It’s November which means Christmas is just a skate, ski and carol away! For me, the best part of the Holidays is being with loved ones surrounded with good food and laughter throughout the house and in our house, that happy laughter comes from my three boys who are home for the Holidays … Christmas Break!
This year, I want to make their Christmas a memorable one after the last one we had. I think we were all a bit tired of being cooped-up inside in 2020. I literally understood what “cabin fever” was all about. Were you feeling that same cooped-up feeling?
So this year, I am really decking the halls for my boys. Over the years, I’ve been unintentionally collecting faux trees to place throughout the house. I think I’m at seven trees now. I’m not sure how exactly that happened, but I’m not one bit upset about it. Most of them are small four foot trees, but tucked here and there, they really create a winter wonderland feel.
In this post, I’ll be highlighting a few great sales on faux trees as well as sharing some great ways to decorate your Christmas tree. I’ll also be sharing a few great tips for decorating your common spaces. In my next post, I’ll be sharing a few tips for decorating your outdoor spaces so please subscribe so you don’t miss that upcoming post.
Let’s get started! I’m so excited to share this post with you.
This post does not contain affiliate links.
Christmas trees.
The big questions when it comes to Christmas trees is “real” or “faux”? I grew up with a faux tree in our home, so I default to a faux tree. I love the look of a real tree and these days, you can get faux trees that really do look like the real thing, some are even flocked now which looks like there is fresh snow on the branches. So pretty!
The next question is about shape and size? Do you like large trees? Skinny or full trees? It’s a preference, but scale should be considered when choosing your tree. Our ceilings are 9’-6” high. I quickly learned that once my son reached six feet tall, that our six foot even tree was not going to cut it. When he stood beside the tree, he dwarfed our tree and that just did not look right at all. Are you beginning to understand where our seven trees are coming from? Lol We purchased a nine foot flocked tree last year, well before the holiday season just to make sure it was the right size. Putting up a Christmas tree in October to check for size seems a little off-timing, but it had to be done, quick assembly and then it went back in the box.
To help you pick your tree this year, I’ve put together a few trees with links to make your shopping experience easier.
NOMA Pre-Lit Kensington Christmas Tree, 7-ft this tree is on sale right now for $200. What a steal!
CANVAS Micro-Brite LED Muskoka Fir Christmas Tree, 7.5 ft
NOMA Pre-Lit Boulevard White LED Pencil Christmas Tree 7 ft
DORTALA 9 ft Snow Flocked Hinged Artificial Christmas Tree Unlit Holiday Decor with Metal Stand
Now that you have a tree, let’s talk about trimming it and decorating the rest of your home. Decorating for the holidays is such a fun activity for me, although I’m glad it only comes once a year. A lot of time and effort goes into decorating, but it’s so worth it. When I see the looks on my kids’ faces, I forget about how long it took and how much work it took. In years past, I’ve made it routine to put the tree up the first weekend in December. Last year, since we were all in lockdown, I put the tree up mid-November. This year, it’ll be even earlier just so I can help you all with some decorating tips.
The Christmas tree is the first thing I put up. I start with lights. I bought an un-lit tree because it was less expensive and lights are so inexpensive to purchase separately. I have bought our lights in a warm white in lengths of 50 lights from Walmart Canada for about $4. Really, you can’t go wrong. I believe the 50 string lights are out of stock on-line, so here is a link for the 100-count string warm LED lights. Before you start adding the lights, plug your lights in to make sure they work. You don’t want to go through the work of getting your lights on your tree only to find out they won’t light up. Save yourself the hassle and plug them in ahead of time.
Have a colour or theme in mind. I’ve seen adult trees and I’ve seen kids trees decked with ornaments kids have made over the years. I love those trees. If I had thought to keep all the ornaments my kids made over the years, I would totally have a kids tree! Alas, I was not that organized.
Once the lights are on the tree, I add ribbon. If there’s one thing I have learned over the years, it’s to use wired ribbon and the wider, the better for more impact. This year, our tree has a white winter wonderland theme, so the ornaments are mostly all white with the odd natural wood ornament to offset it and give that wonderland effect with woodland animals.
There are so many ways to apply the ribbon to a Christmas tree. You can use long lengths or you can you use shorter lengths (as seen in the below right-side photo), either looks good. My preference is to use a mix of both, leaning more towards the longer lengths. I use the shorter lengths to fill in the gaps.
Here are a few examples of how you can trim a tree with wired ribbon:
Now comes the fun part! It’s time to add the decorations. I like to start with the big impact ornaments. I have a couple of sets of larger white and silver ball ornaments that I like to evenly add around the tree. Make sure these big impact ornaments are consistent and evenly dispersed or your tree will look lop-sided or off for lack of better wording.
Once these ornaments are in place, start filling the tree with smaller ornaments, don’t forget to put your most favourite ornaments at eye level so they don’t get lost in the glamour of your tree. It can get busy and you should be able to enjoy your most precious ornaments.
Tree Topper.
Whether you top your tree with a star, an angel or an alternate wow factor tree-topper, you have to go big. The bigger, the better I say. Let your tree-topper shine. Last year, I did a DIY bow adding red accents as shown in the photo below. I found a cute neutral ribbon with red text that I loved seeing in my bow. With the leftovers, I strung it in our tree.
So there you have it. I hope having the steps laid out to trim a Christmas tree are helpful to you. If you have any questions, drop a question in the comments box below.
Christmas Indoor Home Décor.
Some people will decorate the common spaces in their homes before they put the tree up. I think that’s a good way of easing into the holidays. Here in Canada, we celebrate Thanksgiving in mid-October, so we have a big break between the two holidays. In the United States, Thanksgiving is celebrated in late November, so there’s a good opportunity to ease your Christmas décor into the holiday season as early as the beginning of November. Whenever you decide to start decorating, it will take you a good few hours to tackle so give yourself a good block of time to complete your holiday decorating.
Mantel.
If you have a mantel, it is the primary focal point aside from your tree, so give it some extra love and make it a show stopper. Add some garland whether it be an evergreen garland or even a wood bead garland. I’ve seen some gorgeous pennant-style garlands as well. Use the top of your mantel to decorate so that your eye is drawn upwards. It’s easy to decorate at floor level, but you want to even out your decorations so that your eyes are also drawn up.
Accent Areas.
Hot Chocolate Stations/Kitchen Island/Diningroom Tables
Don’t let your decorating stop in your tree area. Spread the holiday decorating love throughout your common spaces such as your kitchen and dining area.
For the past few years, we have put together a hot chocolate station so that the boys could enjoy a nice cup of hot cocoa after they return from their long walk home from school on cold winter days. It’s been a big hit and they boys are already asking to have the hot chocolate station set up. Looks like I have a job today!
What Supplies You Need for a Hot Chocolate Station:
* hot chocolate powder
* measuring utensils
* stirring utensils
* hot chocolate mugs
* toppings (marshmallows, sprinkles, caramel/chocolate sauces, etc.
* treats (candy canes and other chocolate goodies)
* mason jars or clear containers
Use glass containers with easy to remove lids. Seeing the contents of each container helps to make the hot chocolate so much easier, no fuss. Now add some holiday décor and you are set.
Here is what our hot chocolate station looks like after I set it up today:
Diningroom Table.
The diningroom table is the perfect place to set up some holiday décor. There are many approaches that will make any table look stunning and vary depending on your table shape and size. You can either keep it all low to the table or you can go big and use a “thriller” as your centrepiece such as a large vase with stems, or a miniature evergreen tree. Here are a few examples of diningroom table Christmas décor or centrepieces. I will be sharing a blog about tablescapes or table settings in a future post.
Kitchen Island.
If you’re lucky enough to have an island in your kitchen, kudos to you. The island is such a well-used space in a kitchen. Our main farmhouse sink is in our island, so I don’t like to add too many items to clutter it up, but I do enjoy seeing one decorative piece on my island whether it be a vase with faux stems or a multi-tiered tray. I love my 3-tier tray for holiday decorating. Here are a few ideas for holiday décor on your kitchen island. These are only a few ideas. Be creative and let the holiday décor flow from one space to the next. You’ll love seeing each vignette every time you look at it. Remember that consistency is key, so remember to use the same colour palette throughout your home when you decorate.
Thank you so much for reading my post today. I know it was a long post, but there is just so much content to cover over the holidays. With that said, I’ll be sharing a lot more in the next few weeks, so I hope you will take time to subscribe to my blog. Please know that your subscription helps me tremendously. Thank you again and happy holiday decorating! Shari xo
