Tag: holiday decor

Upgrading Faux-Fresh Christmas Garland

This post is sponsored by Dunkin’ Donuts. Every espresso at Dunkin’ Donuts is freshly ground and brewed for each drink and combined with steamed milk and foam in each of Dunkin’s espresso beverages. As I put a lot of thought and care into decorating for the holidays, it’s nice to know that the macchiatos from Dunkin’ that I drink as I work on the house are crafted with the same care!

Popping in today with a quick tip for making your faux garland look more lush and real. I kept thinking that I needed a new garland to get the look I wanted, when really I just needed to take the time to make the one I have work.

I bought a bunch of inexpensive faux-spruce garland strands years ago. They were pretty thin so I tripled them up and added lights before draping the garland along our stairs, but I wasn’t thrilled with how skimpy it looked. I mean, it wasn’t a big deal — it still looked really pretty, but I knew it could be better.

We had fresh garland for our HGTV Christmas issue shoot, but we didn’t get to enjoy it for the holidays because the shoot was done in April! And in the short time that we did have the garland on the stairway, it had made a huge mess. With a cat, a dog, and three kids going up and down those stairs multiple times a day, anything that goes there is going to get jostled. Faux-greenery is far more hardy, so I took our so-so 30-foot garland that looked great but a little thin, and made it into something I feel really good about decorating with.

I already had most of what I needed on hand: our faux-spruce garland, florist wire, clear Christmas lights, and gold ribbon. I picked up some supplementary faux-fresh pine garland (that looks more like cypress to me, but I like it) and stopped off at Dunkin’ Donuts for a mocha macchiato before heading home to get to work.

I took the 100-light strand of Christmas lights off of our spruce garland and laid the whole thing out on the floor to determine spacing for the new pine garland. It was an improvement, but we still had more of the faux-spruce and I liked the added fullness it brought. I wired everything together, starting at one end and spacing the connections about 12″ apart. I then added the lights back in, wrapping them in around the center of the garland a bit more tightly and using an additional 50-light strand.

I used coated picture wire to secure the garland to the stair railing, then added decorative gold ribbon. I also added a huge blue and white oversized ginger jar to hide the cords. Terrible placement with the aforementioned three kids? Possibly. It hasn’t been much of a draw yet — fingers crossed, that continues to be the case.

Once you’ve got the base of the garland right, you can change it up. I had a few ornaments in there before, but I like the simplicity of just greens with clear lights. I may change it up from year to year though. It would be pretty with Christmas picks other greenery, winterberry sprigs, pine cones, or ornaments.

December 13, 2016
The Fireplace Mantel, Decorated for Christmas

This post is sponsored by Target.
Shop Home Décor for modern luxury made easy.

Confession: we waited until after Thanksgiving to put our tree up, but I started bringing out the Christmas decorations for the rest of the house a couple of weeks ago! The fireplace is sporting a mix of decorations that we already owned with a few new additions from Target.

I really liked this holiday berry garland, but I used the silver ornament garland that we already owned and then added a few loose gold ornaments to fill in some bare spots. The candle holders are the same ones you saw last month in the dining room. I picked up several small and large bottle brush trees in both silver and white to add to the mantel, and further staggered the height by propping a few of the trees up on small upside-down bowls that are hidden behind the ornaments.

The brass deer are vintage. I loved decorating with them each year in the old house, so it’s fun to see them here on top of the fireplace. You can pick up this guy if you’re looking for a new deer of your own, or maybe just a small ceramic stag head for kicks?

Had the vintage painting leaning on the mantel been something more precious, I probably would have hesitated to string the “happy holidays” glitter banner across it. It may not be the greatest work of art, but I think it is the perfect backdrop for those sparkly letters! And speaking of sparkle, behold. Glitter! Gold! Silver! It’s all very merry.

Our stockings will soon be hung by the fireplace, but that isn’t the only change to come. My sister is hosting a Christmas party this year and she asked if she could borrow some decorations, so I have a feeling some of these will be moving to her apartment soon. At least I was able to enjoy this setup for a little while first! Besides, what are sisters for? (For stealing all of your cute Christmas decor, apparently. Ha!)

This post is sponsored by Target. Shop Home Décor for modern luxury made easy.

December 8, 2014
Win an Entire Holiday Tabletop

Oh, you guys. I wish I could enter to win the Design and Dine giveaway, but seeing as how I write for The Interior Collective and am working with them to share this with you, I’m probably ineligible.

The tabletop was designed by Brittany Jepsen, of The House that Lars Built, and photographed Cassidy Tuttle. Brittany was inspired by Caesarstone colors, and she kept the decor neutral so that it would work for whomever wins. That one lucky winner will receive everything you see on the table, save for the pomegranates! (We’re hosting brunch on Christmas Eve and then a dinner on Christmas, and I’m tempted to add them to our shopping list just because they look so pretty as decoration.)

Visit The Interior Collective to enter, and to see complete rules and details. You have until December 15, and the winner will receive their prize in time to use for Christmas. Good luck!

Sponsored by The Interior Collective

December 11, 2013
I’ve Gone All Traditional On You

With the Christmas tree, that is.

tree c/o Treetopia

I still love our pink tree, but it’s only 6′ tall. It was a little undersized in the old house, but in the Victorian, with its 10′ high ceilings, it would have been way out of proportion. Plus that tree just had its day in Cottages and Bungalows magazine’s Christmas issue, and I wanted to try a green tree for our first Christmas in the new house. We did the same thing when we moved from our apartment (silver tinsel) to the first house (green).

We haven’t decorated the whole house for the holidays yet, but we finished up the tree last night.

I bought my Pretty in Pink Christmas tree from Treetopia in 2009. The second floor is looking a little crazy right now, since that’s where our unpacked boxes have been congregating, but I may use the tree up there eventually. (This year? No promises.) Treetopia wrote to me a couple of months ago, offering the tree of my choice, so I chose the realistic-looking Oh Christmas Tree.

I’ve been arranging and rearranging the two parlors, so the space is a little sparse at the moment. I did move one of the green chairs over that I showed you yesterday. Again, it looks nice — it’s just not in line with what my overall plans were.

We’re so happy with the placement of the tree in front of those curved windows though! It was one of the things that Brandon and I were looking forward to when decorating this house.

November 14, 2013
Stars and Stripes Forever

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We had some company over earlier this week, so I took it as an excuse to throw an impromptu backyard party. Setting a nice scene for the people I love always puts a big smile on my face (and theirs too).

I planned and set a Fourth of July table which is a little early, but hey, I’m a blogger! I figured it would be more helpful to give you guys some ideas before the Fourth instead of after. My friends and family are used to these quirks. Besides, it’s not as bad as when I would be designing Christmas cards at this time of year for my stationery shop!

I was pretty excited about the decorating possibilities of our our new table. The old one was in such bad shape that the only option was to cover the whole thing with a tablecloth.

I tucked a handful of little American flags into a pitcher along with one large one. Eleanor and August, like most kids, were happy to each have their own flag to wave after dinner.

I also made some cute paper flags out of decorative scrapbooking paper. I used bamboo skewers for the larger sizes, and I attached the smaller ones to toothpicks. I set the table with our everyday silverware and tucked a little flag under the fork and knife, on top of a white napkin. I used my vintage Star Glow dinnerware as salad plates because they reminded me of fireworks, and I set them on top of plain white dishes.

The red and white striped runner on the table was a no-sew project. I cut the length to size, then tucked in the edges along the sides. Eventually I’ll hem it so that it will hold up in the wash, but if you’re in a pinch, nobody’s really going to notice.

I wanted the flowers to be mostly white, so I picked up some hydrangeas and a ton of little daisies. I did put a couple of blue delphinium in with the hydrangeas, but didn’t go for full red, white, and blue floral arrangements. I put the hydrangeas and delphinium in a low vintage bowl with some greenery; the stems were kept in place by first criss-crossing clear tape along the top.

I tucked a few of my paper flags in to the centerpiece, but the daisies were cut short and gathered into little bunches. I used whichever small glass vases I could find for them, then tied them all together (literally) by tying ribbon around each one. Some had wide navy grosgrain and others had thin navy and white polka dot ribbon, all from the local craft store. I also added some of the wide ribbon to the handles of my pitchers and tied them into bows.

Seeing everyone gathered around a table that I’ve decorated for them always makes me happy. Are you planning anything yet for the Fourth?

June 28, 2012
Pink Christmas

It doesn’t feel like Christmas around here until the pink tree is up.

I still wish our tree was a little taller. We have the 6′ tall version, but it’s a bit dwarfed by our 9′ tall living room. I noticed a new, lighter pink tree is available this year! Kind of makes me want to sell this one and get the other in a larger size, but I do love our little pink tree.

December 14, 2011