Decking the Halls

We’ve been slowly decking the halls since the day after Thanksgiving, and I think we are finally done.  The tree is up and decorated!  Greenery is everywhere!  Fresh greens are plentiful, easy to obtain, and inexpensive here in New England, so we love decorating with them.

Variegated holly doesn’t seem to grow here, so I was thrilled to find bunches of it for sale!  Sprigs of it were tucked here and there.

The stair banister has swags of fresh greenery.  I like to change things up with the Christmas decorating every couple of years, so this year we went with a tartan ribbon.  Colette thought the red, black, and chestnut-colored plaid ribbon paired well with some deep wine-colored ribbon, and so mixed them here and there.  I love the unexpected layering of color!

Today, I bundled up little sprays of greenery from some tree trimmings and some sprays of cedar from the stair garland, attached some metal stars (available at Target), and wired it all to the middle of the windows in the formal dining room and the family room.

The family room mantle has a classic colonial look with greens, pewter, primitive angels, a string of “cranberries”, and clove-studded oranges.

I don’t decorate much in our bedroom, but I do love this spray of greenery on our bedpost.

One of the aspects of Christmas decorating that I love the most, is taking simple and/or inexpensive items, mixing them with things I already own, and giving it a whole new look for the holidays!  We’re having our annual Christmas party this week, so I polished up this silver tray (a wedding gift 25 years ago), paired it with a mix of mercury glass votive candle holders (finds from Target), and added a couple small sprays of cedar.  I can’t wait to light these for the party!