December Décor: Home for the Holidays

The days leading up to Christmas this year were a blur. They seemed to go by faster than ever and there were several things I did not get done in time that were on my to do list. In case you were feeling the holiday stress too, there was good reason this season was more rushed than ever. There were only 26 days (!!) between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, six fewer days than last year and also the smallest number of days mathematically possible between the two holidays! I always wait until after Thanksgiving to decorate, but with so few days to enjoy it all, now I’m rethinking this strategy for next year!

Now that Christmas is over and I have some time off work, I can relax and enjoy my decorations. I had a brief feeling of wanting to rip it all down the day after Christmas (I was so tired and so done!), but Friday night as I was taking some photos for this post, I was glad I didn’t because I felt particularly festive with all the lights illuminated. I even turned on one of the Yule log channels and enjoyed some Christmas music while I took it all in.

This year’s Michigan-grown Christmas tree came from the Boy Scout troop lot in Fishers, because I was so happy with the tree I got there last year. I wanted to get another Balsam fir because I loved mine in 2018, but they only had about three total, so I settled on a Canaan fir without really knowing what one was. It looked similar to the Fraser and Balsam firs I’d had in the past, and later when I looked up information about the Canaan fir, I found it is very similar indeed. In fact, it’s technically a Balsam. Seeds are sourced from balsam fir from the Canaan Valley of West Virginia. I’ve been very happy with this tree. I got it December 2, and 26 days later it still looks and smells fresh. I put the lights on it the night I got it, and then hung the ornaments the next two days. I’ve really missed having my sweet cat Flurry lay on the tree skirt this year. You can see some photos of her enjoying the warm fluffy tree skirt on last year’s blog post. She passed away in April of kidney failure at age 18, and Christmas definitely hasn’t been the same this year. She always loved the Christmas tree from the moment it came in through the front door until the day it was taken down in a mass of brittle needles.

I put the tree in a new location this year near the front door and living room window, because the console table and gallery wall I added to my living room in September are in the spot where I used to put the Christmas tree. My mom suggested the new location for the tree, and I was skeptical it would work, but I really love it there. As usual, she has the best advice. It’s right in front of me when I sit on the couch, and greets me when I walk in the front door.

I like to hang my newest Christmas ornaments on the tree first, and this year a set of four gingerbread village Hallmark ornaments I received as a gift last year from my parents went up first. The ornaments consist of two gingerbread houses, a church and bake shop from the Noelville collection of the Hallmark Keepsake ornament vault, all connected by a Magic Cord. I’ve never used one of the magic cords before, and am really impressed with it. The houses each light up in two separate areas and put on a continuous light show when the cord is plugged in.

After decorating the Christmas tree, I worked on my mantel and fireplace. As usual, I bought fresh greenery for the mantel from the Old World Christmas Village & Market on December 6: six feet of Douglas fir/cedar roping plus holly and winterberry for the red berries. The lighted JOY letters and twinkling snowflake lights are also mantel staples, plus I added 4 LED candles this year. I decided to expand on last year’s lantern display at the base of the fireplace by adding to it a new white lantern with a little Christmas scene inside, a light up gnome, the white fox from my fall console table, some bottlebrush trees, my vintage snowman pitcher and a book. The new striped bows on the black lanterns were also purchased at the market. I’m really happy with how the display in front of the fireplace turned out.

My wall ledge is decorated in a similar fashion to past years’ displays, with the addition this year of star lights that I normally include in my window ledge scene of winter animals. I like how the lights accent the ledge and I was happy I could conceal most of the cord by tucking it beneath the objects on the ledge. The battery pack is hidden behind the llama and white tree. I also decided to include my wood foxes on the wall ledge this year. Their red and white hats and scarves match the color scheme of the other decorations. I’m not sure why I never thought to use the star lights on the ledge before. They are the perfect length for it!

I wanted to do something different with my living room window ledge this year, especially since my Christmas tree was going to be in a new spot right next to it. I decorated the ledge with a white unglazed porcelain village set of nine buildings with glitter “snow” covered roofs and sisal trees. Each building glows with a flickering tea light at night. I also added the same tall white trees on either end of the village that I used last year with my winter animal display. Completing the winter wonderland is a white snow blanket I sprinkled with sparkling snow and a garland of felt snowflakes I placed along the edge of the ledge so the rough edge of the snow blanket wouldn’t show.

I simplified my coffee table display this year, decorating it with fewer items than usual. I included the four tall illuminated Mercury glass trees and lighted winter village half circle that I normally do, but left off the other little buildings and trees. I set out my wood lantern and included a birch-look LED candle inside it. I also added a new light up picture scene, a wood reindeer I received last Christmas that I adorned with some faux holly, antique brass reindeer (also a Christmas gift last year) and a Nordic village glass pedestal.

My end table that contains the green ceramic tree and stacked books is decorated similarly to last year. I changed up the other end table display, sticking with the winter white theme but using different decorations. I did include the paper winter animal scene I used last year, but moved it down to the shelf underneath the table. On the tabletop is my owl snow globe, a pretty light up winter animal scene that’s new this year, my white lantern with LED lights inside, and a winter sign and animals I got at the Target dollar spot. The snowflakes at the base of the display are Christmas ornaments.

My gallery wall was my very-last-minute decorating effort this year. I printed the photos for it and collected frames in early December, but didn’t get an opportunity to arrange and put everything up until Christmas. To see a before photo, check out my fall wall here. I switched out all the photos in the frames from fall to Christmas photos. The smaller individual frames contain adorable photos of my nephew Jimmy from a photo session his great aunt arranged this month. The 8 x 10 frames contain photos we took at Newfields Winterlights this year, and the collage frame holds Instagram snaps from past Christmases. The heart is made from gingerbread, and given to me by my mom when we went to the Carmel Christkindlmarkt. Frohe Weihnachten translates to Merry Christmas in German. The gnome garland coordinates with my Gnome Décor sign and adds some festive Christmas color. I added some decorations to my console table below the gallery wall, including the Winter Woodland advent calendar of little wood animals my friend Megan gave me this year. The snowflake pedestal they’re arranged on looks like it was made for them but is a separate piece.

I added Christmas photos to my shadowbox frame and topped it with the merry blocks that normally sit on my coffee table along with lighted bottlebrush trees.

Like last year, I never got around to fully decorating my kitchen. I set out my Christmas tablecloth and runner, put out decorations above my stove, and filled the window sill with festive plants, but I ran out of time after that. Next year I would like to decorate my kitchen in a gingerbread theme like I have in past years. The plants in my kitchen window include a small poinsettia, Norfolk Island pine, little rose plant and some succulents in Christmasy containers. They’ve made doing dishes more enjoyable.

My outdoor decorations didn’t go up until December 15. Heavy snow was forecast beginning that evening, so I quickly went to work changing my garden flag, decorating my lamp post with the usual lighted garland, sitting out my burlap fox (who lost his bow last year – I just tied some red ribbon to replace it this year), and also adding some new snowman pathway markers. As I finished decorating outdoors that evening, the first snowflakes fell. Within hours, snow transformed the scene into something much prettier than what I had been able to accomplish! We ended up getting 8 inches of snow that stuck around for several days until the great Christmas warm-up arrived. What a rollercoaster ride December weather turned out to be!

I’ll start taking down my decorations in about two weeks, starting with the tree. Until then, it’s still Christmas at my house!

I hope you had the happiest of holidays and are now enjoying some post-Christmas rest and relaxation!