Holiday decor
Quaint hot cocoa corner. Set up a hot cocoa table for guests. Houzz user stilesquinn used a festive sterling silver tray and old-fashioned candy jars to house hot chocolate mix, marshmallows, and candy canes — a perfect thing to set on the coffee table in your living room before your next big holiday party.
Holiday tablescape inpsired by nature. Houzz professional Lynda Quintero-Davids used a white spray painted branch as the centerpiece of this holiday tablescape. If you're having problems coming up with ideas for your holiday dinner table, try sticking to something simple like this. Sometimes nature provides all the necessary decoration — spray paint a few branches and accent with some found pinecones, and you're set.
Chic black-and-white Christmas tree. Retro-looking all-white Christmas trees are making a huge comeback this year. Houzz professional Nicole Lanteri used a Parisian theme with hers. Simple black iron ornaments in the shape of the Eiffel Tower go perfectly with a chic black-and-white striped tree skirt.
Christmas display in turquoise. Shelley Smith from House of Smiths always has an amazing holiday display in her dining room (check out her Halloween display in this roundup). Last year, she decided to avoid red and green and use colors that felt more wintery. She chose a palette of silver, green, and a little turquoise for this setup. Although she decided not to do a Christmas tree this year, she still wanted to have a Christmas-tree like display. Spray painted branches hung with small ornaments became a fun and affordable alternative. Then she filled up glass votives with small baubles and trinkets for a little extra sparkle. Perfect!
Affordable DIY Christmas candle holders. Kristin of Iowa Girl Eats kept her holiday decor affordable, simple and rustic. Mason jars were filled with votive candles, fake berries and spruce, and wrapped in a twine bow. Voila! They're perfect party decorations. Put them on a mantle and light the candles inside when it gets dark. Try using scented votives in vanilla or cinnamon for an extra holiday touch.
Elegant handmade stockings. Looking for a sophisticated stocking for your mantle? Houzz user Michele Cabot made hers out of beautiful vintage French linens for an elegant and minimalistic holiday mantle. If you're tired of browsing stores for the perfect stockings for your family, try making your own unique versions out of fun vintage fabric.
12. Merry and bright Christmas mantle. Curious about how Heather Freeman of The Lovely Cupboard got her mantle to glow? This cheerful DIY art was made simply by sticking Christmas lights through the back of a canvas. Freeman made all of this mantle art herself, and accented it with ornaments from Wal-Mart and deep green velvet stockings from Hobby Lobby.
10. Clever peppermint wreath. Doesn't this look like a photo from a catalog? Believe it or not, Myra of My Blessed Life made this stunning Christmas decoration from three bags of peppermints, a hot glue gun, and a white foam wreath form. She added a ring of Red Hots to fill some white space, and then hung the entire thing with a festive ribbon.
6. DIY "milk glass" forest. Shannon of Madigan Made loves crisp white holiday decor, and had a vision of a little white forest of trees covering her kitchen cart. When she couldn't find what she was looking for, she decided to make it herself. She found plain glass tree-shaped candy jars and decided to spray paint them. She wrapped the outside of the jars and lids with plastic and tape, and painted several thin coats of white — on the inside. Painting them on the inside gave them a more uniform look and prevents peeling. In the end, the pieces have an almost vintage, milk glass-like look.
5. Holiday decorations for small spaces. Alicia Parsons of Atypical Type A doesn't haveroom for a full-sized Christmas tree in her house, so she's gotten into the habit of reusing one of her old wedding decorations — branches in a moss-filled pot — instead. This is a great tip for anyone with a small apartment or a small budget!
Cactus ornament. Mandi Gubler of Vintage Revivals has created a mini desert snowscape inside classic glass ornaments. While she experimented with salt in this example, fine white sand could be a longer-lasting alternative. Plant the cuttings once the holidays are over, and your ornaments can live long after the tree is gone.
You have: Extra globe ornaments Make: A modern wreath Gleaming silver globe ornaments with hooks removed make a simple yet stunning holiday display when affixed to a basic wire wreath form. Choose ornaments in a few different sizes and use thin wire threaded through the hanging loops to tie them onto the form. Pack in as many ornaments as you can for a nice, full look.
Silhouette art gift wrap. This elegant gift adornment takes some time but makes a big impression — use it to make a special gift even more so. Start by taking a photo of your subject side-on. Next, print the picture on card stock and cut around the silhouette. Once you have your silhouette template, you can save it and use it many times.
Candy trees. If your taste for holiday table settings runs toward the fun and over-the-top, consider this easy candy DIY for your next party. Pick up a few foam cones of varying heights from the crafts store and use dabs of royal icing to completely cover them with rows of hard candies and peppermints. Position the cones down the center of the table and fill in with swags of greenery.
Holiday backdrop. With a little paint, a board (or even a large piece of paper) can be transformed into a backdrop perfect for holiday photographs. If using a board, paint it white and allow it to dry. Then use a stamp with a wintry motif to print a repeating pattern in black. A small board can work as wall art or as an accent behind interior vignettes, as seen here, while a larger board, paper or canvas can be used as a smile-booth background during a holiday party or for family photos.
Clay cookie-cutter ornaments. These ornaments have a Scandinavian simplicity that looks beautiful on the tree or as embellishments on gifts. White air-dry clay (available at most crafts stores) is easy to work with — simply roll out and cut just as you would cookie dough. Use a straw to poke a round hole for a string through the top, and let dry on waxed paper.
Magnetic advent calendar. Marie of My Lil Pink Pocket made this adorable and re-usable advent calendar using papier maché boxes from her local craft store. After decorating them, she glued a small magnet on the back of each one and put them onto a small framed magnet board.
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