Christmas Home Tour 2014

These halls are really decked this year. I don't know why I have more Christmas mojo than Buddy from the movie Elf, but I went with it. You'll also notice I added more traditional color this year. I was so convinced I would continue with the blues and neutral tones from last year, but I changed my mind at the last minute. The good thing about decorating with ribbon is that it's easy to switch things up without having to buy all new décor. Well, let's get started!

My neighborhood is full of these branches with the red berries. Aren't they just perfect for Christmas?

I really love decorated stairs. It's one of the first things I notice when I'm driving by a house at Christmas time because you can see it lit up through the windows and glass doors.

The stairs, dining table, and console in the entry all got the poinsettia treatment. I love using them because they make such a big impact for such little cost.

 

 

 



 

 

I shared a few pictures of the living room last week, but I found these live wreaths for such a good deal that I couldn't pass them up.

 





 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

The breakfast room and kitchen just needed a bit of greenery and ornaments.

I love hanging ornaments in the windows.



A wide view from the kitchen.

 

And from the living room.

 

 

 



The kids got their own tree upstairs in the gameroom surrounded by the Christmas village they love so much.

 

 

I put this out yesterday and surprised them when they got off the bus. I can't believe how much they love this village. They kept stopping and looking at it all night.

 

I can't leave you without a picture of Mario all dressed up. Here he is going through the stages of Santa hat grief.

 

Denial

 

 

 

Anger

 

 

 

Acceptance

 





Don't you just love those expressions?!

Whew! Now that the decorating is over it's time to finish the present shopping and start on the gift wrapping. Oh, and I can't forget about the baking! How are your holiday preparations going?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/2014/12/christmas-tree-party-2014.html

 

 

 

My Greek is Showing

For the past year or so I've noticed the Greek bust trend in interior design. I couldn't believe it was becoming so popular because I distinctly remember rolling my eyes as a kid at my Greek family's statues. Now, I'm not going to decorate my backyard fence with them like my Great Aunt did, but I have been keeping an eye out for one to hold my necklaces on my dresser. Like with all trends that come back, it's done much better than before.

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I noticed Homegoods carried them, but all of the ones I found were cracked or had noses missing. It wasn't on purpose to make it more authentic. I finally found one last week that was intact and carted her off. Here she is on my dresser wearing a fabulous necklace.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, all I need is a Flokati rug and a gift shop ashtray with ancient Greeks on the side. For some reason I thought those ashtrays were antiques when I was little. Didn't you know the ancient Greeks enjoyed their Marlboros? What's even funnier is they are still selling those "antique" ashtrays in Athens gift shops. I noticed that when we went to Greece earlier this year and got a good laugh. It was tempting to buy one for the sake of nostalgia, but I think I'll just stick to the Greek busts...and maybe a Flokati rug one day.

 

 

 

 







Christmas Living Room 2014

I'm plugging away at putting the finishing touches on my Christmas decorations this week. The most important room, the living room, is done! I'm enjoying the fire as I type away and trying not to notice my kids are flinging around the pillows and throw blankets right now. At least I have the pictures to prove it was clean at one point.

You might notice I finally got rid of the ceiling fan. It's been an eyesore for so many years (10 but who's counting). My husband loves ceiling fans so this was a big deal. I replaced it with an inexpensive light from Overstock that is very similar to one Pottery Barn sells. I didn't have many options in this room because of the low ceilings, but anything is an improvement over the hovercraft I had in here before.

The reindeer is a recent find from Target. Isn't he cute? I have a feeling if he were real he wouldn't be thrilled with being called cute. I think he would prefer majestic or regal. He may be a bit of a snob.

I didn't change much else on the mantel. I doubled up a faux garland and then added varying types of real branches on the mantel. If I have any that turn brown it will be easy to take them out and replace them. I probably won't, but at least I have that option if I'm feeling industrious. The boxwood wreath on the window is from Trader Joe's and it was only $10! I think every woman in that store walked out with one that day. Oh, and that's Jingle, our Elf on the Shelf, hanging out inside the wreath. No one is supposed to touch him or he will lose his magic so he made it into the pictures this year. I'm not risking the wrath of my 6 year old by moving him. He is very much into the magic of Christmas this year. It took me by surprise, but I'm so excited that I'm searching for Christmas movies for us to watch at night and planning on taking him to see Santa soon. Oh, what fun!

It's not quite a Rockefeller Christmas around here though. I have to show you what I'm dealing with while trying to clean up this room and take pictures.

Serenity now! If you were wondering why Mario wasn't photobombing as usual, this would be why.

Would you ever know that was going on looking at this picture?

This looks way too peaceful to be my living room!

 



The Easiest Outdoor Christmas Lights Ever

One of my favorite holiday traditions is to drive through the area neighborhoods and look at the Christmas lights. It's probably the only tradition everyone in my family looks forward to every year. Well, my husband doesn't love it like the rest of us, but he tolerates it as long as we stop by Starbucks first. I've learned as the only female in this house I can get my way about almost anything as long as I throw a little food their way first. Anyway, I digress. As much as we love the Christmas lights on homes we never hang them above the first story roof line. Not only do we have a two story house, but we have a third story gable and a very steep roof.



I can now get this house lit up in seconds with thousands of lights all the way up to the top of the third story gable. There is no hanging, climbing or Griswold antics involved. I just plug in one light and stake it in the ground.

That was a little anti-climatic. But, seriously check out what this one light can do.

Isn't this amazing?! One light! My neighbor across the street hangs lights on his roof every year and he said we were cheating. Cheating never felt so good! We positioned it so we could also light up the trees in the front yard, too. It comes with a remote and has different color options. I like the red and green mix the best, but we can also have just red or just green. I'm thinking this will be great for future pool parties. How cool will the red look on July 4th?

My mom told me about this light after she saw it on HSN (Home Shopping Network). I watched the presentation, but I wasn't completely sold on it and decided not to get it. She went ahead and bought it for me, and brought it over last night as an early Christmas present. I'm so glad to have this! The presentation I watched didn't do it justice. We tested it out last night and so many people walking or driving by stopped to ask where we got it. It's that cool! If you've ever been to Disney World and seen the light show on the castle then this will put what it looks like in perspective since it's the same technology.You can buy it here on the HSN website. I believe the square footage of how much it covers is listed, but for reference my house is 2300 square feet and I really only need the one light. 

It's about time someone came up with an easier solution than hanging lights on the house. I'm calling this my Christmas easy button!

Step-By-Step Tree Decorating

Yes, I already have my tree up! I know most people wait until after Thanksgiving, but I'm ready to get started. Anything that makes me feel like I'm ahead of the game during the holidays is something I completely support. This year I needed to buy a new tree since half the lights are burned out on my not-so-old flocked one. I vividly remember restringing lights on it last year and that is something I did not want to do again. It's been a few years since I've shopped for a tree and I was so surprised at how far along they have come. My new tree comes with a remote with the option for clear or multi-color lights. I like the white lights, but my kids prefer the "rainbow" lights. How cute is that?

Now on to the trimming! I loved the blue and silver ornaments so much last year, but I just had to do something different because I'm fickle that way. Luckily, it costs very little to change it up. I found a sage green ribbon at Hobby Lobby that I knew I would use as soon as I saw it. One tip to keep in mind is to look at ribbon that is not just in the holiday section if you want non-traditional colors. I use three ribbons and they make such an impact that I had to be careful of what I chose. I didn't want my tree to be too loud and compete with the light décor of the living room so I chose a solid cream ribbon and a silver mesh to go with the sage green.

I started winding the predominant color through the tree first. I make loops with the ribbon at intervals and then secure it very far back in the tree by wrapping a branch around it.

The satin cream ribbon is used more as an accent and I criss-crossed it under the green in a slight lateral direction. It adds interest and fills in blank spaces.

Then, the silver ribbons fills in the rest of the tree.

 

After the ribbon is done I work on adding picks, branches and pinecones. I chose silver and gold accents. I also wanted a tad bit of red. Glittery red would have been too much so I chose snow covered red berries that I already had. 

 

Then I work on the top of the tree. The poinsettas cover the area where the star is attached.

 

The final step is to add the ornaments. Just like the picks, I chose mostly silver and gold with a touch of red.

It's best at night, of course. 

 



 

I'm so happy to have at least one thing checked off my very long holiday list!