Share & Win Holiday Decorations for the Home

I love to make my own wreaths.It's actually fairly quick and easy! Luckily I took a horticulture class in high school and we learned to make them. I do all my crafts shopping at Michaels.You need a somewhat large heavy metal ring,wire,pliers,a glue gun and the actual branches,twigs pinecones,whatever you want to make a wreath out of. If you can't find a metal ring,you can take 2 or 3 metal wire hangers,open them and tie them tightly together into a ring with wire.Start by wiring together the wood part of the branches to the ring,do the same over and over until you have your base wreath.Just make sure the wood part is wired to the ring under the previous leaves so they don't show.Then you can either wire in or glue gun pinecones,ribbon bows tree ornaments or whatever else you want.They are gorgeous!

I am a smell girl. I get all the new fall scents to use in my apartment. We will decorate for the holidays for the first time together since we have a new baby girl

To add to the normal decorations we take window clings and put them in a picture frame with construction paper. They are simple and super cute.

One of the simpliest ways to decorate your walls for the holidays is to gift wrap your pictures. etc. that you already have up. I also wrap my gifts that I get for my extended family and use as decoration til I gave them.

My son loves to decorate with all the outside lights as soon as possible! This year we will be buying a few blow-ups. We will go out and cut our own Tree so the house smells awesome all season long.

I use a lot of candles and always have a cinnamon and/or pine scent in the air. It makes every day festive!

I buy at the after Christmas sales so I'll always have a couple of new decorations to put up at the beginning of the season without having to get into my Christmas budget. And I buy extra stockings and Santa hats to fill for anyone I think may need some extra Christmas spirit.

At Christmastime, I love to set a beautiful dining room table that remains 'decorated' for the entire season. I have a lovely off-white tablecloth, which is embossed with a snowflake design, that goes on first. Then, I place some candles in glass holders in the center, and place gold charger plates at each place setting. Years ago I found some "Twelve days of Christmas" plates in the post-holiday clearance aisle, and they go on next. I fold some beautiful red napkins and stuff them in wine glasses, and the table turns from everyday to holiday cheer in no time.

I always have the kids make the place cards for dinner seatings for each of the holidays. This gets the children involved and they are so creative.

One of my favorite things about the holidays are the scents. Growing up my mom always filled the house with fresh garland (from Christmas tree farms). We had a real Christmas tree. My mom made homemade Christmas potpurri and Christmas wreaths. She also took oranges and pushed cloves in them. I haven't done as much as she used to, but I keep up the tradition of the real tree and garland...much to my husband's dismay who grew up with a "non-shedding" fake tree. ;)

I mix it up with homemade crafts with my kids, gingerbread houses, traditional style decor and awesome garage sale or flea market finds that I gather all year. I like to mix vintage and new to get a less planned or overdone look instead creating a homey comfortable mix

Pier One and World Market are first stops on my list for holiday decorating. Both stores usually have a nice assortment of unique and different things for holiday decorating!

I love doing homemade crafts with the kids. Last year we made christmas tree out of pinecones and pinecone reindeers. They were so simple and the kids loved doing them. All you need is pinecones, puff balls,google eyes, pipe cleaners and glue.

My idea of decorating for Christmas is to go out into the woods and find evergreens, wild berries, pine cones make them into a wreath or centerpiece they are beautiful

This year I got a few old shower curtain rods from Freecycle and I'm going to wrap them in garland, some in lights, and hang ornaments and some crochet snowflakes (from Grandma) from the curtain rods. I'll put a few in each hallway and a bigger one in the kitchen entryway! I like to stick with the classic green and red and throw a few touches of silver or gold in.