Christmas

Christmas Home Tour 2016

Hello and Welcome Back! I’m excited to be participating in a Christmas home tour blog hop hosted this year by Caroline of Organize Nashville. I’ll show you around my holiday home and have some great other bloggers to show you as well. It’s a feast for the eyes! I love browsing through the Christmas homes, it’s always so festive and fun for me. And, as an added bonus, we are all going to share our top 5 tips for setting up your holiday home.

If you are here from At Home with Zan, than welcome! Be sure to hop on over to Timeless Creations first thing tomorrow to see how she readies her home for the holidays. I’ve added a link to everyone else participating {and the day they post} so you can be sure to check out all the amazing blogs in this series.

Monday, December 5

Tuesday, December 6

Old House to New Home

Wednesday, December 7

Organize & Decorate Everything

Thursday, December 8

Friday, December 9

Love My Simple Home

Brooklyn Berry Designs

Simple Nature Decor Blog

2 Bees in a Pod

Country Design Style

Finding Your Joy in The Journey

Caroline wanted to know what our favorite part of the season is, and my by far is the quiet down time with just the four of us – me, my husband and kiddos. We rush around all the time and barely take a break where it’s just us, and Christmas is time for being together, having our traditions and watching movies in our PJs all day long. But, in order to have this relaxing time I have to prepare our Christmas home. The other thing Caroline asked us for was our tips for preparing our home for the holidays. So, here is how I do it!

1. Organize your stuff

It works out so much better if you can organize your stuff for the holidays when you pack it away. I color coordinate bins by holiday. I know that may sound silly, but it’s so easy to do. Christmas stuff gets red and green, Halloween gets orange and black, spring stuff gets purple and yellow, etc. This makes it super easy to find in the attic when it’s time to change out. I even keep our “fake presents” stored nicely away so that it looks fun even before I wait until the last minute to buy everything.

2. Add a little each year

If you’ve been following me for awhile, you might notice some of these pictures look the same. It can be frustrating to look at others homes, especially when you are just starting out. I have added a little each year, like these fun little vases with a little winter wonderland charm at the entry.

And, I finally did the front porch just this year!

3. Incorporate your style

Duh. No brainer, right? Well, to be honest, this one is tough for me. I have bits of rustic charm, like my wine barrel Christmas tree.

And my rustic winter wonderland wall.

But, I’m feeling less rustic and more modern lately. Maybe next year you’ll see a change ;).

4. Decorate early if you want.

I know, I know – this one is controversial. It’s just what I do now. I used to be “not until after Thanksgiving” person. But, here is why I switched. The holiday season can quickly become hectic and crazy. We like to do everything, which is kind of nuts. Last year, because of the blog, I had to get my stuff up and ready early. And I loved it. The time before Thanksgiving is usually a little quieter, calmer. I used that time to put up the Christmas decorations in peace. And I got to enjoy them all season, which is kind of the point. It honestly made the season so much more enjoyable, and it made putting the decorations up so much more enjoyable. It also allows time for new projects :). I’m still working on a few things to bring you this week! I know this one it’s going to go over well with some, but the point is, just do what makes you happy and don’t worry about the “rules” when it comes to stuff like this. If you want to put your stuff up early, go for it! I’m not big on tablescapes, so this year I set this one up early and I’m using it throughout the season.

5. Let the kiddos help

Not every picture and area has to be Pinterest-picture perfect. My favorite tree in the house is the kiddos tree in the recreation room. I let them totally do their own thing, and I think they did great!

I also let my husband & son do the front outside lights, except for the trees – I did those!

6. Have fun!

If it’s not fun, what’s the point?

That’s it for today, but don’t worry – I’ve got a few more Christmas home pics coming! I’m not done with it yet :).

Thanks for stopping by!

April