Red Berries and Pinecones

I love the simplicity of decorating with objects from nature.  Red berries and pinecones dominate my Christmas decorating in my dining room.  The splashes of red are stunning against the predominately white background of mirrors and cream pitchers.  The pinecones from my yard then help to neutralize, warm, and buffer that red/white color contrast.  Both the berries and pine cones can be easily found at any Hobby Lobby/craft shop if you don't have the real ones available in your yard.  Years ago, I had many holly bushes and had red berries readily available every Christmas.  Anymore, all my red berries are fake - but they still look great!  And pinecones last for years.  Have fun finding objects to decorate with from the outdoors!  Other ideas are feathers, greenery from pine trees, bay leaves, boxwood branches, rocks...even bird nests, which can be easily spotted now that trees are bare!

More Christmas trees!

To continue with the theme of placing your Christmas tree in a bucket...here's the one on my front porch.  Again, nobody wants to see your Christmas tree stand, so hide it!  This is a much, much smaller (fake)  tree that I've placed inside a painted galvanized bucket.   This tree is on top of a very old washstand that is sitting on my front porch.  It adds a great pop of Christmas red to the porch and is even covered in white lights for when we turn our Christmas lights on at dark.  Here's a hint - fill up the rest of the bucket with sand or dirt to keep your tree sturdy and upright!

Vintage Ornaments

Probably my favorite way to decorate is with vintage Christmas ornaments.  They are so easy to find, inexpensive and come in such a great variety of colors and styles.  They are also versatile as they can decorate a tree (post coming later), get piled into a bowl, adorn packages or be scattered on a tabletop.  This photo is my dining room table centerpiece.  I simply took one of my (many) pedestal bowls, filled it with pinecones, then literally dropped ornaments onto it.  I've tried placing them very purposefully before, but just dropping them so they roll into natural spots looks so much better.  The blue ornaments are in my living room, and not one of those on the candlabra has broken yet!

Garlands

I love the simplicity of hanging a garland at Christmastime!  These are so easy to swag above a doorway, mirror, fireplace, you name it.   I simply hammer in a thin 2-inch long nail to hold each side of the garland in place.  Some of these nails I even leave in year-long if they are not obvious, that way I don't have to redo them each year!  A two-inch nail should give enough room to hang several garlands together.  In this doorway between my kitchen and living room, I have three garlands total - 2 different sized red beaded ones and then a unique woven one.   On the right side in the background of this picture, you can see my garland that hangs above my fireplace.  It's also made of up three different strands, including a white beaded one.  I really like to mix and match my strands of garlands for a more casually elegant look.  Strands of beads are inexpensive and easy to find, so don't be afraid to mix it up!

Christmas Tree Stands

I know it's kind of hard to see this in the picture, but this galvanized tub sits at the base of my Christmas tree.  My favorite new Christmas discovery last year was to use this tub to hide my Christmas tree stand.  I haven't ever been able to find a tree skirt that matches my style, and of course I just can't let that ugly green plastic tree stand show...so the stand is actually placed inside this tub!  Underneath the tub is an old tablecloth - so if water or sap drip on it, I can just throw it in the washer after Christmas.  If I didn't use this tub, my next option would probably be just to use a large piece of burlap to cover the plastic stand...maybe next year!  For now, however, I just love the look of this tub - and it is so practical!  It catches any water when I accidentally overfill the stand!

Pedestals!

I love pedestal stands!  They are such a great option to give just about anything height and definition.  I purchased this ugly, plain one at a friend's yard sale.  After giving it two quick coats of spray paint (and I do mean quick - this little project was done just an hour before we had dinner guests!), it was ready for some ornamentation.  I simply put a red and white dinner plate on the stand, with a smaller soup bowl on top.  Simple fresh veggie and fruit can even be used in Christmas decorating!  My favorites are bright green Granny Smith apples, but since I didn't have any of those around the house I used pears and tomatoes.  Voila!  Instant decoration!

Finally ready for Christmas!

I've been procrastinating decorating for Christmas - mainly because I'm tired.  But, today, I did it!  I'll be posting several pictures and ideas for Christmas decorating over the next couple weeks.  Most focus on decorating in an unexpected way! 
Take poinsettia plants, for example.  Just because they come packaged in obnoxious foil wrappers, people feel as though they need to display them in the same manner.  Not so!  Please, please, please drop those beautiful poinsettias into a different container!  You can even group 2 or more together for a larger display.  In the above photo I combined two plants into an urn for a gorgeous display as guests enter my home.   Ahh, so much better than the foil wrappers, don't you think?
More to come soon...