Christmas Decorating: Vision & Technique

Increasingly, my Christmas decorating plans begin with a different vision each year. Last year, the year we went to the UK on vacation, my vision for Christmas decorating was all about incorporating tartan and a few British customs and foods into our celebration. This year, my vision was

"simple and magical"

and started with a list of adjectives for the look I wanted to achieve:

- natural

- green

- simple

- sparkle

- light

Then I mentally started to break each element on my list of adjectives into the details:

Natural: fresh greens, pinecones, antlers, nuts, clementines, potted plants, Bosc pears.

Green: focus on fresh greens and follow a more natural color palette. Limit or eliminate red this year.

Simple: a reminder to edit, edit, edit. Less is more.

Sparkle: metals, mercury glass, glass.

Light: candles and more candles, Christmas lights, tiny battery-powered lights. More candles.

The happy news about this year's vision is that most of it could be obtained in the woods, the local nursery, and the grocery store. There's been the inevitable run to Target for more lights. Oh...and antique stores are essential for unique elements.

That's me, Saturday, in my element cutting greens from our own woods and kind of pinching myself that I can do this. For years, in California, I stared at the single palm tree on our property, and now I can go gather for Christmas with abandon in the woods! SO happy about that!

Christmas decorating is a lingering project around here. I have tubs and tubs of loose items that I paw through each year, picking and choosing just the right elements to fit this year's vision. That takes a while. And sometimes we pull it all together, stare at it for a few days, and then take it apart and redo it. Once it's all finished, I'll share photos with you. 

How about you? Do you stick with the same decorating each year, like a well-loved tradition? Or do you come up with a fresh vision each year?