• Home
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
    • Collaborate
  • Blog
  • Parties
    • Children’s Parties Ideas
    • Holiday Parties
    • Adult Party Ideas
  • Holiday Ideas
    • Christmas
    • Easter
    • Fourth of July
    • Spring
    • Thanksgiving
    • Valentine’s Day
  • Seasons
    • Winter
    • Spring
    • Summer
    • Autumn
  • Recipes
    • Appetizers
    • Beverages
    • Desserts
    • Main Dishes
    • Side Dishes
    • Soups
  • Project Gallery
    • Crafts
    • Decorating
    • DIY
    • Good Ideas
    • Tutorials
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Bloglovin
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

At The Picket Fence with Vanessa Hunt

Where Ideas for your Home Meet Inspiration for your Heart

  • Book
  • Speaking
  • Meet Vanessa
    • Featured

November 27, 2019

Incorporating Advent Candles Into Your Christmas Decor

Hello friends! Can you believe that THIS Sunday is December first! That means it’s the first Sunday of Advent and I have some ideas for you today about how to incorporate advent candles into your Christmas decor without using the traditional advent wreath.

One of my favorite things to do during this season is to celebrate Advent as a family! And, I’m sorry, but it must be said. The celebration of Advent is VERY different from just simply doing a ‘countdown to Christmas’. It’s not about having little drawers filled with candy or doors to open with prizes inside. Those things are so much fun and definitely help to build anticipation as you head closer and closer to the big day. But Advent, from the latin word ‘adventus’ meaning ‘arrival’ or ‘appearance’ keeps the focus completely on celebrating the arrival of the King who came in the form of an infant.

Growing up, we always had an Advent wreath which held four candles around the outside with one candle in the middle. The four candles represent the themes of hope, faith, joy and peace with the fifth candle representing Christ. My sister and I would always fight over who got to light the candles AND who got to blow them out. Obviously we weren’t always feeling the true spirit of Christmas in our hearts!

And now, as a mom of two kids who also fight over the lighting and blowing out of the candles, I still love this tradition and have tried to come up with ways to put a fresh twist on it by incorporating the Advent candles into my Christmas decor in a way that feels seamless but still very special.

I’ve done things like this on my dining room table…

…and this on my coffee table…

…and this on a side table (aren’t those tags so cute?!)…

…and I did this on our kitchen table one year.

I also love this more modern take on it with the black candles from Craftivity Designs

One year, I even wrapped candles with scripture so that each one told a different part of the story of Christ’s birth.

Do you celebrate Advent at your house? How have you incorporated the candles into your decor?

I’d love to hear your ideas!

And, I wanted to let you know about this wonderful book that I discovered! It’s called ‘Remarkable Advent’ by my friend Shauna Letellier and I’ve just added it to my Amazon shopping cart because I know that I need something like this to help keep me focused on the WHO and not on all of the trappings of the season.

If you want to sample it, Shauna is offering the first four days FREE just by signing up! Find out how to get those free chapters and/or purchase this wonderful book here.

My prayer for all of you as you head into this busy season is that you will have moments to just slow down, pause and be overwhelmed with peace and joy. Let’s hold each other accountable to that, ok? 😉

Much love to you dear friends,

13 Comments Filed Under: Christmas, Decorating, Good Ideas, Holidays Tagged With: Christmas, Christmas decor, Christmas decorating

Subscribe

Get the latest goodness straight to your inbox!

Previous Post: « Simple Hot Cocoa Station
Next Post: My French Country Christmas Mantel »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Ruth Ann says

    November 27, 2019 at 9:01 AM

    Thanks Vanessa….trying to do just that!

    Reply
  2. Shelly says

    November 27, 2019 at 9:41 AM

    Thank you! I will definitely do this. I wish I could get some chubby candles like yours. I have three pairs of alter candles that requires chubby candles so a source for those would be welcome. 😊
    Happy Thanksgiving, and Merry Christmas!

    Reply
    • Shelly says

      November 27, 2019 at 9:42 AM

      I meant alter candle sticks!

      Reply
    • At The Picket Fence says

      December 2, 2019 at 11:30 AM

      Hi Shelly! I can usually find the fatter candles at Hobby Lobby and sometimes at other craft stores too. Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

      Reply
  3. Michele M. says

    November 27, 2019 at 10:48 AM

    Good advice, Vanessa. We need it now more than ever before. Times are evil – we need to stay focused on God at all times and in all things.

    I really like Advent candles – we have them at church with pink and purple – which was always an odd color choice amongst all the red, green, gold and white – but it is the religious colors of the Advent there.

    I have never done one. My hubs grew up with one, his mom still does one. Maybe I will do one starting this year!! thanks for the inspiration!!

    Shaunna’s book – going to check it out. Could be a great present. TY! Hugs!

    Reply
    • At The Picket Fence says

      December 2, 2019 at 11:30 AM

      Let me know if you end up doing the Advent candles Michele! And yes, we need to keep our focus on God more than ever. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving my friend! xoxo

      Reply
  4. Marilyn says

    November 27, 2019 at 3:32 PM

    Thank You for these suggestions. Wishing you a blessed Advent season.
    HAPPY THANKSGIVING
    Marilyn

    Reply
    • At The Picket Fence says

      December 2, 2019 at 11:29 AM

      Thank you Marilyn!

      Reply
  5. Linda Johnston says

    December 1, 2019 at 10:11 AM

    We love the season of Advent. Ive been so busy with Thanksgiving wedding for our son and the traditional meal I’m just now able to think about it. I need a new wreath and candles. Thanks for sharing yours and others for some inspiration. Fatter candles my be my choice this year. Have a blessed week as you think about His Hope.

    Reply
    • At The Picket Fence says

      December 2, 2019 at 11:29 AM

      How was the wedding Linda?!! What a special weekend it must have been for you and your family! I’m sure you made lots of memories and I hope you get some time to rest and focus on the month ahead. Put your feet up for a bit first though! 😉

      Reply
  6. Cindy says

    December 2, 2019 at 7:39 AM

    Thank you so much for the encouragement and reminder to slow down and remember why we are celebrating. Your ideas for Advent are beautiful. I needed to refocus my thoughts and I truly appreciate you and the time you spent sharing your heart. Much love to you!

    Reply
    • At The Picket Fence says

      December 2, 2019 at 11:28 AM

      Thank you Cindy! Much love to you too!

      Reply
  7. Karen says

    December 17, 2019 at 5:43 AM

    Thank you so much for recommending Shauna Letellier’s “Remarkable Advent”!
    She has a way of making the Christmas Story come alive. And her Devotionals in each chapter are a wonderful way to begin each day of Advent. Wonderful book!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

Search This Blog

Get the book!

Invite Vanessa to speak at your event!

Stay updated!

Must Reads

Recent Posts

  • Why We’ve Chosen Vacations Over Projects April 26, 2022
  • A New Look for the Family Room March 1, 2022
  • Christmas Kitchen and Family Room December 19, 2021
  • Christmas Home Tour Part One December 10, 2021
  • Easy Hot Cocoa Station November 21, 2021

Footer

Stay Connected!

Instagram

Happy Friday!! I’m working on a blog post to sha Happy Friday!! I’m working on a blog post to share all of the details of our family room shelving makeover but I’m super impatient and just had to give you all a sneak peek!! We are SO happy with how they turned out and it finally looks like I’ve always envisioned. Our quick fix years ago (scroll to see the before photo) never felt quite right but now? Soooo much better!! 🙌🏻 Big shoutout to our amazingly talented friend Matt @redemptive_woodworx for bringing our vision to life and doing such impeccable work.

I hope you all have a great start to the 4th of July weekend and make sure to check my stories later for Friday Funnies!
The month of June is coming to a close and it has The month of June is coming to a close and it has been JAM packed! The highlight by far though was my son's graduation from high school. When I started blogging, he was only 6 years old and some of you have been apart of my community here for that entire time. Now, he's 19 and there is a reason parents are told not to blink because the years truly do go faster than I ever could have imagined. He has become such an incredible young man we are so excited to see how God is going to unfold the next chapter of his life. We celebrated with parties galore (SO many open houses to attend!) and made memories we'll forever cherish. My mama heart was filled to bursting with the joy of it all! Now we're taking some time to just enjoy these warm, summer days making even more memories because, when you’re at this stage of parenting, you know all too well how much you need to grasp every opportunity to spend time together.

I hope your summer is off to a great start too dear friends! 🪴
“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts o “And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.” F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Happy first day of summer dear friends!! I can’t believe it’s been so long since I posted something new here but life has been crazy. I’ll have some new photos of house projects and life events to share with you soon but, got now, I’m just going to enjoy this gorgeous first day of summer after our ridiculously long, wet spring. ☀️
“It was June, and the world smelled of roses. Th “It was June, and the world smelled of roses. The sunshine was like powdered gold over the grassy hillside.” (Maud Hart Lovelace) 

Welcome June!
“No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom “No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation.”
General Douglas MacArthur

Grateful today and every day for those who were vigilant to the point of death in the preservation of our freedom. May we honor their sacrifice by being vigilant too. #memorialday
“Those who know your name trust in you, for you, “Those who know your name trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.” Psalm 9:10
This is one of my most favorite projects from my b This is one of my most favorite projects from my book Life in Season! 

Because, if heaven has a fragrance, I’m fairly certain it smells like lilacs.

I think that somewhere along the way the verse in the Bible that said, ‘heaven will smell like lilacs’ just got lost in translation. But it HAD to have been in there at some point, right?

When I bury my head in the blossoms (which I absolutely MUST do every single time I walk past them), I immediately feel a stirring in my soul.

It seems like I wait forever for my lilac tree to bloom. Every year I anxiously watch as the buds begin to form on the branches and then when the blossoms finally burst forth I begin that agonizing process of deciding the absolute perfect moment to snip them and bring them inside.

And then, after all of that waiting and watching it’s just over…done. Because, unlike heaven, lilacs don’t last for an eternity. So, making my own lilac room spray seemed like the perfect way to enjoy their fragrance long after the blossoms have faded.

Here’s how to make it! Ingredients: Water, Vodka, Lilac fragrance oil. Directions: Fill spray bottle with 50/50 ratio of water to vodka. Add 12 drops of lilac oil. Give it a shake, spray and if the scent isn’t strong enough, simply add a few more drops of lilac oil.

Once you’ve made this lilac scented room spray you will be very tempted to spray it in every room in your house. And someone may want to use it in the bathroom to cover up other less…ummmm….pleasing aromas.

But, do not, I repeat do NOT, let them.

You’ve captured the fragrance of heaven in a bottle and you wouldn’t want to go and tarnish it now would you? 😉
We had two back to back days of sunshine (the most We had two back to back days of sunshine (the most we’ve had in a LONG time) and now we are back to pouring rain. This has officially confirmed what I’ve know to be true for awhile now.

I’m a MUCH better version of myself when the sun is shining! 🤪 So I’ll just be over here today plotting and planning how my husband and I can be snowbirds someday when the kids are out of the house.

If you could spend your winters (and apparently most of spring too!) in any part of the country, where would it be?
Happy weekend sweet friends!! We’ve had a LOT of Happy weekend sweet friends!! We’ve had a LOT of rain lately (which is saying something when you live in Oregon) and I’ll admit that it’s affecting my moods a bit. I feel like I’m dragging and struggling to find the energy to get stuff done. So don’t mind me if I’m over here looking at photos of my garden in the summertime and finding that it keeps me hopeful about those days to come. They will come, right?! 🤪. 

What are your favorite plants that you look forward to seeing in the summer?
We’re going to be giving our laundry room a make We’re going to be giving our laundry room a makeover soon. It’s LONG overdue! In fact, the folks from the counter company were just here taking measurements. While we have made some simple, inexpensive updates over the years, it still has many of the original elements from when the house was built in 1992.

Two of our bathrooms are also in need of major makeovers. And we’ve saved up enough money over the years to tackle those projects. But, for the most part, we made the decision to use the bulk of that money in another way. While we knew that it was financially wise to invest in our house, we also knew that the greatest investment we could make was in our children. 

I’ll admit, there are times where I see other people doing massive overhauls of their entire home in a matter of months and I feel a prick of envy. But, we decided that if our choice was between waiting a bit longer to enjoy a renovated bathroom or going on adventures as a family, we would choose adventures every time. And we don’t regret that decision for a single second. It’s not that we haven’t tackled home projects (we’ve done a lot!). It’s just that it’s been a slow and steady process. 

Most recently, we let our son pick where we would travel for spring break since this is his senior year of high school and we are trying to make up for lost time. With so much of life ‘paused’ for two years, we have appreciated these moments more than ever. And, since he’ll be heading to college in the fall, we are very aware of how important it is to spend this time together while we still have a modicum of control over everyone’s schedules.

We have many years left to remodel our home but only so much time left to make memories with our children.

And, while I’m always happy to look around my home and see rooms that are updated and more reflecting of our style, it doesn’t compare to the joy I feel when I look around my home and see the people I love the most who have been shaped by the many adventures we’ve experienced together.
Load More... Follow
Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2022 · Divine theme by Restored 316

Copyright © 2022 At The Picket Fence