Christmas Decorating Tips

Decorating for the holidays can become routine and rather boring. I try to do a little something different every year. Nothing super dramatic, just a little touch here and there.

Wall Art

If you have framed prints or paintings on your wall, try wrapping them in gift wrap and then wide ribbon and finish with a wide ribbon and a large bow. One year I wrapped three in gold foil type gift wrap with red bows. It made an amazing change in the feel of the room and it was inexpensive and easy to do.

Consider replacing your wall art with Holiday themed art. Many artists online or in galleries sell prints of paintings they've done of snow scenes, Santa, Angels and so on. The prints aren't that expensive and you can find inexpensive frames in craft stores. Nothing spoils that Christmas feeling like a wall full of tropical sunsets.

Greens

If you have cedar or evergreens in your yard, clip some. Cedar stays green for at least a week and adds a wonderful scent to the room as well. You can put assorted evergreen branches in a vase and add a few small Christmas ornaments or silk poinsettias or pine cones.

You can also wire your greens to form a wreath and decorated it with spray snow, silk poinsettias, small silver ornaments or bells, whatever strikes your fancy. We trim the greens from the back of the bushes, so they don't look vandalized all winter. Next spring and summer they fill in quite quickly.

Trees

One year, due to a comedy of errors I'll write about another time, we ended up with no Christmas tree. I went into the woods and found several Maple and Oak branches that had fallen. They were between three and five feet long. I brought them in and put them in a garbage can that I weighted with rocks. Then I decorated the branches with mini lights and small ornaments. It wasn't traditional, but it sure was a conversation starter and fun for a change.

Warning: If I had it to do again I might put the branches in the garage and spray them with bug spray. Once those branches warmed up, it started to be more like Halloween than Christmas!

Color

I haven't done this (yet) but neighbors of ours have had color themes that they change from time to time. Last year it was all blue and white, with a bit of silver. It wasn't traditional or homey, but it was beautiful. Their rose and gold year was lovely too. I wasn't fond of the gold and blue year, but their son was attending the University of Michigan, so we forgave them.

Poinsettia Tree

Our local hospital has an enormous sixty-foot tall Christmas tree made entirely of pots of poinsettias in the lobby each year (donated by a local florist). I made my own rendition of this for our bay window by using some pots of silk poinsettias and a few individual sprigs. It looked especially pretty when everything outside was snowy white.

Enjoy your holidays and have fun!