Christmas Decorations!

I spent ALL DAY decorating for Christmas yesterday. And when I say "all day," I really mean it. I started around 10am and finished decorating the tree around 9:30pm (with breaks for cooking meals and eating and watching old episodes of '30 Rock' on Netflix, of course). Much of this time included a lot of pre-planning for organizing my decorations a little better when I put them away at the end of the month. Our guest room closet is literally just the Christmas decoration closet because there is no room for anything else. I thought if I put things in clearly-labeled plastic totes we could put everything in the attic and leave the closet free for guests. Now we only need some attic stairs....

I also found some great deluxe-looking garlands that I forgot I had purchased two years ago, so I was able to upgrade from my old, crappy, cheap-looking ones. The house now feels super festive and is all decked out for Chrismukkah!

Let me show you some of my favorite things....

 

 

I made these chair decorations a few years ago to jazz up my dining room. The knitting pattern for making these sweet little mittens was so quick and so easy I had no trouble making 6 pairs. The best part about them is that once you tie them on, you don't have to untie them to put them away. Just slip off and throw in a small tin, then slip back on next December. I got a bunch of those little jingle bells at Joann's for only a few bucks and they are the cutest, easiest things for putting a nice touch on presents, candle holders, or chair decorations. ;-)

 

I started putting Christmas cards on my tree several years ago, when I had a big, beautiful tree but no ornaments to put on it. I wanted to do my tree the way my mom does it: no theme (color or otherwise), not a lot of glass bulb ornaments, just a cute variety of whatever strikes my fancy. (Glass bulbs are pretty, but they don't really say a whole lot. I like my ornaments to be, well, "me.") I knew that (because of my budget and store selection) it would take me a few years to build up a decent ornament collection, so what could I do in the meantime? Answer: Christmas cards! They are the BEST! Cards take up no space when packed away, but take up a lot of space on a tree, so they're great for filling in gaps in your branches. It's also a great way to display the 1,000 or so cards you receive each season. (This reindeer one is my favorite; I give it a prime location every year.) And now, even though I have plenty of super cute ornaments from 6+ years of Target clearance shopping, I keep using my Christmas cards. I just love them, and I've never seen anyone else do it. Although, you're more than welcome to copy me. (Just make sure you tell everybody you saw it here, first. Haha!)

 Here is a full-length picture I took last night. My tree skirt is actually two white sheer panels that used to be my curtain swags in college. I think they look like a snowdrift.

Here's my new "deluxe" garland! It has a much more realistic look, so I really didn't mind taking the lights off the old one and wrapping them onto the new one. Even though I had to vacuum like 5 times to get all the needles up. Our little Hanukkah tree on the left looks extra classy.

Remember those little jingle bells on the dining room chairs? Joann's also sells big honkin' ones. I put some on my tree, and the rest I hung on our mantle clips as an extra decoration for the stockings.These clips are great because they fit on any mantle and--because of how they curve--you actually have two places to hang things. And isn't that stocking GORGEOUS???

Ignore the bird bath. I haven't pressure washed it yet. Just look at the door. I made the wreath with a pre-made pine wreath, decorations, and floral wire. The paper snowflakes are actually 3 or 4 years old, leftover from a Christmas decorating contest at work. They're still holding up so I taped them up to my sidelights for a wintry feel. My dog (watching me from the bottom left pane) doesn't bother with stuff like that, but if you have pets (or kids) who will, just tape them up higher. 

My Favorite Decorating Tips:

1. Pinterest. Pinterest, Pinterest, Pinterest. Other people think of things you would never think of.
2. Think outside the box. Ornaments don't have to go on a tree. Wreaths can be hung inside. Do whatever makes you happy.
3. Joann's has a ton of beautiful Christmas decorations and they go deeply on sale (like, 50% off) throughout the entire month of December, so you don't have to wait until after Christmas to stock up.
4. That being said, after-Christmas sales are the bomb-diggity. Use the clearance racks to stock up on ornaments, upgrade to energy-saving LED lights, snag some super cheap Christmas wrapping supplies (I have enough wrapping paper to last me until I die), or upgrade your garland. You won't get to enjoy them right away, but think what a pleasant surprise you'll have next year!
5. Put together a box of generic decorating supplies: extension cords, ornament hooks, spools of decorative ribbon, Command hooks, etc. Everything in one place prevents you from scrambling around in a dozen other boxes looking for that one thing.

I love the holidays and can't wait to spend my days looking at all my pretty decorations (there are more than I'm showing you) now that I'm home all day to see them. I'm sure my electric bill will exact its revenge! What are your favorite decorating tips? I'm always looking out for beautiful, easy ideas!