The season is upon us. Time to hang the lights and trim the tree. I don’t know about you but our neighborhood is beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
While I love the decorations and lights, I do have a hard and fast rule to wait until after Thanksgiving to put up the decor. I would like to give Thanksgiving it’s special day with a few extra pumpkins still in place. Having said that, the Friday after Turkey day, I’m pulling boxes out of the attic and the process begins.
I have always liked a more natural look and I buy a real tree and use lots of the left-over branches. Not only does it look beautiful but it’s a good way to help reduce consumption of plastic. Once Christmas is over, you can recycle the tree and branches and add them as mulch to your garden.
Here are a few ways that I like to bring in some natural elements into decor:
I am a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to Christmas trees. I buy a real tree, white lights, and red, green, and silver/gold ornaments. Although my kids are older now, I still put up their handmade ornaments from their younger days. Those will always have a special place on the tree.
I have 2 window boxes on the front of our house and fill them with Poinsettias, Dusty Miller, and a Norfolk Pine. Once Christmas is over, I repot these plants in our backyard. The Dusty Miller goes straight into the garden!
To dress up the carriage lights by the garage, I bought these red bells from Walmart and dressed them up with some the Christmas tree cuttings that we picked up when we bought the tree. Have a fireplace or a firepit? Add the branches in there after Christmas for a “woodsy” scent.
On the front entry table, I always put out my ceramic figurine of Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus. This is the reason for the season, surrounded by garland and lights.
To dress up the chandelier above out table, I again used several branches that we had left over from the Christmas tree cutting. I secured them to the frame of the chandelier and decorated with ornaments and citrus.
These are just a few ways that I like to bring in natural elements into our Christmas decor.