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At The Picket Fence with Vanessa Hunt

Where Ideas for your Home Meet Inspiration for your Heart

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December 29, 2012

Winter Decorating

Our Christmas tree finally bit the dust. It was pretty much fossilized.
When the ornaments start sliding off and the pine odor is so overwhelming to almost be offensive you know it’s well past it’s prime!

As I as removing ornaments and lights (and having my hands ripped apart from the fossilized branches) I was thinking about how I can still keep the feeling of winter in my home even without my Christmas decor.

I think I’ll keep my little gold pine cones clustered on a plate.

decorating with pine cones

And the basket in my entry with greenery and branches.

greenery in basket At the Picket Fence

And I love that my amaryllis which looked so sorry and sad when I bought it is now blooming in all it’s glory.

amaryllis At the Picket Fence

 

I needed to recover from the experience of watching most of the pine needles land in my carpet before the tree was taken out by heading over to Pinterest for some more Winter Decorating Inspiration!

Here are just a few of some of the fantastic ideas I’ve seen for keeping a touch of Winter in your home long after the Holiday’s are over:

Pine cone Topiary from Somewhat Simple

Pinecone Topiary 3

Winter Mantel from BHG

Simple Seasonal Change

Hanging Pine Cone Door Decor

Winter Bountiful Bowl from Midwest Living

Simple Winter Centerpiece

Winter Terrarium 

Winter+terrarium+1 DIY Wedding Idea: Winter Landscape Centerpiece

So, what about you?

Do you like to keep some winter-y decor in your home after Christmas?

What tips do you have for making that transition?

I’ll be back soon with some more of my home wrapped in winter and look forward to meeting you here again at the Fence,

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23 Comments Filed Under: Good Ideas

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Next Post: Ring in the New Year with Cake! »

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Comments

  1. The Rosegarden in Malevik says

    December 29, 2012 at 3:19 PM

    Hi Vanessa
    that is some great decorations…..just wonderful 🙂
    I wish YOU a
    HAPPY NEW YEAR
    and do not miss…..
    THE

    H
    A
    P
    P
    Y

    N
    E
    W

    Y
    E
    A
    R

    P
    A
    R
    T
    Y

    it is FUN 🙂
    WELCOME
    Håkan ( The Roseman)

    Reply
  2. Kim says

    December 29, 2012 at 4:01 PM

    I have kept some of my greenery and winter pillows that aren’t just for Christmas out, too.

    Reply
  3. Betty Sneeringer says

    December 29, 2012 at 5:17 PM

    I do like to hang on to winter for awhile but, here in Central Florida it is a challenge – my snowman banner looks a little foolish on the warmest days. This year I am thinking maybe try to use light things and maybe some sparkle, like frost. Ummm. What to do?

    Reply
  4. Martina says

    December 29, 2012 at 5:29 PM

    I do like to keep some winter decor around after Christmas. I love your plate of glitter pinecones!! Vanessa, wishing you all the best in the New Year!!

    Reply
  5. Jeanette @ Creating a Life says

    December 29, 2012 at 7:22 PM

    Love all your winter decor picks! I’ll put away the overtly Christmas decor and leave all the wintery stuff out. It’s only been officially winter for several days! We live in a snowy climate, and you just have to embrace all things wintery here for awhile- at least until Valentine’s day : )

    Jeanette

    Reply
  6. Merle Turner says

    December 29, 2012 at 7:50 PM

    It is the middle of summer here, some days I wish it was winter but not often it been a mild summer but a few days have been extra hot and humid.
    Merle……

    Reply
  7. Cynthia says

    December 30, 2012 at 6:27 AM

    Love all the winter decor ideas. Thanks for sharing these. Happy New Year.

    Cynthia

    Reply
  8. Ann says

    December 30, 2012 at 7:05 AM

    I normally try to neutralize everything. Lots of cream and ivory. I’m leaving all my preserved boxwood out but everything else is going back in the bins. Happy New Year Vanessa!

    Reply
  9. kristin says

    December 30, 2012 at 8:32 AM

    Love the inspiration pictures! Our tree came down the day after christmas, first time ever but it was on the dead side, I think had I turned the lights on it would have blown up. So the house looked so bare and naked so I’m thinking this year I will add touches of winter otherwise it will have to wait till spring, I don’t think i can wait that long. Happy new year my friends!
    XO
    Kristin

    Reply
  10. Angelina says

    December 30, 2012 at 9:26 AM

    Oh I LOVE decorating for the Seasons and sometimes I think Winter gets over looked with all the Christmas hustle and bustle. So this is a GREAT post and reminder. 🙂
    Thanks for sharing it!
    Angelina

    Reply
  11. Anne says

    December 30, 2012 at 9:37 AM

    I am not sure what I will do yet.We still have our Christmas decor up and will stay up until my daughter heads back to school.I am in a lazy mode and am not ready to put things away yet.I may leave out some pine cones.But honestly I need some life in here.I am headed to the store today to pick up some fresh flowers.My paper whites have seen better days!
    xx
    Anne

    Reply
  12. Jane says

    December 30, 2012 at 10:24 AM

    Our tree is looking very brittle but we haven’t lost any needles so I’m hoping we get another week or so out of it…it’s so sad to say goodbye to it!! I love these winter decorating ideas, I can really use a few, especially for my mantel. Thanks so much!

    XO,
    Jane

    Reply
  13. Linda says

    December 30, 2012 at 2:28 PM

    Our tree is down and decorations in one room gone for another season.
    I keep my pine cones out and my Amaryllis is still blooming.
    Have a Happy New Year! All the Best in 2013. Linda

    Reply
  14. Lauren says

    December 30, 2012 at 2:43 PM

    LOL – I hate Winter so I tend to want to FORGET it’s still out there! As soon as the Christmas decorations are put away and the house has a good cleaning . . . up go the Valentine decorations! It helps keep everything cheerful and the red, white and pink make me smile. After those come down there’s a sad lull until the Easter decorations go up though so I may try to incorporate some of these ideas to fill in the ‘gap’!

    Reply
  15. Carol Reddin says

    December 30, 2012 at 3:41 PM

    I love keeping some decorations for a few weeks after Christmas. It’s a good transition & keeps me feeling a bit more festive!

    Reply
  16. Doris G says

    December 30, 2012 at 4:20 PM

    Next year stop by a store that sells real trees and pay a couple of dollars for a plastic tree bag. It is this ingenious idea! You open it up an put it under your tree, and it protects the floor from water, etc. But the magic happens when you are ready to take it down: Simply pull the bag up around the tree, tie it up at the top and get that thing out of the house without spending 3 hours getting up the needles!

    Reply
    • At The Picket Fence says

      December 30, 2012 at 5:32 PM

      I’ve never heard of that Doris but that is an awesome idea! Thanks for the tip! 🙂
      Vanessa

      Reply
  17. Erin@ Sweetness Itself Blog says

    December 30, 2012 at 5:10 PM

    What a beautiful and inspiring website! 🙂

    LOVE that you are sisters too. So sweet!

    Just found you randomly, so excited to follow and read more!

    XO

    Erin

    sweetnessitself.blogspot.com

    Reply
    • At The Picket Fence says

      December 30, 2012 at 5:31 PM

      Thank you so much for your kind words Erin! So glad you stopped by and hope we see lots more of you in the future! 🙂
      Vanessa

      Reply
  18. Melanie says

    December 30, 2012 at 5:59 PM

    I’m still working on my living room decor after taking down all the Christmas stuff. I’m going to look on Pinterest for some more ideas – thanks for yours!

    Reply
  19. Gee says

    December 30, 2012 at 6:08 PM

    Thanks. I will be taking the trees down on 12th night. That’s next Sunday, and I have been seeking ideas for winter decor. Luv your ideas.
    Happy New Year Vanessa.
    Cheers, Gee

    Reply
  20. The Tablescaper says

    December 30, 2012 at 8:50 PM

    Some wonderful ideas!

    – The Tablescaper

    Reply
  21. Anita says

    January 3, 2013 at 5:57 AM

    I love to decorate for winter too…I just can’t skip ahead to spring. I’ll leave some baskets of greenery, the pinecones hanging on ribbons, etc., through February. My rule is whatever is growing outside is what I use inside. Happy New Year!!!

    Reply

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But, hey, at least I can take comfort in the soft glow of twinkling lights and having my halls decked for Christmas!

Today on the blog I’m sharing the details of my soft and simple mantel decorations and I’d love for you to stop by! ✨
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For our kids or for us.

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Let’s stop putting so much pressure on this one month out of the year. Let’s be surprised at the ways we might be able to celebrate the baby in the manger without a dozen countdown calendars. Let’s give our kids some grace when they are focused more on gifts because…well…they’re kids after all.

And while we’re at it, let’s give ourselves some grace too.

Grace when we think we should feel all the warm fuzzy feelings about Christmas but we really just want to take a nap.

Grace that reminds us that this month will soon be over and we will have a brand new year ahead of us.

A new year filled with big moments and little moments and everything in between.

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Ingredients:
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.
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My prayer for you friends, is that you will look at that narrow path with the small gate as an opportunity. It’s an opportunity to experience the kind of freedom that our souls are longing for. The wide and broad path of the world promises us a freedom that is fleeting and temporary. But at the end of the narrow path, there is hope and peace and life everlasting.

I’m choosing the narrow path. And in spite of the hardships, in spite of the challenges and the fears and the times that can feel as dark as the journey down into a cave, I wouldn’t trade a single minute of it.
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