festive.
What impact statements do I want to make? In addition to my tree, I want a few spots around the house to stand out. It could be the fireplace, stairs or a special touch in the kitchen. Identifying these statement areas helps me create my overall decorating plan.
What will my gift wrapping look like? I love wrapping gifts and always coordinate my gift wrap with my Christmas decor. In some cases a special wrapping paper might even inspire my theme like it did last year.
And finally, I think about how my decorating theme will work with the other decor in my house. I want my Christmas decor to reflect the same style and spirit as my everyday decor.

Now that you know my process for developing my Christmas theme, here’s what I have planned for 2017.

Christmas 2017 is going to be bright and bold!

This year I’m using three of my favorite colors as the theme for my Christmas decor–red, hot pink and bright emerald green. The tree will be decorated with red and hot pink ornaments plus a few white and light pink pieces thrown into the mix.

I have some fun embellishments planned for the garland that will be draped along the stairs and fireplace.

And I’m keeping my gift wrap pretty simple this year with solid colored paper, satin ribbons and fun package toppers and tags.

And of course I’ll be creating a pretty holiday tablescape to share with you!

As we count down to Christmas, I have lots of holiday posts to share with you, including my first gift guide next week.

And don’t forget to mark your calendars for the 2017 Merry & Bright Holiday Home Tour. Like last year, all of the participating bloggers will be sharing their holiday home tours over a 3 week period starting November 29th.

For more holiday decor inspiration, check out these holiday decor posts:

Merry & Bright Holiday Home–2016

Merry & Bright Holiday Home-2015

Seven Last Minute Christmas Decor Ideas

Christmas Decor 2012