Christmas Home Tour 2015
Welcome to our Christmas Home Tour 2015!
We start our tour with the exterior of the home, where urn inserts can run upwards of $40 each, so I designed my own, using a couple of plastic garbage pails I purchased at a dollar store, filled them to the brim with soil to weigh them down and a trip to the country with my dog and a pair of pruning shears. By the way, decorating for the holidays doesn’t have to be expensive; with a little creativity and a trip to your local Dollar Tree or Dollarama, you’ll find many hidden gems to decorate on a budget.
I clipped branches of six distinctive pine trees and greenery and started layering them by inserting them into the soil. There is no right or wrong way to do this, use your creativity and imagination, if something doesn’t work or look right, just pull it out and begin again. I would recommend putting tall branches in the back for height and adding some around the base so they cascade down around the baskets. Add some sparkly branches that can be purchased at any garden center or flower shop. I found the beautiful huge red Christmas ornaments at the dollar store as well as 14 inch wide glitter cloth that I made bowls out of and voila just as good as retail. I also repurposed my hanging baskets from my summer planting and did the same to them including my huge flower pot which now camouflages my recycle centre at the side of the house.
Poinsettias and red scream Christmas to me, however the poinsettias are indigenous to Mexico and Central America; leaving poinsettias outdoors through our harsh Canadian winters will kill them quickly. Again, I layered greenery and added silk poinsettias and floral picks purchased at the dollar store for some instant colour.
Welcome to my home, the wreath is home made using a classic plain pine wreath that can be purchased at Michaels or Hobby Lobby. A glue gun, glue sticks, floral picks and ribbon.
As you’ll notice my love of red for the holidays~ where I am using red everywhere this year! I do change it up year to year though just to make things interesting. My family tells me no one does Christmas like me, I’m sure I am not the only one. My passion for Christmas stems back to my childhood, where there was very little money for extras but the holidays came alive with simple homemade decorations, a brightly lit tree and an abundance of food, friends, family, and much joy.
I love Christmas so much that long after the holiday you’ll still find remnants of Christmas around the house, from my favourite cookie jar, ceramic ornaments to a beautiful porcelain Christmas angel tree topper my grandmother bought me when I was a young girl. The lights don’t work anymore but she’s proudly displayed in my china cabinet, she reminds me of my grandma some very special Christmases we’ve enjoyed along the way. I bring her out every year as she watches over Jesus in the Nativity Scene.
Our tree is an ‘heirloom’ tree and very personal and priceless to us all. It tells a story of our family and each year we’ve added one very special ornament to our collection. We could spend hours sitting by the tree recalling stories of how each ornament joined our collection. Some of the ornaments have been received as gifts from friends who are no longer with us; those cherished and precious ornaments remind us of our loved ones.
We’re just starting out Christmas village collection and quite proud to display it on our over-sized eye soar of a TV, we hope to add more pieces in the future.
Our dining room is all decked out with Santa Slipcovers I purchased through Amazon.ca; the chargers were purchased at Kitchen Stuff Plus; they really showcase your table. I personally like white china for serving formal meals; I think they add elegance to a table. You just can’t forget those Christmas crackers, what a way to start a dinner party, pull them apart and you’re ready to have some fun with those crazy paper hats, cheap toys and riddles and jokes. There’s always that one person at our house that puts the hat on and forgets to take it off, leaves and wonders why people are staring at them as they drive home!
My personal sanctuary is my family room! There is nothing quite like sitting in front of the fire with the lights off enjoying TV with the mantle alit with clean white lights braided through garland, Christmas bells and beads. I took an old snack jar filled it up with ornaments to compliment the décor of the room and tied some holiday ribbon around the neck ~ nothing could be easier to add a splash of colour to the mantle.
I hope you enjoyed my Christmas Home Tour! We wish you happy and creative decorating! Thanks for stopping by!