The smell of snow in the air. The sound of family members' laughter filling the house. Turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie on the table. Eggnog and hot chocolate filling our bellies. The glint of the colored lights decorating the neighborhood.
The holidays are just upon us and with that comes all the wonderful moments we're about to share with our loved ones. In addition to the food, family, and gift-giving that make the holidays special, it's also the decorations around the home. It's the wreaths, the lights, the snowmen. It's the decorations that remind us it's THAT time of year.
And while this may be the first time you will be decorating your home for the holidays or the hundreth, we hope to get you started early and in the holiday spirit by sharing a few do-it-yourself ideas and also giving away some amazing holiday decorations!
Here are a few simple do-it yourself ideas that can help brighten your home:
A simple but classy way to dress up your dining room is to wrap each place setting with a length of wide, pretty ribbon. Do it in satin for a graphic statement, or in a loose organza for an elegant finish.
Colorful candy strands are a magical way to dress your mantel or tree. All you need is a sizable stash of wrapped treats and an ordinary office stapler. Simply staple the ends of the wrappers together in a regular pattern and voila!
Decorative candles are rarely cheap. Buy plain pillar candles and embellish them with thumbtacks and pushpins. Simply slide a rubber band around the candle to act as a guide, then stick in the pins to form a border at the candle's base (courtesy of www.goodhousekeeping.com)
We also want to hear from you! Share your holiday decorating secrets below and enter to WIN fantastic holiday decorations for your home this holiday season. Do you have a favorite store that you turn to for inspiration? What are your favorite scents and where do you find them? Do you make any decorations yourself? Do you have tips on creating festive centerpieces or wreaths? How do you assemble your place settings? Any advice on creating your own garlands or candles? Share your ideas by posting a comment below!
The contest starts Wednesday, November 9th and ends at 6:00 p.m. EST November 14th. Open to all United States & Canada residents. One prize per winner. No purchase necessary.**Note: Members please make sure that the address in your SheSpeaks profile is up-to-date . Prizes will be sent to the addresses we have on file. We will not resend any packages that are sent to the wrong address. To update your profile, please click HERE.
My holiday decorating secret is having a husband who enjoys doing the work. I will watch HGTV to get ideas and buy the things I like. Then I go out Christmas shopping and let my husband decorate the house wth the kids.
artistic::
on Nov 10, 2011
Our holiday decorating secret is decoratating with the kids, making holidays kid friendly is important to us. We search for neat ideas and make them.
rosepowell::
on Nov 10, 2011
It really starts after Halloween, the orange shades have already been introduced, then we add the reds, browns, yellows, and make the harvest season come alive with candles and decorative potpurri, I adorn the walls with my kids "Thanks" pieces of artwork and create festive centerpieces. using gourds, acorns, pinecones, some real and some artificial, I love the fall season and I love for my home to reflect warmth, welcome and thanks!
rosepowell::
on Nov 10, 2011
An easy centerpiece to make that won't fade is a floral arrangement. Any craft store or craft department will have little bags full of pieces to reflect the season that you can fill a tall clear glass vase, or you can go out with your young ones and collect fall reflections, then grab a few singular or bunch of different flowers of whatever shades and shapes you like and place it in the vase. I recommend you start with the flowers first, then fill it with the fall reflections after. I prefer artificial items because they will hold and not fade quickly, and it'll last throughout the season and can be reused again later.
Happy Decorating & Happy Fall!
rosepowell::
on Nov 10, 2011
You can also do the floral arrangement or without flower using the same concept for the winter/christmas season. I like to fill the vases with garland, beads, ornament balls and instead of flowers, they have decorative tree branches that you stick in the tree, but they have stars on them (or these: http://www.curiouscountrycreations.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=244), when you add that to the vase, it becomes a beautiful centerpiece!!!
tufftiff::
on Nov 10, 2011
Holidays can be a bittersweet for me....it brings back lots of memories good and bad and it makes me think of my family that is gone now. But i look at my beautiful family and the smiles on there faces and realize how much i have and im thankful for! Decorations for me can be the most simple things as a home made wreath form things my kids found on the walk home from the bus.... Bringing the warm colors back into the house...... lighting a pumpkin buttercream or apple spice candle form yankee and making scones, muffins, cookies, soup anything yummy and home made! I think that just being togeather and enjoying what we have is a decoration itself!
emimorgan::
on Nov 10, 2011
I usually put up a small xmas tree in my NYC apartment, even though I go back to my parents for Christmas. It really makes me happy and puts me in the Christmas mood through the month of December!
bamagv::
on Nov 10, 2011
We put up an artificial pre-lit tree in our living room and both of our kids rooms. A lot of our ornaments are from years ago as we have a yearly ornament exchange in my Mom's extended family. It is an awesome way to fill your tree with ornaments that have meaning and purpose behind them. My favorite scents at Christmas time are things like "Christmas Cottage" by Scentsy, the smell of fresh pine and warm drinks like Russian Tea. Just writing this makes me want to start decorating for Christmas now! Thanks for the chance to win too.
Chele13::
on Nov 10, 2011
Tara and i have a similar secret. My dh LOVES to decorate. He started buying lights in October, he was buying halloween and christmas decorations at the same time, a cashier even joked with him about it. He lights up the house from the outside and we both work on the inside together and then our lil guy(now 4-today) helps with hte tree trimming, nothing like a good glass of egg nog and carols as you trim the tree.
voyager1::
on Nov 10, 2011
I like to watch shows on television for ideas. I don't have any special shows, just any television series that I usually watch that has Christmas themed episodes. I will study the background for ideas. My main theme, however, is still the artwork I get from my kids school. I love to hang up their pics of Santa!
