I can't believe Christmas is already here! every year I feel like it comes and goes so quickly. it makes me sad, too, because Christmastime is one of my favorite times and my favorite holiday, by far. with it comes the best traditions, best sights, best smells... it really is the most wonderful time of the year. so it's pretty much a given that it's my favorite season to decorate for.
I love having a live tree inside the house—that's one of my favorite smells. and I love having greenery pretty much everywhere. I have greenery [mostly faux] displayed in my decor throughout the year, but I love having real, smelly greenery in the house during Christmas. this year when we went to get our tree, I asked the Christmas tree lady if I could keep the branches they cut off the bottom of the tree. she smiled real big and said, "honey, you can take all the branches you want" and pointed me to a massive pile of branches that had accumulated from all the trees being trimmed. I felt like I was in heaven. "grab a handful! as many as you can!" I shouted to my husband. he's such a trooper and took about three or four loads to his truck. now they fill pitchers, teapots, milk jugs, you name it all throughout our home. I'll be sad to see them go.
the good, prompt, professional bloggers share their Christmas home tours well before Christmas, perhaps so that you'll be able to glean some inspiration and recreate some of their ideas. but I am none of these things, so here are my ideas and inspiration, just in time for Christmas. I hope you enjoy!
in the past year, I've discovered my love for silver, especially old, tarnished silver. my favorite pieces of silver I've collected so far are teapots, mint julep cups, and platters. I just love its classic, understated yet elegant look.
in my {mini} fall tour, I shared about how we use our piano as a mock mantle. so this is where most of our Christmas decor is placed. there are little touches of it all throughout the house, but this is the main event.
the thing you have to know about me is I'm the world's cheapest. I think I get this from my parents. this works well for me for a few reasons:
- I don't have a huge budget, plus I don't want to spend much money
- I love the thrill of the hunt
most of the pieces I use to decorate come from secondhand stores, garage sales, dollar stores, or the trash. on the other hand, there are places that don't fall into the previous category but don't break the bank either and I have been known to get myself into spending trouble there. my favorites are TJ Maxx, HomeGoods, and Stein Mart.
see that cute, little enamel bucket full of berries? I found it one day while antiquing with friends. it was like seven bucks. I was SO excited about it. I didn't know what I was going to do with it at the time, but I knew I needed it and it would come in handy one day. a few weeks later, my uncle was in town visiting and had stopped by my house to drop off some furniture. "do you know what that is?" he asked. "umm... no. but it's cute, huh?" I replied. he smiled and then proceeded to inform me that it was a chamber pot. of course when he told me this, I had it sitting on my kitchen table. we laughed and laughed. I still think it's the cutest little chamber pot I've ever seen.
since we don't have a chimney to carefully hang our stockings by, we hang them on the potting bench that is our entertainment center. it's no fireplace, but it works.
in our kitchen, I set up a little hot chocolate bar that hasn't gotten much use except from myself.
and now for the biggest Christmas decoration of them all: the tree. this is our second year to put our tree in an oversized galvanized tub and I'm not tired of it yet. this is our third year to have lights only on our tree, as we own about seven ornaments. I keep meaning to start collecting those, but here we are. maybe I'll get around to it this year and by next, we'll have enough to decorate it! we'll see... because honestly, I love the simplicity of a tree and just lights.
I set my table, too, but it got about as much attention as the hot chocolate bar.
when I began to photograph my tablescape, I realized the majority of the items on my table came from the Dollar Tree. the gold chargers, the white dinner plates, the miniature holly wreaths, and the gold pears in the centerpiece were all purchased there. the placemats I found in the dollar section at Target—jackpot, I know. the green glasses, a garage sale. the antique toolbox, my husband's grandfather. and the cuties, Walmart's produce section.
I found this precious red + white garland at TJ Maxx one day and decided to hang it on my dining room window, along with two other garlands. the jingle bell garland I made with a little twine + dollar store jingle bells. I purchased the greenery garland a few years ago at Michael's.
and here's a few shots of our hazardous front porch, that started caving in two weeks ago.
and there you have it! this is what Christmas at the tiny white house looks like.
merry, merry Christmas to you + yours.
but the angel said to them, "do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. this will be a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
Luke 2:10-12
"now thanks be to God for this indescribable gift, which is precious beyond words!"
2 Corinthians 9:15