Hi everyone! I’m almost done my week of Holiday blog posts–much like blogmas, just with a lot less days. With my second last post for the week, I wanted to share with you all some decorating tips for the Christmas/Holiday season if you still want to add a few last minute touches around the house or get some inspiration for next year.
DIY Decorations
Earlier this week, I shared two DIYs, one of which was a garland that can be hung almost anywhere around the house. If you want tips about making your own, check out the post here. A few years ago, I also made a DIY miniature christmas tree that is perfect for a desktop, tabletop or on a shelf. To make the tree, I purchased a laser cut wood tree from Michaels, some glittery ribbon, miniature ornaments including a star for the top of the tree, a small bottle of white glitter paint, and a glue gun to assemble. All you need to finish this project, is a bit of creativity and patience (because it is much harder to decorate items that are on the smaller side). I’ve paired both my DIY tree and garland on my desktop, and I think Sully (my little betta fish), is enjoying it. I’ve also purchased a little hedgehog decoration that goes into his fishtank as soon as I clean it today! Always make sure to get items that are safe for fishtanks–not just any item from the dollar store as they can be harmful.
The Main Tree
The one question I get asked every year, is how I decorate the main tree in the living room. Over the years, our tree has drastically changed in the way we decorate it. As kids, my sister and I would each take a half of the tree (or scream at eachother in our attempts to agree on decor for the whole tree), and decorate with random ornaments my family had collected over the years. The current tree is quite different from the trees of the past as we’ve narrowed it down to a colour scheme, and I am the sole decorator.
We’ve chosen a blue, white and silver colour scheme, which helps keep the tree looking unified, and looks great with the warm white lights that the tree comes with. To begin, I like to take two different colour ribbons–both thick–and wrap them around the tree, creating an alternating pattern. Next I go through with all the ornaments. Most of the ornaments we have are simple spheres, but we also have a few that are a bit more fun like the shiny winter berries, the bows and the glitter bulbs. My main tip for decorating with ornaments is to start with the smaller ones at the top, and work your way down, increasing the ornaments in size, otherwise your tree may look too top heavy. Now, I like a very full tree, but you don’t necessarily have to go that way. Decorate with as much or as little ornaments as you please, as long as you’re happy with it. On the top of the tree, I like to make a bow with the same ribbon as I wrap around the tree, which keeps it trendy and fresh. To finish the tree, I like to sprinkle fake snow all over the branches and on the tree skirt.
Smaller Items Around the House
I personally love adding small festive items around the house, so I thought I’d share ideas with where you can put them. Thicker garland with the little pine needles are great to add to furniture or focal points in your home. In our house, we have a china hutch that is a perfect to drape with garland, as it draws the eye up and to our dinnerware. We also have a few tabletop pieces of holiday decor that help fill spaces that would otherwise have the year-round decor. We like to switch up our fake flower vases and fill them with poinsettias, and change tablecloths to match the festive mood. You can also add little touches like bows on the backs of chairs, which adds an extra piece of glamour to your holiday dinners.
Lastly, I’d like to recommend bringing out some pieces that have been in the family for a while, or that have some sentimental value. We have a ceramic light-up Christmas tree that we bring out every year that has been in our family for as long as I can remember. It doesn’t quite feel like Christmas until that little tree is up! We also put up our stockings and wreaths around our hallways and doors to bring some holiday sparkle to high-traffic areas.
If you have any Christmas/Holiday decorating tips, let me know down in the comments! And while you’re decorating, you may want to play some festive tunes. Check out my Holiday/Christmas Tunes playlist on Spotify for some background music!
-Vanessa
