5 Cute Christmas Ideas from redheadcandecorate.com
Good morning, friends! It’s me, Julie from redheadcandecorate.com, stopping over today to share 5 cute Christmas ideas for decorating your home this holiday season. I really enjoy decorating for Christmas the most out of all of the holidays, and sometimes I try to think “outside the box” when doing so. It’s funny, because in a lot of ways I am very traditional in my decorating style, but then I love to throw in an element of surprise to kind of catch folks off guard. I like to have fun with it, and between you and I, sometimes my kids have to settle me down when decorating and tell me it’s time for bed!
I truly hope my ideas inspire you to try something you’ve never tried before…or maybe just sit back and drink hot cocoa while I do all of the decorating. Doesn’t that sound good about now?
Hat as a Tree Topper
Here’s our beautiful fresh tree from last year. There’s a lot going on in this photo, but what I really wanted to point out to you is the “hat”. I usually top our Christmas tree with an angel, but I had a little fun last year placing my daughter’s black & grey long striped ski hat on top. You can’t see it here, but the hat has a little green jingle bell on the end. You’ll note that I also used my other daughter’s ice skates down at the bottom, and the tree is covered in flannel bows. Together, with the scarf and furry tree skirt (made from faux fur fabric) it all gives off a cozy, fun vibe. A top hat, baseball hat (baseball lovers), chef hat, etc. would look great, too. It all depends on your family and what they love.
Decorating the Bedroom
I admit that I have only dressed our bedroom for Christmas once. Decorating the bedroom may sound like a lot of work when no one may see it, and it is…however, I had a lot of fun doing it just this once. Of course my husband thought I was nuts, and didn’t even realize he was sleeping with a wreath hanging over his head, but he went with it. Sylvia our rescue kitty, also didn’t seem to mind. To make it extra cozy, I made a faux fireplace out of a broken electric wood burning fireplace, and the “Merry Christmas” pillow I designed myself (see below for more details).
Here are some sources to help you achieve this cozy Christmas look:
Plush Red & White Christmas Stockings
Gold Christmas Stocking Holders
Christmas Ornament Lanterns
These “Christmas Ornament Lanterns” are still one of my most popular Christmas ideas to date. I just checked and there are well over 38,000 clicks on this fun and easy Christmas decorating idea. I was inspired by Pottery Barn when I noticed they stuffed lanterns with ornaments for a living room they were advertising. Little did they know that thousands of people would want to stuff lanterns with ornaments! Here’s the secret to mine…I put a small set of white Christmas lights in the bottom of the lantern and then put the ornaments in. Battery operated led lights would work perfectly, too. Here’s a few sources to help you create these…
Thrift Stores are wonderful for inexpensive ornaments!
Gumdrop Tree
You won’t believe this, but I made this “Gumdrop Tree” 3 years ago, and I still have it. The real gum drops still look great, too. This “Gumdrop Tree” was so much fun to make with the kiddos. All I needed was a foam cone and tooth picks (gum drops were from the grocery store). I recently learned from a follower that her Mom uses pins to attach the gumdrops. Totally up to you how you would like to make one, but either way, just start at the bottom, and work your way up. Make sure the bottom is glued to a base when you work so you have leverage when pushing the gum drops in. Be sure to let the little kiddos know that these gum drops are not to be eaten.
Leftover Pine Tree Swag Wreath
Lastly…this ” Christmas Swag Wreath” was absolutely free, folks. I know it’s a bit different than a traditional round wreath, but it still looks so beautiful. To assemble, just grab left over limbs off of the bottom of your Christmas tree (we always end up needing to trim ours), and gather at the top with twine. Tie tightly together, and leave some of the twine to hang it at the end. I decorated this right on our front door and tied the big ribbon on last. It was very simple with no glue required.
Happy Thanksgiving, and see you next time!
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The decorations are lovely if Christ-mas was just about ANY old thing. But it’s not. Christmas literally means ‘The Mass of Christ’; the worship of Christ. Not even one angel? Christ child? Nativity set? If you have children; they see thru the ‘behind the scenes’ thing So much more than we ever thought. I KNOW this as I raised three who are now grown and older than you with kids of their own. The secular folks have tried SO hard to; take away Christmas-turning it into a Winter wonderland, Santa, elves, snowmen, etc. They tried to turn Easter into bunnies, baskets with candy, ect. . Halloween originally was All Saints Day and we all know what it has descended into now. They argue that the Christian Holi-days are based upon pagans, Dec 25 was not the actual day of Jesus Christ’s birth, ect. They miss the Point. We Honor our Christian faith and the holy days we celebrate on those special calendar days. Yes snowmen, santa, ect are harmless on their own. But to have NOTHING in one’s own home about the little baby Jesus….well one is telling their children thru their actions—what ones’ heart and mindset are really about. Sad, I think.
Hi there! This is Vanessa replying even though this post was written by our friend Julie who is the author of another blog and who we asked to share something with our At the Picket Fence community. Julie’s only goal was to share some simple and cute ideas for Christmas decorating. Yes, for those of us who are Christ-followers, Christmas is about celebrating the birth of our Savior. But, we believe that honoring His birth, death and resurrection is about so much more than having a nativity in our home (even though you WILL indeed find those in my home). It’s about pointing to Him through our actions and words which in the end are always going to do more to advance the kingdom than having symbols of it in our homes. When I pack away my nativity set each year, I don’t pack away my passion for sharing the gospel with it. And if someone has never claimed to be a Christ-follower (you are assuming that Julie is), it serves no purpose to call them out for something that they may or may not believe. What really points people to Christ isn’t how we celebrate these holidays, it’s how we honor Him every day of the year and love His people with so much grace and mercy that they see Him in us and are drawn to Him.
THANK YOU for sharing such kind words regarding your heart felt beliefs! My heart was touched…~Sandie
Vanessa….very well said. I too was touched by your response.
I loved Julie’s post today.
Enjoying your book!!!!
Thank you June and I’m SO glad you are enjoying the book!! If you have a minute, would you consider leaving a review of it on Amazon? We would so appreciate it! We’re grateful that you are such a supportive and encouraging part of our At the Picket Fence community! Blessings, Vanessa
Absolutely…I had planned to just have been busy.
You are so kind.
You need to get a life. And now aren’t you embarrassed that she does, indeed, have a nativity set somewhere
in her home. Why would you assume she didn’t have a Nativity just because it wasn’t under the tree. Your comment without knowing certainly makes you look very unchristianlike.
Although I think Vanessa explained my thoughts perfectly, rest assured Florida 1, our beautiful antique ceramic nativity set that my deceased brother made when he was 15 is nestled on a shelf right behind the camera where my sweet daughter’s set it up every year. You’ll also find baby Jesus lit up under the tree, although he is not photographed here. Although I do not have baby Jesus on our tree, it’s adorned with angels and like I mentioned in the article I usually top the tree with an angel that was from our tree in the 70’s. Although my decorating style for Christmas is very much focused on Santa & candy canes, I assure you that my family knows the true meaning of Christmas, but do not feel it is necessary to prove it within our decor. I hope that makes sense. ~ Julie redheadcandecorate.com
Julie,
You should title this 5 ADORABLE Christmas ideas! I love these! Thank you for sharing.
Jean
Thank you, Jean! So happy you enjoyed my ideas. Happy Thanksgiving!
I’m loving each and every one of these creative ideas! I LOVE the personal mementos on your tree and think the hat topper is genius! Great post!
Love your ideas, Julie! Everything looks beautiful.
Beautiful ideas from someone who I know to be a beautiful soul, through and through.
Such great inspiration! Thanks for the cute ideas Julie!
I love all of these fun and festive ideas Julie! You always have such wonderful ideas and you are also so incredibly generous with the biggest heart, I can testify to that when our youngest was so sick. XO Kristin
I saw on someones blog today It was just a back porch decorated for Christmas….I LOVE the whole house but being 76 and ill for 4 years I am thinking a small sunporch I have might be a cute way to go