Christmas Decorating

I was a Christmas decorating maniac today!  I woke up with a list, a mission, and the determination to get it done.   The garland went up on the staircase, the centerpiece of the table was set, and the wreaths were hung on the windows.

Welcome to my Christmas home tour…

My motivation actually came from a TV show I was watching last night – The Middle.  Yes, I admit that I laugh out loud at the TV when The Middle is on because some of the things they say have actually been said verbatim in our home.  Ok… maybe a little more than some.

During last night’s episode, the Mom went on decorating strike and decided not to do all of the excessive decorating and baking.  We put up our Christmas tree on Thanksgiving along with a few stockings but, just like the Mom in The Middle, I kept thinking… “Well, that will just have to be enough this year.”    In the end, the Mom stayed up all night on Christmas Eve decorating and baking to make it really feel like Christmas for her family.   Well, that was it…. I needed to get moving and do the same.

So I turned on the Christmas tunes – a little louder than my dog may have liked  – and four hours later, my home was clean and decorated.  Clean alone relieves my stress.   Clean AND beautifully decorated… I was in Mom bliss…(sigh)…

First priority was the staircase.

Credit for this architectural element goes to my very handy husband and his very talented carpenter friend.

Just hanging the garland & bows on the staircase railings alone instills a festive look throughout a home, especially mine as we have a very open floor plan.  You can see the staircase from almost any spot on my first floor.

The dining table centerpiece was kept simple and natural.  A wood wine crate now holds a miniature spruce tree purchased from AC Moore or Michaels a few years ago.  I picked up the wine crate at a yard sale; but you could ask your local store if they received any shipments of wine in crates.

Large glass vases hold a mix of silver, gold, and natural pine cones that I picked myself and  preserved a few years ago.  I’ll tell you exactly how to do that in a later post.

The fireplace holds three simple white stockings

and wreaths hang from cranberry ribbons in most of the windows.  I’d love for these to be real greenery, but the imitation ones can be found at clearance prices just after Christmas – like mine were.

Cranberry frosted garland tops a large glass-front cabinet in the living room to bring a splash of red into this mostly monotone gray room.  The glitter manger was a Target “Dollar-Shop” find.

I love the look of a green wreath & ribbon hung from the frame of a large mirror.

Decorating for Christmas for me is about bringing in greenery, bows, and a few natural elements – like this very large spool of twine I purchased at a yard sale this Fall for only $2.00.  I brought it home for my husband to use in the garden, but I seem to be finding lots of uses for it myself!

We never had an “Elf-On-The-Shelf” who left surprises and gifts around the house.  Instead, I like to put out family board games and leave my cuties love notes.

 Today’s message read….

“Love you to the moon and back. Merry Christmas”.

This last space I decorated out of necessity.  This my son’s headboard – it was a sidewalk find that I refinished and painted a few months ago.    We’re now working on building the platform bed that will attach to it.  In the meantime, it’s been sitting in my dining room.  Rather than fight it, I decided to make use of it as an entryway table – not a bad temporary fix for an otherwise blank space.

And finally… the Christmas tree.

 Merry Christmas everyone!

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Thank you & Enjoy!