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:
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!
Prizes include:
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.
Good luck!
We have 2 Christmas trees -- one my Dear Husband decorates (he is Much better at decorating the tree than I am) and one the kids decorate. The kids are very proud of their decorating and now that they are getting taller, the decorations almost reach the top of the three. :)
I believe that sometimes less is more when decorating for the holidays. Take for instance the rose wood curl wreath, you would want that to be a focus point without any distractions. Of course grouping similar items together such as some wonderful vintage ornaments in a large clear vase is also a great idea. Whatever your taste moderation is sometimes key if you are looking to focus on a certain decoration.
I love the look of holiday decorations, but hate to do it. My best tip is allowing the children to do the decorating. My oldest are teenages and seem to enjoy it.
Each year I pick my favorite Christmas picture (usually the kids), frame it, and tuck it away with the other decorations at the end of the season. Then the next year, I pull out all of these wonderful memories!
I love to make christmas things
I love watching Nate
I love to watch christmas shows
My fave diy decorating go-to is the snow in a can. It is supposed to be used for windows, but I spray clear glasses and use them to hold iridescent marbles and small no-flame candles or led lights to place on the table and mantels. I also spray pinecones for a beautiful effect that can hold place cards or just serve as decor. It's cheap, easy and a lovely cozy holiday season decorative touch that is great whether you celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah.
I have a beautiful, big, glass container that we fill every year with glass ball ornaments that we purchase after the holidays the year before. We change the color every year or add different colors and always tie on a nice big bow. We have always used that on our table as a centerpiece and no one seems to get tired of it. We get lots of compliments and the kids look foward to filling it for me every year.
It's not really a secret, but when it comes to Christmas more is more! We have an eclectic mix of handmade art projects from the kids, family heirlooms, and funky flea market finds - we start decorating right after Thanksgiving and by Christmas morning the house is overflowing with holiday warmth inside and out.
I LOVE Christmas! I have a tree for every room in the house including the bathrooms. I have slowly bought ornaments to match the themes of each room and then our big tree in the family room is all ornaments made by my kids! They are the ones I cherish the most!
I save artwork from my children every year and use it to decorate my home. It is fun to see how they have changed over the years especially since my oldest is almost 26 years old!
We have holiday smelling candles to help fill the air and hit your senses as you walk in the door, then we have a simple tocuh of decorations around the room so you can feel the Christmas love with out feeling like you have falling into toyland. A mixture of Christmas and winter decorations. But our Christmas tree consist of only decorations the kids have made to make them feel extra special.
I love going to antique stores throughout the year and finding unique items to re-purpose and bring back to life over the holidays! I use old crystal candle sticks of different shapes and sizes, and instead of putting candle sticks in them, I place glass ornaments (bauble side down) on them and place them around the multi-level double sided brick fireplace or on the dinner table. I take old newspapers(I try to find the comic sections from the year each family member was born, if possible), wrap my presents with it, or create big paper bows! We replace the new photos on the walls, with old photos from our childhoods, so that my sisters and brothers never know what their boyfriend or girlfriend might see when they come over! I love bringing part of our childhood back, with things changing all the time, everyone growing up and creating their own families, it means alot to bring what made us the people we are back around at least once a year.
A couple years ago we had to cut the Xmas budget. Couldn't afford fresh garland, wreath, swags the works. Went to the back yard and starting cutting sprigs off of my evergreens (where you couldn't see from house) I put them along my table and have an iron decoration that I add a bunch of sprigs to to make it look like a wreath. BEST OF ALL...starts to dry out.....I head to the back yard.