My friend Nester is having her annual Christmas Tour of Homes party today so I thought I’d share a few images you haven’t seen (and a bunch you have, ha!).  I used a lot of blue around the house this season since it really is my favorite to decorate with, but there is some red in the courtyard and a dash of pink in my office and the kids’ room. 

Here’s the grand finale so to speak – with some scenes I’ve snapped over the last few weeks from different spaces in our home all dressed up for the season and ready for our weekend party which we throw every year.

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Christmas is such a funny time for us around our house.  The family is accustomed to all the boxes and bins I pull out every year and stack up in the corner of the living room.  They tolerate my humming of Christmas tunes while I float around hanging wreaths and ornaments and sometimes they indulge me in my requests to help me make the house merry. 

I’m not the most organized person in many aspects but when it comes to the holiday decor, I do myself a favor every January and organize by color because that’s how I decorate in December.  All the gold stuff is in one plastic bin, the silver in another, etc.  I turn to the same old techniques every year because they appeal to me.  Always a lot of branches, some are real and some are faux, plenty of colorful ornaments, and some fresh greenery, with a garland up the staircase and evergreens scattered about.

One of the easiest ways I find to decorate each year is with piles of ornaments in vessels and I really do place them everywhere.  It’s easy and takes little thought.  Piling up ornaments in vessels always looks festive and it allows me to use what I’ve already got.  So I roam from space to space, filling up hurricanes, urns, and compotes with piles of those sparkly baubles recycled year after year. 

My collection of blue glass vases floats around the house, usually they’re in the family room but this month in the entry.  Shop your house, that’s my motto!

It’s Rhoda’s Vignettes Party today, so here are just a few more scenes of those ornaments piled up in vessels around the casa. 

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I was in the mood for modern, simple, and unexpected this year.  I’m back to my old favorites using blue and green on the front porch instead of traditional red like last year’s poinsettia porch.  Here is our porch all decked out for the season in navy and white with some emerald green thrown in for fun.

I moved the outdoor rug and pillows from the rear balcony to the covered front porch where we could enjoy them for a few months more in a different spot.  Two white trees in urns and a preserved boxwood wreath on the door complete the scene.

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A few weeks ago, I was invited by Michaels to decorate a tree with their ornaments this year as part of a Dream Tree Challenge.  I’ve shopped my local Michaels for so many years and especially during the holidays, so I readily accepted their invitation!

Our family buys a flocked real tree at our local tree farm for the living room every December, but the kids loved the idea of a Christmas tree to call their own.  We came up with a bright candy colored version decorated with some new ornaments and also some of their favorites from the past.

The three of us went shopping together at Michaels and their bright eyes quickly settled on a “candy and disco balls” theme – it was a glittery candy garland and a set of faceted disco ball ornaments that set the color palette for our tree and we got to work!

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