Let’s decorate for Christmas, tips and tricks…

I love decorating for Christmas!  Every year the day after Thanksgiving, I go into the attic and pull down the decorations.  This year Lou and Tab were both at work and Tiara was exhausted from Thanksgiving, so Trinity and I worked together while Tiara clapped and cheered.  As we started I was happier than usual and I couldn’t figure out why. 

I then realized this is the first time in at least 6 years that I only had to decorate my own house.  I normally have paid decorating jobs but this year I got rid of my last one because of the blog and I am thrilled.

As I take you through my pictures I will give you tips along the way that will hopefully make your decorating easier and more fun.  Here we go!

 

Funny enough I don’t mind going into the attic and Lou totally freaks out up there so it is my job.  Usually he is home to grab the stuff for me but Trinity had to fill in this year and she did a great job.

 

Living Room

This is my living room/ entry way and you can see this room from the street so I usually put most of my efforts into this space.  First of all, we have a fake tree because everyone is allergic to real trees.  I decided years ago that if we had to go fake, we might as well go funky, hence the white. 

 

How I decorate a tree

First put on the lights while they are plugged in, trust me you will thank me for this tip.  I start at the bottom and work my way around weaving from the inside of the branch towards the widest part of the branch.  This tree comes with the lights attached which is a huge lifesaver and I highly recommend that if you use an artificial tree

I then make a ribbon topper/garland creation.  On this tree I have used about 6 different types of ribbons.  Different textures, sizes, colors and patterns.  Cut uneven lengths of the ribbon that will hang from 1/4 to 3/4’s of the way down the tree.  Cut about 20 different pieces and then safety tie or wire them together 3 inches from the top of the grouping.  This top 3 inches of ribbon will serve as your topper. Attach the ribbons to the top of the tree with wire and spread the ribbons around the tree so every angle of the tree has ribbons. 

I then stick branch type decorations around the tree and put 3 at the top weaved in with the ribbons  I don’t even bother to wire or attach these branches I just stick them in.  I love the branches because they really give the tree depth and they work great in a live tree that isn’t perfect.  They can really help cover up a bare spot.

Next is the ornaments/balls.  Because Tiara grabs and pulls at the tree everything on my tree is nonbreakable including the balls.  When I get paid to do a tree I wire on each ornament but at my house, I just use hooks and shove them on.  I don’t like to spend a lot of time on the tree, because I like to decorate every room.  I don’t bother with a tree skirt because they are expensive so I usually get a cool piece of material or use a tablecloth.  I actually forgot to cover the bottom before I wrote this, so I better get on that. 

 

Pick a color scheme

Clearly I am working with blues, silver and white with a hint of green thrown in, but always try to commit to a few colors and carry them through your house.  I actually like my exterior lights and decorations to match the inside, but am a little neurotic about my Christmas decorations.

Re-purpose

We bought this shoe about 6 years ago and I used to put it in Tabitha’s room with a white boa in it.  This year Trinity came up with the idea of putting a string of lights in it and to add a few branches and put in on the mantle.  Once I did that, I loved it but the picture hanging over the mantle looked horrible, so I put it in the garage and started designing new decorations.  If you need to put away some of your regular accessories during the holidays, do it!  Don’t try to add decorations to what you already have, it may get too chaotic.

I have used these same decorations for the past few years, but I always use them differently every year.

Try to think outside the box.  For example I took this tacky silver garland, cut it up and tacked each piece to the ceiling.  I then took an old boa wreath I made years ago, switched out the ribbon to match the other decorations and hung it from the ceiling.  I love to hang balls, ornaments, and wreaths from the ceiling because it really makes them stand out.

Once we decorated above the mantle we wanted to add lights so we took 2 strands and just bundled them up and laid them across the mantle. Super simple and I think it looks a little modern.

See this deer, it is the epitome of re-purposing.  My Mom used to put this on her front porch when it was a natural brown color.  Once she gave it to me I spray painted it white and used to light it with red lights mounted on top of my arbor out front.  This year I decided to bring it inside to fill that weird empty spot on my fireplace.  We switched out the ribbon, added a few blue ornaments and put on white lights.

 

 

Dining room table

This is the same runner and vase I pretty much always have on my table.  To make it more festive, I took two balls and placed them upside down in a small glass filled with rocks. Done!

 

 

 

Kitchen

I hung a few of the same balls from the chandelier over my sink.  Super easy!

Family Room

This is really weird fireplace, or rather an awkward hole in the wall which I hate but  I decided to hang some lights around the mirror and added a few balls to add some cheer.

 

Dress up what you already have out

I always have these out on my TV console so I just put some garland in one vase and a white snow ball stick thing in the other and now they look like Christmas decorations.  Love it!

 

 

You can see this outside chandelier from my family room so I added the same blue ornaments I have on the kitchen chandelier to tie the inside and outside together.

Don’t forget the bathroom

This is my front bath all the guests use.  I just replaced the orchid with this old fake tree and added the rocks and snow ball things to the base.  I kept the same container and put the orchid in my room.

 

 

Where to put the stockings?

As you can tell my decorations are not very traditional but our stockings are very traditional.  My grandmother made all these needle point stockings and I have been using mine for 43 years.  As a result I refuse to switch them out for matching stockings and this year they looked super crazy hanging off the mantle so Trinity came up with the idea of putting them on our bedroom doors.  I think that was rather brilliant of her.  We attached the ribbon with a tack the top of the door.

 

Hope I gave you some new ideas and I will share the exterior once I finish it, probably in a few days!

 

xoxo tiffani

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