Winter... Christmas decorating fun!

Every year it takes me three weeks to complete my Christmas decorations. Few rooms in the house are left untouched and I am usually still finding stray ornaments in March. However, No one ever forgets a visit to my house during the Christmas season. No matter what the weather, the house if cheery and bright. People will tell you that Christmas is overdone and that your house should not look like the North Pole, but they are missing out on the Christmas spirit. These pictures were taken on various years and they were not taken to post in a hub. The point is for you get inspired to do something new.

BATHROOMS

People will probably find it strange that I decorate my bathrooms for Christmas. Guests during the holidays will probably need to use your bathroom. In the first picture we see the curtain over the shower with a gold ribbon, a bow and a giant ornament in the center. This was pretty subtle. The second picture was the same bathroom with the mirror decorated and you can see ornaments placed in the cubbies as well as in the mini tub on the sink ledge. Putting pine boughs decorated with ornaments in a bathroom changes the feel of the space. The third picture is our master bath with pine boughs as well. You will notice the colors coordinate with my husbands Seattle Seahawks stuff (I had to let him have a room in the house).

DOGS

The holidays are exciting. Pets tend to get into trouble when they feel a lot of excitement in the air. I am always careful not to leave packages on the ground where my Dogs can get them. We have a tradition of giving Whitman’s chocolate en believe me it would never survive under the tree. So in picture four you see the top of our hutch packed with gifts. If you look close you can see the pedestals with ornament topiaries at the top as well. These topiaries are a fun way to use excess ornaments.

SWITCHING THINGS AROUND

A lot of my holiday decorating comes from switching out everyday items with Christmas items. The antique wash stand in my bathroom is a good example. Normally the pitcher in the bathroom has yellow roses in it, at Christmas I simply switch the roses out for poinsettias. This is a quick change that makes the entire wash stand look festive.

FORGOTTEN AREAS

My antique dresser got a shot of Christmas last year. As you can see from the lamp shade I found ornaments in the colors of my room for a mini tree in my bedroom. I never sit at the dresser so it provides a great space to decorate.

VIGNETTE

I am a suit case junkie. When ever I find old suit cases I buy them. The trunks stacked in my dining area usually hold linens. At Christmas I open the top trunk and create a winter scene. Last year I used a yard angel to anchor the trunk. The white stuff is metallic garland (I should mention that this is the only metallic garland I own). For the most part I am against metallic garland and tinsel. I had a few snowball ornaments that added to the feeling that winter was kept in my little trunk. Last I put candle holders in the trunk. When they were lit it was an amazing effect. Make sure you use glass holders that are taller than your garland to prevent a fire.

The next picture is other suit case. This year I filled this suitcase with all types of Christmas decorations. I called it “The spirit of Christmas”. Sort of like a Pandora’s Box of Christmas stuff. The trick to making this work was spacing the color out around the box to make it look random.

THE TREE

Last year our tree had nothing but red and white ornaments on it. Instead of garland I always use ribbon. You will notice there is no tinsel. I think tinsel is tacky and hides the ornaments. I weave the Christmas lights in and out of the branches so it takes a lot of lights to light this six foot tree. Every year our theme is different

List of themes:

Northwest woods

Nutcracker suite

Arizona Desert

Country

Old toy shop

Candy shop (be careful the pets love to destroy this one)

Winter white (kids made snowflakes for this one)

THE MANTEL

You will notice that the same picture that was in the Halloween hub is still above my Fireplace at Christmas. The stocking are not over the fireplace because we use the fireplace in the winter. Last year we had six kids in the house so they would not have fit anyway. The only stocking over the fireplace is the one for Jesus. I like to light the pine boughs that I put on the mantel. It lights the ornaments and creates the focal point when you walk in. The ornament swag that is on the wall was given to me by my grandmother. I have not seen one like it anywhere however I think that it can be made with shatterproof ornaments.

THE FAIRY

Out of seven grand kids we got one girl. She just happened to me at my house last year for Christmas. I hung tree decorating fairies just for her. There were three of them six inches tall, floating from sides of the tree on fishing line. This could be done with any ornament but I like the idea of fairies decorating the tree.

FIREPLACE

The last picture is from years ago. It was a fireplace that we never used because I was pretty sure it would have caught the house on fire. I used candles instead of logs so we could have a fire but not have the safety hazard.

SMALL KIDS

One year someone gave my kids reindeer food (glitter & oats in a bag). We thought it was a cute idea so we let them put the oats out with the milk and cookies for Santa. Once my kids were asleep I cut the end of a potato to look like a hoof. I took my potato hoof out to the mud in our front yard, got it good and muddy, then I stamped the hoof print in a trail from the fire place to the reindeer food and back. We scattered bits of the oats and glitter. We ate the cookie and drank the milk and left a note that said:

Dear Justin, Tristan, and Jerryd,

I am very sorry about the mess. The reindeer loved the food but they are not very clean. I looked fro the vacuum but I could not find it. Hope you have a Merry Christmas!

Love,

Santa

To this day my kids remember that Christmas and Tristan told all his school friends how Santa’s Reindeer trashed our house.

Another tradition we had when the kids were growing up was choosing a family to door bell ditch. We would leave them gifts and baked goods. This teaches children to give. My kids were just as excited about this as they were about the gifts under our own tree.

I will post more ideas as I come across them…