Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Project: Christmas Door Decor, Stage 1

Stage 1 of holiday decorating is complete! There's a huge pile of boxes full of lights, ornaments, and other tchotchkes, but for now I'm happy with what I've got going. Nothing is set in stone yet, but I wanted to give you a little tour of what my home looks like right now. Let's start with the entryway and dining room.

The outside of my front door is adorned with a borrowed faux pine wreath. I didn't show it here, but will definitely add it in my exterior shots. On the inside of the front door, I hung a faux berry and twig wreath that I picked up at Pier 1 after the holiday last year. I've been waiting all year to use this lady! Home Depot has gold and silver-finished hooks for wreaths for under $2 a piece. I snagged two for both sides of my door. Then I added little berry twigs to the top edges of my frames. The little berries are from a centerpiece I disassembled last year, but I'm sure you can cut up one twig from Michael's if you'd like. (I really think it's the small things like this that make the holiday really sparkle! And my friend Suzie already took note, so they must be working as a nice "welcome" and "see you soon" symbols for the entryway.)
Next to the front door is our Target shelving unit. You've seen this baby before during Halloween. It's just too fun to change the decorations around in the open shelves, but keep the stuff in the "drawers" the same (i.e. puppy playthings). I made the tiny ornament wreath last year on the cheap (think old wire hanger and a sleeve of ornaments shown in a Real Simple blog here) and added one of Justin's nutcrackers, glass box of more ornaments, ribbons, and Christmas-colored candles to the mix. I'm not 100% happy with this area yet; maybe there are too many circular things here? Something isn't quite right, but I'll be dammed if I let THAT stop me from the Christmas spirit ;) Here's my shining glory for the time being: the dining room! I used some ideas from Bower Power, but made it my own with what I already owned. The table has my black pashmina (I may switch this out for my burlap table runner for a slightly less Asian feel), red linen napkins, Christmas mugs my mom gave Justin and I last year, a plastic star bowl from Justin's grandma (also from last year) filled with even MORE ornaments (hope we have something left for the tree!), tea light holders from my friend Nissa's wedding two years ago wrapped in twine, sushi plates my friend Annie left behind in her move back East, red champagne chiller (from Justin's old house), reindeer wine stopper from Christmas last year (thanks to Uncle Lorenzo!), and the mouse and cheese salt and pepper shakers to be a little cheeky. Wow, please excuse the run-on sentence or massive cataloguing. Whatever you'd like to call it, but I thought it would be helpful to give a full run through. Besides, that has really helped me see how much I use from gifts/holiday sales/past events. I made out like a BANDIT last year, eh?!
On the side table I threw some pine cones I picked up at Big Bear a few weeks ago into my hurricane, threw on my lovely terracotta dove, and called it a day!

What do you guys think? The dining room table is really the easiest thing to change for the holidays. Start with your basics--plates, silverware, glasses--and then keep layering holiday-colored decor until you're happy with what you've got.
I'll have my puff ball garland DIY up this week, but I've got a book club to prepare for tomorrow. Thanks for coming!


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