decorating for the holidays.

 When decorating for Christmas try to think outside of red + green. Any color combination can be festive with the right touches and you want your holiday decor to go with your house not fight against it! Personally I really like using natural materials such as burlap, birch bark, fresh greens and of course some sparkle!

 

Our yard is surrounded by evergreens. Last year I had the bright idea of clipping a bunch of branches and putting the above the kitchen cabinets with white lights and some holiday accessories. It looked great until it was time to de-Christmas the house...man did I have needles everywhere and I mean everywhere it was scary! This year I decided to put them around the chandelier..I can switch them out easy when they start to dry out.

 

We have the Bellora Chandelier from Potterybarn and I love how it looks with the greens (like little glass ornaments!) I hung a star ornament from the bottom finial too!

 

I like getting a real wreath for the holidays. I think next year I'm going to try and make one. I used burlap and made a bow and with a twisty tie I added a gold, sparkly woven ball and a starfish. All natural elements.

Did you know that having the visual weight of something (in this instance the bow & accessories) on the bottom right is most appealing to the eye.

 

Sadly we do not have a fireplace in this house (definitely on my must haves for our next place!) so we hang out stockings on the railing.

{Katie over at Bower Power recently did a post about places to put stockings if you don't have a fireplace...check it our for other ideas}

 

Vana White..I mean Avery is modeling off the stalking display. I swagged some pre-lite garland around the banister and ties the stalkings around the railing with some ribbon. I then used my burlap and wrapped that around the greenery.

The finishing touches included placing some rattan and gold sparkly decorative spheres (you know how I love my spheres) amongst the greenery. I also added in some starfish.

A few other holiday decor ideas that I don't have pictures of; silver glass ball ornaments hung from the curtain rods with clear fishing line at staggered lengths. Another idea, pick up some clear glass ornaments at your local craft store and fill them with something fun and unexpected. I have some filled with white feathers!

Do you have any unique + creative holiday decor ideas, I'd love to hear about them!