Deck the Halls - An Inside Look at My Holiday Decor
There's really only one time of year I turn into Pinterest anything and the holiday season is it. I'm never the crafty mom with a paper mache Valentine box in the perfect likeness of Minecraft's Steve. But when it comes to Christmas decorating, I'll see your hand crafted signs and raise you bow making for one hundred.
Next to spending Summers at the pool, my husband would argue that the holiday season is some of the happiest (and maybe craziest!) times you will ever see me. Something about Christmas music, dripping my home with “all things that glitter”, the spirit of giving, family togetherness, and celebrating the birth of baby Jesus, just gets me in this amazing mood. For like 2 whole months! While some may suggest it's a bit early to talk holiday décor, I say embrace it! Some of my greatest memories from childhood stem from holidays so why not go all out?
I think my obsession with Christmas décor comes from my mother. As a kid, I remember her taking so much pride in putting up our tree. Granted, there were a few choice words that went along with figuring out the light strands each year. But her painstaking effort always paid off in the most beautiful ways. Over the years, 1 tree turned into 2 and the house would be filled with gorgeous Christmas baubles at every turn.
Evelyn and Reid's tree. It sits perfectly in our family room where we can all enjoy it.
Let me welcome you into my home and start by introducing you to the tiniest of our 3 trees. This one is brought to you at the hands of Evelyn and Reid. What I adore is that each tree we own was procured during a new milestone in our family. This tree was to become the first ever tree we owned as a family of four. My twins were crawlers by the time Christmas 2012 rolled around so there was no way a large tree would suffice. Two busy babies on the move meant that anything pretty was an attractive target. This tree spent it's first Christmas atop our kitchen island and would serve as our only tree until about their third holiday season. Now it's been delightfully decorated with hand-made ornaments from them, from my and Phil's childhood, and as of this year, Evelyn has taken it upon herself to make it extra festive. Reid wanted no part in the “extra”. I don't blame him. Even I have to admit, the picks might be a little much!
Tree number two became our grown up family tree. Reid and Evelyn finally were at a stage where they were getting into things less, were in preschool and able to follow some simple directions. Coming home from Thanksgiving in Michigan in 2015, we stopped into Michael's, literally after being in the car for 2 days, to score a deal on a 7ft pre-lit tree on a Black Friday deal for under $100. I couldn't wait to get it home! Up until 2 years ago, this was our family tree.
Our 7ft tree sits in our master bedroom and is decorated with antique ornaments this year.
This Christmas it's home to my antique ornament collection, and glass ornaments from Christmas' past. Pre-kids, glass ornaments were a thing of norm. And I would browse flea markets and antique shops during the holidays to add to my collection. Some were passed down from Phil's mom to me. Others were gifts. So delicate. Oh so delicate. Sonot appropriate for small hands. Each year it's a gamble as to whether to not I bring out my collection. I have only put them up the last two years and so far, I have had casualties both times. And by casualties, picture Reid using a vintage set of pretties as “fireballs” in his pretend game of Super Mario. Once he realized they “exploded” upon contact with the wall, well, there was no stopping him. Until I literally came running up the stairs screaming for him to “STOP!”. That was last year's incident. I'm still finding glass pieces randomly. But boy are they gorgeous!
When we moved into our home two and a half years ago, my dream came true of having a vaulted entryway that would accommodate the tallest of trees – a 12 footer! To celebrate the first Christmas in our new home, we found a deal online at Walmart for this beauty at just $99. So two Christmas trees turned into three and this is by far my favorite one to decorate. There's something thrilling about requiring a ladder to adorn my tree. And friends, I deck this one all out but here are a few things you need to know. Everything on this tree is shatterproof or essentially not glass. And I do it very inexpensively. I take great pride in making this tree look amazing but it's done on the cheap. As in I acquired all or most ornaments, picks and ribbon from places like Walmart and Target. With young kids in the house and wood floors below, it's the only way to go!
The main event. Our 12ft tree stands tall in our entry way
To achieve the look on this tree, I went with reds, mixed greens and metals, white and lots of visual texture. The key to an amazing looking tree, in my opinion, is to have a lot of great texture, balance, and fullness. Things like garland, ribbon and/or beads draped around a tree help divide it into sections, making it more manageable to decorate and balance out. I like to ensure there's plenty of color in each section and add ornaments of all sizes to help create the appearance of a “full” tree. Again, it depends on the look you're going for. I like to seek inspiration from magazines and Pinterest to give me ideas. This year I knew I wanted a green and red tree but the last two years it was done in jewel tones. Picks at the top and a ribbon bow finish it off, giving it the extra polish I was going for.
Garland on the stair railing with hand made bows. We also hang our stockings here.
As for the rest of my entry way, again – all done affordably! My garland came from Target ($10 for 50 ft) and the bows I make myself. In years past I have done more expensive alternatives, including the pre-lit artificial pine garland. But I learned a hard lesson. You really have to commit to wanting to paint and/or stain your stair railing after the holidays when you use those. They contain bendable metal for shape and it absolutely wrecks the surface to which it's applied – scratches everywhere. Same goes for the fireplace mantle. So think twice. There are plastic versions available, as well, and definitely something to consider. But they don't go nearly as far and are 2-3 times the price. I actually have one wrapped around the base on my Christmas card holder, pictured here, and think they're beautiful. But, again, if you're looking to purchase enough for a stair railing these go for around $20-$30 each.
You'll notice from my pictures, I enjoy a variety of Christmas décor styles and I like to mix it up throughout my home. I use to believe that I had to stick to one particular color scheme or style but as I have gotten older I simply decorate how I like and put in my home the things that make me and my family happy. Yes, I have my favorite places to shop (Pottery Barn, Bella B Decor if you're local, any and all antique stores) so at times my style leans a little to reflect those places.
But when it comes to Christmas, all bets are off! So my advice here is do YOU.
Side note and a little product review for you that came from what I like to refer to as a “rookie mistake” I made while putting up our third tree. Yes, I failed to plug in said tree before decorating it. I know, I know, what was I thinking, right? I found myself faced with a partially lit tree with ornaments already on it. Everything was properly plugged in. I even had Phil double check my work. Now, a partially lit pre-lit tree can sometimes mean doom for pre-lits theses days with all the amazing Black Friday deals coming up. I'll admit, the idea of a new 7ft flocked tree had crossed my mind. But, I had worked so hard decorating this one I didn't want to give up on it. Last year a friend told me about a tool for “diagnosing” light problems on pre-lit trees so I decided to do some homework and figure out A) was it worth buying one based on reviews and cost B) was it worth the time and trouble. Here's what I found, the tool is surprisingly user friendly and comes with great directions. It got 3.5/5 star reviews on average and ended up costing me $19.99 at Target. It did what it said it would do.
I found that it worked as expected. Now, after following the instructions and doing as it stated, I cannot specifically say that I found the exact problem with my lights. However, after plugging my tree back up following some time with the tool, the lights did all work once again! So, I cannot exactly say for certain what was wrong with the tree but the tool seemed to have helped me “clear” the issue. Would I recommend it? Let's just say, I think it's a nice thing to have on hand.
Light Keeper Pro
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