Display Christmas Lanterns
In a pinch for a festive, company-worthy way to decorate your doorstep this holiday season? Greet guests in style by arranging a grouping of festive candleholders and lanterns at your entryway for quick and easy holiday style. Arrange large, sturdy candles for a warm glow in mismatched lanterns. Consider using flameless candles as a worry-free alternative to regular pillars.
Spread Cheer Outdoors
Low-care (or no-care) plants set the scene while placing a wreath front and center crowns an outdoor area in complementary cheer. Add a garden-friendly centerpiece by dropping paperwhites into a pine needle basket.
Prep A Festive Scene
Set your tablescape early in the season to give you a nice daily reminder to your countdown to Christmas dinner. Layer green and white linens, seasonal candles, red flowers, and small dishes filled with cranberries for a setting that will help your anticipation grow.
Wow With Winter Whites
Creamy white ceramics make great vessels for holiday blooms. We’ve mixed holly, cedar, and privet berries with white amaryllis and lime green mums. Start with foliage, placing the largest pieces first to establish the size of your display. Add flowers and berries one stem at a time to form a triangle of amaryllis, mums, and berries. Fill in with more greenery, and skirt your vase with colorful packages and ornaments.
Cheer Up Outdoor Spaces
Don’t neglect outdoor patios and porches in your Christmas decorating. Because we live in the South, our winters are much more mild, and we can use our screen porches all the way through the Christmas season. Decorate your outdoor spaces with wreaths, candles, and large glowing orbs to draw guests outside to cozy up by the fire. This understated yet festive outdoor spaces is perfect for casual gatherings. We love the rustic candlesticks seen on the table of this back porch. And while these red chairs are functional year round, when taken among all the festive Christmas decorations displayed during the holiday season, they begin to resemble cheery sleighs.
String Lights And Greenery
When it comes to decorating the front of a house for the holidays, we absolutely love wrapping Christmas lights around all of the columns on a stately home’s front porch. However, the dark green wires often distract from the elegant twinkle that we desire. Disguise those unsightly wires from string lights by winding them around a column or post with Christmas greenery or garland. Personalize the garland by attaching spray-painted pinecones and metallic ornaments with fishing line. Finally, set out a pretty container of ornamental cabbage or kale at the base. To add an additional pop of color, a potted Poinsettia also looks great.
Shift Out Of Neutral
Lovers of neutral, subtle decor will love this metallic take on holiday decorating. Elegant, yet far from overwhelming, this theme is perfectly understated but still fancy enough for even a formal holiday gathering. Create an opulent feel without taking over the space by decorating your Christmas tree with sophisticated metallic shades. The limited color scheme of silver, gold, and bronze is both classy and timeless. Minimal pops of green and red bring festive cheer, while the dominant colors of silver and gold make the tree sparkle with subtle yet eye-catching flair. Choose icicle-style lights to wrap the tree to emulate diamonds.
Make A Statement With Peacock Feathers
In lieu of the traditional reds and greens of holiday flowers, use bright peacock feathers on your mantel as a statement piece. First, select a neutral container for the feathers – we chose this concrete plant box as a solid foundation. Place a block of floral foam inside of the container, and then arrange peacock feathers in a whimsical pattern. Add a few curly willow branches to add dimension in the back. Arrange ornaments in the base of the container to hide the floral foam and compliment the room’s other decorations. We suggest using this edgy arrangement to compliment other nontraditional design elements.
Choose Colors That Match Your Décor
Just because large department stores seem to explode in bright reds and greens during the holiday season does not mean that you have to completely hide your house’s existing décor when prepping for the holidays. Instead, plan your Christmas decorations so that they work with, rather than hides, your existing home decor. Even if it means using unexpected colors, like cream and beige, a room with well-incorporated decorations throughout looks classy and expensive. Accents in shades of gold and silver blend seamlessly with this room’s soft white-and-ivory color scheme and play off the tones of other metallic accessories, like the coffee table
Hang A Blooming Basket
Who says you have to wait until spring to decorate your porch with flowers? Spread Christmas cheer by greeting guests with a bright arrangement of seasonal paperwhites. Paperwhites belong to the daffodil family, and will flower indoors at any time of year. They are incredibly easy to grow and maintain, as they don’t even need soil to grow. Just place the paperwhite bulb in enough water to cover the lower portion of the bulb. While growing the paperwhites, keep the bulbs in a warm indoor spot that sees lots of sun. If you water them regularly, they will flower in a month or so. After blooming, paperwhites last longer when placed in a cool spot out of direct sunlight. Arrange the blooms along with heather, juniper, and moss in a planter and hang it directly on your front door.
Wrap Your Coffee Table
No, we are not telling you to wrap your coffee table in wrapping paper. Rather, get creative and upgrade your living area by wrapping a coffee table in belts of festive Christmas ribbon. Transform your coffee table into a Christmas present by crisscrossing strands of ribbon over the top and sides of the table, like you would when wrapping a gift. To avoid over-decoration, choose a neutral ribbon color that is close to the color of the table, and wrap loosely. Add festive centerpieces, like spray painted pine cones, and metallic family heirlooms to add sparkle to the elegant decoration.
Fill Cylinders With Ornaments
For a tasteful, intricate, and slightly minimalist display, fill transparent glass cylinders with painted holiday objects. Use spray paint to add a shimmery touch to pinecones, acorns, or round glass ornaments. A metallic color scheme is displayed above; however, we also love this idea using rich red and deep green, or ice blue and white – it just depends on your home’s existing color scheme. Display these tall decorations en mass, on a dining table, coffee table, or even a demilune. Large glass vases look fabulous when arranged on a windowsill. This do-it-yourself Christmas decoration is easy to make, yet results in a classy, elegant final product.
Use All Glittering Ornaments
Create a unified and sophisticated alternative to mismatched Christmas ornaments with glittering balls and stars in various finishes. Try this glittering ornament idea in a little girl’s room – you can have so much fun with bright and glitter pinks, greens, and light blues. While you can collect glittery Christmas ornaments from seasonal shops, you can also execute this idea yourself. Buy a variety of unfinished ornaments from your local craft store, and select a few festive shades of fine glitter. Adhere the glitter to the ornaments using adhesive spray, Mod Podge, or color-coordinated paint. Experiment with patterns for more intricate and handmade details.
Drape The Bannister
Take advantage of your beautiful banister. Drape festive green winter garland up the handrail of a staircase, and anchor it with metallic gold or rich red bows for a Christmas welcome in your foyer. When anchoring the garland to your banister, make sure that you select a ribbon with wire trim. The wire trim will ensure that the ribbon maintains a stiff bow shape that lasts throughout the season. For added sparkle, string white icicle lights up the banister. Wind the spiral tightly around the base of your stairs as a festive finishing touch. Add aromatic clippings from your Christmas tree for a cheery bonus!
Put Out Pretty Pillows
Quickly take your everyday living area to Christmas village by swapping out your basic throw pillows for festive, holiday-themed pillows. This quick fix is an inexpensive and easy way to redecorate a room and change the entire room’s look for the Christmas season. Find pillows at a local interior design shop, or whip up your own from festive holiday fabric. Although pillows are small, they shape a room’s atmosphere. By adding Christmas pillows to a room, you can forgo other holiday decorations and save time.
Hang Vintage Ornaments
Sometimes, the best way to decorate a Christmas tree is with memories collected by your family. There is no need to reinvent and repurchase your Christmas tree decorations every year. Instead, stick with the familiar and beloved ornaments that your family has collected and made over the year. Decorating with a variety of themed ornaments will add a personalized touch that standard, matching ornaments cannot compete with; so we are declaring that it is perfectly okay to use the same ornaments every year. Each unique ornament will tell a story, and your Christmas tree will act as a great conversation piece during holiday gatherings.
Add Swag To Your Mantel
Swags are not only for doorways and porches. Craft a classic, decorative swag for your mantel out of surprisingly nontraditional materials. Birch bark is one of a decorator’s favorite natural materials – its flexibility and light, beautiful pattern are perfect for many occasions. In this Christmas swag, thin tree branches and birch bark shavings make up the rustic display for a minimalist living room. Red berries and frosted Christmas trees in varying heights lend holiday touches to the natural arrangement, which could be used throughout the fall and winter seasons.
Accesorize Your Tree
As much as we love the traditional Christmas tree-topping gold star, sometimes, the classic tree topper doesn’t fit the room. Here, the metallic pastel color scheme need a tree topper that is a little more delicate and feminine. Instead of the traditional five-pointed star, try a soft, color-coordinating wire ribbon. Tie an oversize apricot bow with the ends cascading down the tree for extra drama. The ribbon ends should be cut so that they just skim the floor. No bow-tying skills? Have a local florist make one for minimal cost.
Drape Your Mailbox
Readers with traditionally shaped mailboxes can try this festive way to spruce up a driveway for the holidays. Turn your mailbox into a red and green Christmas tree. Wrap sheer ribbon loosely around a pine garland and drape the garland around the mailbox, securing with a flexible, thin wire or fishing line where necessary. To top off the display, wire clusters of bright Nandina berries to top off the post. Arrange the sheer ribbon in a voluminous bow for the finishing touch.
Note: Nandina berries are toxic to birds and grazing animals, so be sure that you keep them out of the reach of any household pets.
Make Your Own Magnolia Wreath
Magnolia garland is one of the most traditional elements in all Southern Christmas decorating. If you have access to magnolia leaves, you can turn your Christmas displays into a modern, holiday fairyland by making your own wreath. We’ve given the traditional wreath an upgrade by with a square shape. Using magnolia clippings and florist foam wreaths, you can make your own Christmas magnolia wreath – no need for wire or glue! Wide white ribbon secures the wreaths to the ceiling, and keeps the embellishment to a minimum. Square wreaths look particularly sophisticated in a room with square windows, as they compliment the room’s geometric angles.
Pull Out Extra Ornaments
As the popular saying goes, “waste not, want not.” Stretch your holiday décor to its maximum limit by using every last decoration to bring Christmas merriment into your home. Arrange any extra ornaments into leftover vases or wicker baskets. This cheap decoration idea means that none of your beautiful ornaments will go unused. We even added a few strands of leftover ribbons to our ornament collection to bring color to the display. Stack the vases on coffee tables and side tables to spread the color scheme across your entire living space. Arrange gifts around the base of your ornaments to incorporate them into their surroundings.
Choose Simplicity
When it comes to Christmas decor, the value of your holiday display is never measured by how many lights you can string or how many inflatable snowmen you can prop up in your front yard – as much as we love the movie, this is not National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Instead of blowing a fuse, opt for simple, classic, and rustic holiday décor. Beautiful evergreen wreaths secured using simple ribbons tied into bows lend an elegant and festive appearance to this white farmhouse. Achieve the same classic look at your own home by hanging simple matching evergreen wreaths on your doors and windows.
Create an Arrangement with Fruit and Greenery
One of the oldest, most traditional Southern decorating techniques has got to be the old fruit-in-glass-vase technique. From real lemons and limes to fake peaches and apples, you’ll find a fruit bowl in nearly every family home across the South. It is so easy to twist this classic decoration to fit the Christmas holidays. Simply use a glass hurricane or vase to create a festive, fruity arrangement by filling the jar with layers of limes, red holly berries, and lemons or oranges. The traditional Christmas colors of red, green, and gold will last all season. Top off your arrangement with steams of seasonal greenery.
Make Your Own Stockings
This rustic Christmas mantel décor is an easy Pinterest craft that even your 3-year-old couldn’t mess up. For a cheap holiday stocking display, skip the extravagant stockings and instead, make your own. Use simple and inexpensive burlap fabric from the fabric store to fashion handmade Christmas stockings. Hand-stitch the edges of each stocking foot with light-colored twine – the messier, the better. With these stockings, a loopy, uneven stitch actually compliments the rustic burlap. Label each stocking with mismatched block letters, found at a flea market or on sale at a craft store, for a personal touch. Secure to your mantel using the same twine used to stitch the stocking.
Wrap With A Natural Look
Make a department store worthy Christmas present display with this natural present wrapping technique. The contrasting light and rich browns add cozy, coordinated warmth under the Christmas tree, and the crisp whites add sharp clean lines to the earth-toned theme. Burlap and solid brown and white papers on the presents are in keeping with the room’s color palette. Natural elements, like wood tags, adorn the gifts. To achieve this beautiful natural look, first, choose a color scheme. Buy two different wrapping materials in different colors and textures. Then, find five to six selections of diverse ribbons, making sure to choose spools of various widths.
Celebrate with Magnificent Magnolia
A wooden vessel creates a more relaxed, natural look while also hiding the florist foam, which holds the magnolias in place. To make this asymmetrical foliage arrangement, choose the longest branch first, one that reaches far enough to one side to give it a horizontal shape. Place your second-longest branch on the other side and the shortest in the center. Then accent with ornaments and fairy lights placed nearby.
Put Your Tree in a Basket
Christmas tree skirts can be costly, and once you commit to a pattern, you’re stuck with it. Save your wallet by displaying your tree in something that you already have lying around your house – a simple, natural woven basket. While you will likely still need to support the trunk using a tree stand inside of your basket, the results are much more beautiful than displaying your tree in a stand alone, and much cheaper than purchasing that tree skirt you only use once a year. A basket’s neutral color and versatility allow it to coordinate with virtually any Christmas décor you choose.
Add Shine With Mercury Glass
Look into Christmases past, present, and future with these crystal ball decorations. You can add these mercury glass balls to a shiny display for even more sparkle and glitz, or incorporate them into a rustic display for an element of elegance. Mercury is such a versatile finish. Because it is made from natural elements, it works in a natural display, as above. But its high-shine and mirrored finish also works for luxe, high-end decor themes. Use these mercury glass balls to adorn your Christmas tree, or pile them up in a basket by the fireplace. Their large size is unique and makes a big impression.
Add “Wow” With A Disco Ball
Rejoice, rejoice. Disco is not dead. This unique Christmas idea is reminiscent of glory days gone but not forgotten. Pay tribute to Donna Summer, Abba, and The Bee Gees by making sure that your Christmas decor keeps the Disco stayin’ alive. Hang a disco ball from the ceiling to float it above your Christmas tree. This tip works best with flocked Christmas trees; the mod silver sparkle of a disco ball blends best with nontraditional decor. A flocked tree needs a festive punch, so a run-of-the-mill start doesn’t suit it. A disco ball is much more appropriate. Top it with a bow, and you’ve got a tree worthy of the Disco Queen herself.
Use A Consistent Color Scheme
As long as you keep your color scheme consistent, you don’t have to decorate in traditional reds, greens, and golds. This rule is especially true when using a flocked Christmas tree. The white tree branches mean that you get a blank canvas. Turn your house into a winter wonderland by choosing an icy, sparkly theme that is sure leave a lasting impression on guests. Keep the color scheme consistent by introducing only shades of three different colors. Above, we chose bright white, cool aqua, and turquoise. The bright, colorful beaded garland is a dramatic contrast against a Christmas tree’s stark white branches.
Decorate With Magnolia And Eucalyptus
This Christmas, remember that even your outdoor furniture deserves a few festive decorations. Celebrate the holidays on your patio, too. Dress up the backs of your outdoor chairs by tying graceful swags of magnolia leaves and aromatic eucalyptus sprigs to each chair arm with a red, festive ribbon. While magnolia is a plant often used in Southern Christmas decorating, the eucalyptus sprigs are a less common – and a more creative – way to incorporate unique elements into your traditional holiday decor. Eucalyptus leaves are fragrant, calming, and long lasting. Just be sure to attach the trimmings in a manner that won’t crowd someone when seated.
Adorn Your Gifts
Because those Christmas presents are already hanging out under your tree for the entire length of the holiday season, why not make them part of your house’s festive decorations? Make your wrapped Christmas packages Pinterest-level-pretty by attaching small tokens to each gift. Some suggested adornments include bells, small ornaments, sprigs of evergreen, glittery snowflakes and holly. The possibilities are endless, and gifts can be customized dependent upon their recipient. Pick a variety of patterns and colors of wrapping paper, and unify the scheme with the same color ribbon.
Wrap Gifts To Match Your Décor
In the time leading up to Christmas morning, the gifts under your tree act will as functional decorations. You might as well make them part of your Christmas decoration theme. They are going to be there, anyway. Purchase wrapping paper that coordinates with your decorating color scheme. We suggest selecting at least two different wrapping paper rolls, and three to four different ribbon spools. The varied wrapping will bring layers of intricate detail to the space under your tree. Tie leftover ornaments into the ribbons for creative gift tags.
Make A Custom Tree Skirt
Christmas tree skirt shopping can be either a happy hit or a major miss; you may find a skirt made out of fabric so beautiful that you completely redesign your entire decor theme based upon the festive upholstery fabric. Or, you may end up spending money on a plain red tree skirt that you bought out of desperation. Instead of fretting over store-bought tree skirts, make your own using fabrics from other upholstered pieces, like chairs, pillows, or even the sofa, in the room. Save scraps from your past projects to piece together alternating rings that will always match your room.
Make Your Own Gift Tags
Pretty gift tags add an irreplaceable finishing touch to any Christmas gift. Make your own for an easy, personalized touch. Hand making gift tags is a great holiday crafting project for kids – they will experience the selfless joy of giving by being involved in the gift-giving process. A deck of cards is the perfect medium for quick gift-tag making. Using a cookie cutter and a pencil, trace the shape of your choice onto a deck of cards. Cut out and punch a hole in the tops, and string the gingerbread man onto Christmas gifts and ribbons. Use any type of paper and any shape cookie cutter to personalize these hand-made holiday tokens.
Give Your Entry A Theme
Take your front door to next-level festivity. Instead of just hanging up a wreath and calling it quits, go all-out and create an entry with a theme. Stage a royal welcome by hanging lanterns from shepherd hooks anchored in galvanized washtubs planted with ivy. Topped with a faux cardinal, this seasonal lighting solution helps introduce your Christmas decorating theme right at the front door. For a red-carpet look, create a clever runner with tartan fabric and green burlap that spans from the door to the steps. Hold the runner in place with heavy-duty double-sided tape from the hardware store.
Punctuate Your Table With White Tulips
Magnolias and paperwhites are not the only flower that we suggest for Christmas decorating. Punctuate classic reds, greens, and golds with a bright burst of white tulips. Tulips are available year-round from your local florist or grocery store, and they are a fresh alternative to other holiday flowers. Group them in thick clusters for maximum impact. Before you arranging the tulips in your vase, cut the tips and add a scoop of sugar for longevity. This decoration tip works with both casual and elegant décor themes.
Give Goodie Bags
When hosting a holiday party, let your festive decorations double as fun goodie bags. Arrange them in your home’s main entry and exit so that upon their arrival, guests are greeted with merry goodies. Pictured above, the holiday host displays faux cardinal ornaments on top of a rustic holiday basket of treats. The baskets will then be given as parting gifts to departing guests. You can customize your own goodie bags with containers and treats that compliment your holiday decor. Try metallic boxes filled with chocolate truffles to match elegant decor, or cellophane bags with colorful candies for a children’s Christmas party.
Dress Your Chairs
Outfit your everyday dining room chairs in their Christmas best. Wrap your chairs in a merry cummerbund fashion, using a band of burlap as the base, and tartan on top. Tie with wide red grosgrain ribbon, and secure all cloth with an oversize laundry pin. Add a few jaunty pheasant feathers, and use scissors to make inch-wide cuts along the bottom of the burlap for a frilled, fringe look. Customize the fabric choices and color schemes to fit your desires. We suggest staying away from fabric with glitter – when guests lean back on their chairs, the glitter tends to rub off.
Get Festive With Floating Candles
Instead of a traditional table runner, try placing boot trays, or shallow trays, end to end down the full lengthwise center of your dining room table. To prevent accidental leakage, seal the trays with silicon caulk before filling them with water. Buy festive float candles, like the snow-flake shapes we have pictured above, to illuminate your dining room in holiday cheer. We love this unique Christmas decoration idea so much that we want to put a float candle tray in every room.
Hang Decorations In Windows
Your house will turn heads with this original way to add extra Christmas cheer to your windows. Adorn bare windows with a quaint winter scene. We’ve pictured a pair of cardinals perched on a birch log. Surround the scene with fresh evergreen branches and printed patterned ribbon to add Christmas color to a plain window. Personalize the scene you choose to display – for an elegant, modern arrangement, hang glittery ornaments from the ceiling. For a fun and festive Christmas arrangement, try displaying Santa’s hat and sleigh bells.
Make Your Own Tree Topper
Tree toppers are a lot like the icing on the cake – they pull everything together, and a Christmas tree isn’t complete without one. But, just like topping lemon cake with cream cheese icing ruins the entire dessert, so to can choosing the wrong tree topper ruin your entire room. If you can’t find the perfect tree topper in a store, try making your own. Cut your desired shape from ½-inch-thick foam core board. Here, this star topper is covered with tartan fabric and edged with ½-inch-thick ribbon. Decorated with jingle bells and studded with plaid buttons, it provides the perfect topping for a plaid-loving family.
Extend Your Party Theme To The Tree
Create a memorable Christmas tree that coordinates with your decorating theme by using only a few types of ornaments. This tree has plaid everywhere – can you guess the theme of the rest of the house? Silver tassels are finished with double knots of plaid ribbon. Red birds hunker down in cozy nests, and shiny bells lure kids of all ages to give a little jingle. Wooden craft-store disks, covered with plaid paper, take the place of traditional glass balls. You’d never guess that the plaid disks were actually made by photocopying fabric on a color copier, and then tracing and cutting out large circles! This tree is a true DIY masterpiece.
Hang Three Wreaths
Whoever said “three’s a crowd” obviously never saw how wonderful and festive three wreaths look when displayed on a front door during the holiday season. Forgo the traditional single wreath on your porch, and stack three small evergreen wreaths for a long and loopy design that adds impact and originality to your home’s traditional front door. Keep them spaced apart or tie together with wire so they appear to be connected. Weave natural or painted pinecones into each wreath, secure with wire, and tie a matching ornamental bow on the top to make it holiday-worthy. Border your doorframe with matching evergreen garland, and cluster pinecones at the top of the frame to echo the wreaths’ elements.
Make Arrangements Out of Greenery
Save those Christmas-tree clippings! Recycle the simple, fragrant sprigs of greenery by placing them in colorful glass vases or jars for quick and easy coffee table arrangements. For a pop of natural, add sprigs of Holly or Nandina berries to the arrangements. You can even add sparkle by lightly coating the branches in metallic spray paint. Tie ribbon or fabric scraps around the necks of the vases for added cheer. Have each of your children pick their favorite ornaments, and attach using the ties – they will love their mini Christmas trees. Rumor has it, Santa’s elves love leaving chocolate squares under these trees in the days leading up to Christmas night.
Hang Twinkling Lights
This gala-worthy technique is a quick way to upgrade your outdoor patio with glitz and sparkle. Everyone has a few strands of lights left over after decorating their front porches, so try using them to spruce up your patio with holiday cheer. Hang the twinkling white lights on a fountain or stone wall in your garden to create a striking winter focal point on your patio or porch. You can also hang lights from an outdoor shed, pool house, or tall fence. Even if it’s too cold to entertain outside, you’re guests will enjoy the soft, cozy glow through the windows.
Embellish With Ribbon
This year, instead of wrapping ribbon around your Christmas tree, let it cascade down. Decorate your tree with long, cascading tendrils of colorful ribbon, rickrack, and pom-pom fringe for a whimsical, colorful, and modern Christmas tree. Search the remnants section of your local fabric-and-trim store for clearance deals on pieces that are at the end of a roll or oddly-sized, and collect them throughout the entire year. Attach the ribbons and trims directly to an embroidery hoop and simply slide over the top of your tree. Stick to one color scheme, or make it bright. This nontraditional, fun design works best in a casual room, or a child’s bedroom.
Encourage Conversation Flow
This year, forgo formality. Why designate a guest of honor to sit at the head of the table when you love all of your guests equally? Place a round table in a square-shaped room for more natural, relaxed Christmas entertaining. The circular shape encourages conversation flow between all guests, so you’re not stuck talking to the people sitting on either side of you. With this arrangement, when Pawpaw makes a joke, everyone gets to laugh along with him. An oversized lantern hanging above the table casts a romantic glow, and is a fresh alternative to a traditional chandelier. Mismatched chairs add to the casual, relaxed atmosphere in this comfortable Christmas dining room.
Make A Mason Jar Snow Globe
Canners and crafters rejoice! We have found the craft of the season that both kids and adults will love. These rustic snow globes are the perfect way to incorporate some handmade holiday decor without downgrading an elegant room. All you need to create your own are jars in assorted sizes (here, 8, 16, and 32 ounces), waterproof superglue, trinkets (we used mini Christmas trees, but anything from ornaments to small toys will work), glycerin (available at crafts stores), and glitter. Simply glue your trinkets to the mason jar lid, let dry, and fill with water, glitter, and a few drops of glycerin. Just don’t forget to glue on the lid!
