Share & Win Holiday Decorations for the Home

I like to make use of the curved staircase in our entry way. I wrap a garland around the bannister but also use the area on the outside of the railing for my snowman collection. Because they are on the ourside, they are not a trip hazard and the snowmen look so cute "climbing" the stairs.

I always try to use whatever is in my yard. Mums, pyracantha berries, fall follage - all readily available and FREE! Add some candles and fall colored napkins, tablecloth or runner and it works!

Here is a very simple idea - Fill a large inexpensive clear vase (I use the cheapo ones that I keep after getting a flower delivery, but dollar stores carry them) with red and white or green and white striped peppermint candies and then place some seasonal sprays in the vase (like poinsettias, amaryllis, or evergreen branches). For visual appeal, use one large spray or 3 - never two, it just doesn't look right. This is eye-catching, CHEAP, and you can fill a candy dish with the peppermints after the holidays!

I am a minimalist when it comes to Holiday decorating. i love a good quality tablecloth, But I like to focus my attention on the food and desserts. I let the kids make and paint a Thanksgiving craft and ornaments always fun!!

I like to pick-up small artificial trees at thrift stores when I see them and decorate them to give to my friends and family who live in small spaces, or the elderly, as a nice surprise gift to get them in the holiday spirit.

My secret to decorating is going to Lowes with my husband, finding a couple new things each year to add or replace from the year before. When its time to decorate we get the family together to do it all. Christmas is a very important family holiday for us. Families who do things together and include everyone are much closer.

The most important part of our decorating is that we are all together and we always play Christmas music while we put up our decorations.

I get my Holiday decorating ideas from sales a few days after Christmas. When the decorations are 70-90% off. I love to shop Target and Shopko to get the best deals. I just pack them away when I get home and the next year when I get my decorations out I am often surprised by what I have stored away. I love this method so much that I need to donate some of my bargain decorations this year.

I love to decorate my home with real fruits and vegetables along with items from Mother Nature. Is it natures coincidence that the colors of our seasonal fare match our holidays? An easy arrangement would be to fill the base of a cylinder vase with cranberries or nuts topped with hydrangeas or all white blooms- adding some holly leaves or fir sprigs. For more individualized decorations at each place setting you could use wine glasses made the same way. The possibilities are endless on what you can do with decorating with natures products.

One thing I love to decorate with around my house are the cinnamon scented pinecones. You can put them in a decorative bowl or even in a basket with white lights and the scents they give off are just wonderful. You can also attach three of them to long ribbons hanging down from a bow and attached that to a door or the wall. For some reason the cinnamon scent and Christmas go together for me and they are just so simple to decorate with.

Anyway who lives in the South probably already knows this one, but we string christmas lights up around the patio of our swimming pool.....they stay up all year long and you can change the bulb colors depending on the "season", celebration, holiday, or just your mood. However, in addition at Christmas time, we also tie red velvet bows every 12 inches or so to the lights to make it merrier!

I alway do my decorating with my kids we get stuff to make our own orderments so they always have a new one on the tree every year.

I visit AC Moore for holiday inspiration. They share great decorative and gift ideas and even provide some step by step instructions on how to create crafts. I really love this store and sometimes its hard to walk away from it!!

My newest and favorite holiday inspiration is Pinterest! That site helped me make my own Monogrammed wreath and will be helping me make gifts to save money and show people how much I care!

I used to be a florist, so when it comes to decorating inside, I go outside. I trim our evergreen trees in small sections, then tie these sections with twinkle lights, ribbon, and toile around banisters, chairs, lamps, chandliers....you name it. It beautifies everything for no money at all.