It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas…

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here. And none too soon really – Christmas is just around the corner. But I have a serious affection for twinkle lights and I will take as much or as limited amount of time with them as I can get :).

I had a low-cost decorating plan this year and I’m happy to say that I stuck to my guns and decorated with only what was in my holiday boxes (with the exception of these West Elm finds at $.97 a piece…). To mix things up though, I did away with all things red. There was plenty of red last year and so this year I found my color palette in green, peacock blue, white and bits of pink.

This might be a better angle to see the subtle blues, greens, pinks and whites in the tree and reflected on the mantle.

We covered the tree in green and blue ball ornaments (non-breakable, plastic versions that Liv can pull off and we don’t have to worry about shattered pieces), homemade book page snowflakes, silver berries and white paper flower arrangements, and last but not least I found a new use for those .$.97 West Elm white washed pod strands.

The book page ornaments are a combination of folding and wrapping – I actually began making them for a friend’s Story Time-themed shower in November but ended up finishing them just in time for Christmas. They’re kid-friendly, handmade and they fit in really well with the tree this year.

We went to a Christmas tree farm where you can cut your own tree this year, but since we live in a semi-desert environment (see furry trees below) we decided that actually we kind of wanted a non-furry pre-cut tree shipped in from out of state. They offered those at the farm too so we ended up with the above. Not very eco-friendly but oh-so-pretty.

Liv and her boyfriend Michael enjoyed the sticks and pine cones best.

And meeting Santa for the first time?

It was kind of a scary experience.

But back to holiday decorating… The bookcase on the left side of the room received a little Christmas makeover as well:

I switched out a few prints to compliment the colors and brought in just a couple of sparkly baubles here and there. Even my feather trees from last year found a home.

The mantle was a fun project because it challenged me to find green and blue accents from around the house.

I framed a neat piece of handmade paper from my stash to pull in a little green and added my butterfly from the guest room to compliment the blue in the ornaments. The white feather wreath was added next (plays off of the feathered trees and all of the white on the Christmas tree), along with a bit of natural garland from clippings from the tree, and finally a few colorful bulbs for the bleached manzanita branches.

Even my wooden pod trees (see West Elm above) found their way into the room and out of the office (which didn’t get much holiday love this year).

I love a classic brown paper with a colored ribbon and this year Ikea pulled through with their extra large roll of brown wrapping paper (very economical) and their red raffia. I’m just starting to place finished presents under the tree now.

On the other side of the Christmas space the start of our Christmas card collection is displayed in the dining room on contrasting navy, blue and green ribbons, while our nativity scene is set up on the buffet with an extra bright and shimmery star looking ore.

And now I think our home is officially in the mood for Christmas, too!