Decorating My Home for Christmas. Plus 2 Easy DIYs!
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So I have a question for you…Do you start decorating for Christmas at the beginning of November or do you wait ‘til after Thanksgiving? You see, I do a mixture of both lol. If there is any shopping to be done, I do it when the stores start to put the items out because:
Other DIYers are also after fun supplies to create holiday gifts and decor
Stores are stocking the shelves with nothing in the overstocked areas, so it’s “here today, gone tomorrow”
Plus I like to decorate in stages so that I am not buying on impulse. I buy what I REALLY want instead of what is just cute. And most importantly, I like to wait until after each holiday to get items for next season!
Now that we have settled into our home for about two months now, I realize that I am not ready to deck the entire house as of yet. So decorating the first floor and the front porch will be it for this season. So far I am very proud of what we have done and I can’t wait to carry you guys on the adventure as time goes on.
Creating a Winter Wonderland Outside My Home
Since it is warm where I live, I needed to use my holiday decorations to bring that cozy winter feeling to my home. I wanted to take people into a whole new world from the driveway up into the house. We kept the lighting simple with snowflake garland lights that go along the outside of the garage door, a blue project twinkle light shining on the garage door, a rope light wrapped around the palm tree, and two projectors shining on our front door; a Santa that says, “Ho, ho, ho” (got him on clearance for a PENNY last year!) and a small battery-powered projector from DOLLAR TREE. Like what! Dollar tree has outdone themselves with this one! I also found the perfect mat to help bring my front porch theme together.
The theme that I went with for the front porch was “Tree Farm at the North Pole”. All of the decor that I bought was either from Dollar Tree, Ross, Micheals, Marshalls, and the Thrift store. I am so glad that I paced myself last year and waited to get some of these items after the season ended so that I could get them for next to nothing!
Click each picture below to see if it’s still available in stores:
Winter Wonderland on the Inside too!
I found a galvanized truck at Ross and filled it with scented pine cones, along with a simple decorated mini Christmas tree that I got from Target for $20, garlands and bells from Dollar Tree, a table runner from Target on clearance for less than $10 and a photo album for my son Carter’s first Christmas.
Another way that I winterized my home, was to turn inside into the North Pole Headquarters! I staged the entryway, dining table, and bar area to feel traditional yet whimsical as if you are looking down on the mountains heading up a ski slope to the Santa’s workshop at the north pole.
#1- DIY “Let it snow” Sign
DIY: I wanted to create a simple “Let it snow” sled, so I used a sign from Dollar Tree and then did the following to put my own touch on it.
Painted it with white chalk paint
Used a silver marker to rewrite “let it snow”
Printed out “north pole reindeer sleigh rides” and used Mod Podge to glue it to the sled
Used red duct tape on a cardboard tube along with a small toy ball for the North Pole
More Decorating Inside
I’ve always wanted a “Letter” mailbox for near my front door and my word as soon as I saw it at Ross, there was not a second thought running through my mind about getting it. Then I added my Christmas stamped runner from Ross and my postcard letter to Santa from Target’s dollar spot; which was a cute touch to the area. Aside from decorating for the holidays, I wanted some areas to be practical, so finding this bench with storage was the perfect find! Side note: They weren’t kidding when they say, “What is for you, will be for you” because I was getting ready to give up and just buy a brand new bench and then BAM…there’s my bench!
I kept the decor on the entry table simple because it’s a high-traffic area and tiny humans are usually running around. I loooovvveee candles but I can’t light them right now because of the little one but I have free rein to sniff it as much as I want lol. So instead, I am using diffusers, which is ok because I looovvveee essential oils. I use them for everything and making a holiday blend was no different. I originally saw a YouTuber put a simple diffuser in a Micheals metal lantern and thought that I would give it a try myself; but I love it even more with my $5 Christmas tree diffuser on clearance from Marshalls. It’s so cute because the tree lights up and the steams come out of the chimney lol!! I was able to find a Santa sled advent calendar on clearance (due to a missing box) and my reindeer jingle bells as well.
Besides the native scene, I love my DIY “Home” sign so much, mainly because I wanted a sign that I could change out for every season.
#2-DIY Holiday Sign
DIY: The wooden frame is from Target’s dollar spot, the letters are from Micheals along with the “Merry Christmas” skies and magnetics. I simply stained the letters to my liking and distressed them with white paint, then hot glued them to the wooden board, and BAM! An interchangeable “Home” sign.
I Need to Work on This Idea More Next Year
So, I may have succeeded, or somewhat failed, with this next section of our house lol. I was trying to create a scene of a native village within a modern world within my hutch, lol, tell me what do you think.
And We Can’t Forget the Tree!
My favorite part of decorating our home was working on our staircase and tree! The tree is jammed packed with ornaments from Disney travels, Starbucks, and many more crafts and thrift stores. A special touch added to this tree was the tan and white lace ribbons used from our wedding! Last year we bought a real tree and loved it: read “Which is Truly Greener? A Real or Artificial Christmas Tree” to hear my pros and cons for getting either kind. However, this year with a baby looks different. I love the look and smell of a real tree but was afraid my son would pick up one of the pine needles and put it in his mouth. So far, I have no problems with him messing with the tree due to his play area being right next to it. Therefore, he is well content…for the time being.
One Last Area That Was Decorated for Christmas
In the kitchen area, I added a Christmas theme pot holder and mitten from Dollar Tree along with two different tier trays with small knick-knacks for added charm. I love it! I also added a few signs and ornaments from the dollar spot in Target. My favorite part is the cookie-cutter theme tree.
I am in love with how everything has turned out so far and I can’t wait for the rest of the living place to be done as well so that my family can really go in for Christmas Eve.
Next up…The fireplace!!! Forewarning…. it won’t be your traditional DIY lol. Stay tuned…
