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Christmas

Christmas Home Tour

Christmas time is here! Well, sort of. Anyway, it is after Thanksgiving and that definitely makes all kinds of Christmas decorating acceptable.

This week I gathered some of my favorite creative bloggers to join with me in sharing their Christmas décor.

Today I am sharing how we spread Christmas cheer throughout our home and like all of our other decorating, it involves lots of handmade projects, vintage finds, and meaningful décor. 

I’m not one to buy all new Christmas decorations each year, but I do like to mix things up a little by using what we have in different ways and sprinkling in some new handmade décor.

So welcome to our home!

Christmas trees and nativity in entry.

You can probably already see that I don’t exactly stick to traditional Christmas colors. Our foyer is dressed up with a sweet little wintery forest and nativity. 

The trees were clear glass candy jars I collected from thrift stores and painted silver and aqua and the nativity is a discount store cheapy that I added a bit of sparkle to.

glass Christmas trees and glittery nativity.

In our family room, the Christmas tree definitely steals the show.

flocked Christmas tree.

I just want to grin every time I look at it – the snowy DIY flocking looks amazing both with and without lights.

DIY flocked tree with lights on.
aqua and red Christmas decor.

The Christmas mantel is a hodge-podge of things gathered from around the house mixed with colorful aqua and red Christmas ornaments.

Of course, it would be much more fun to decorate without the TV, but this is real life and that’s where our TV lives. 

I wish our stockings were knitted by someone we love, but actually they were collected over the past few years from various stores. I love that they all go together without actually matching. 

(And it makes it much easier to add stockings as our family has grown.)

aqua and red christmas mantel with colorful stockings, pom pom garland, and jars of ornaments.

The blue and red pom pom garland is new this year – I was amazed at how easy it was to make!

The rest of the mantel is similar to how it has looked the past few years. I adore candlelight at Christmas time so these silver candelabras tend to go on the mantel each year. 

I thought about doing something totally different this year but it seemed silly to give up something I really like just for the sake of change. There is definitely something to be said for seeing the same familiar things each Christmas.

vintage Christmas mantel with silver candlesticks and silver letters spelling joy.
blue and red Christmas decor.

The kitchen didn’t get a whole lot of Christmasification but it did get a sweet little tree on the chalkboard wall.  I’m planning to stick our Christmas cards there and I got things started with a few cards I saved from years past.

Christmas tree on wall

Which brings us to the dining room.

bright light Christmas vignette - with letters spelling Merry and a mirror with vinyl that says Have yourself a merry little Christmas.

This light, bright arrangement on our antique buffet might just be my favorite one in the house. The big gray mirror lives here all year round but I added the white mirror that I made for the foyer last Christmas and the glittery blue Merry sign that was hanging over the mantel last year. And a glittery star garland to top it all off.

christmas decor in dining room and living room.

And finally, my husband’s nutcracker collection needed a home. 

When he was little, his grandmother began a tradition of giving him a nutcracker every year for Christmas. When she passed away, I carried on the tradition. Others have also added to his collection over the years and he now has close to 40 nutcrackers.

nutcracker collection on bookshelves.

I didn’t pull them all out, just a few favorites to decorate the wall of bookshelves in the living room.

nutcrackers on shelf next to small mirror.

A few thrifted mirrors, some ornaments, and a handmade sign help break things up. 

nutcrackers and diy Merry Christmas sign.

And now don’t forget to visit the rest of the homes on the tour – there are some amazing homes here!  Catch a sneak peak from the photos below and follow the links to see everyone’s homes.

a very merry christmas home tour

Lovely Etc. * Thrifty and Chic * Bigger than the Three of Us

One Krieger Chick * All Things With Purpose * The Happy Housie * Blue I Style * Little Red Brick House

Southern State of Mind * Seeking Lavender Lane * Designing Vibes * The Tale of an Ugly House * Domicile 37

It All Started With Paint * Little House of Four * Boxy Colonial * The Turquoise Home

A House Full of Sunshine * Making it in the Mountains * Casa Watkins * Shabby Grace Blog

carrie signature in blue

Comments

  3. Anne Davidson says

    Love the DIY flocked tree–especially with the lights on! The chalkboard christmas card display is super cute as well!

    Reply

  5. Alicia @ Thrifty and Chic says

    Carrie, This is beautiful! I love the aqua and red theme. It looks gorgeous in your house. Love the pom poms!! I need to make some of those…in white of course :) lol
    And your tree, this really makes me want to flock mine but I’m so worried about the mess of putting it up and down each Christmas :( Yours looks beautiful!

    Reply

    • Carrie says

      Thanks Alicia! I love my flocked tree and I know a flocked tree would look beautiful with all the white in your home. But it is messy for sure. And I am loving the pom poms too! I just made those a few days ago and they were so much easier than I thought. I made some big fluffy white ones too but haven’t decided where to put them yet.

      Reply

  6. [email protected] says

    Everything looks great! I’m all about bringing the same things that we love out year after year :). And I LOVE that chalkboard tree. I meant to do something with our chalkboard wall for Christmas, but I suspect I’m not going to get around to it at this point. Next year!

    Reply

    • Carrie says

      Thanks Gretchen! There are so many things I was thinking about doing that will have to wait for next year too. I finally had to just say enough was enough! Now for the fun part – sitting back and enjoying it this month.

      Reply

    • Carrie says

      Thanks Ashley! I really love how it turned out too! And I love that it could seriously go anywhere – all you need is a little bit of wall and some garland!

      Reply

    • Carrie says

      Thank you Sarah! I just saw your tree and it looks gorgeous! Flocked trees may be messy but they are 100% worth it in my opinion.

      Reply

  12. Karen @ a house full of sunshine says

    Oh wow, Carrie – how utterly gorgeous in every detail!! Your entryway made my jaw drop. That planked wall is stunning, and the simple vignette of little trees is perfect against it. Totally magazine-worthy! And the flocked tree all glowing with lights – beautiful! I also adore your sweet chalkboard-wall tree as a way to display Christmas cards – what a clever idea that looks amazing. Thanks for the inspiration and for hosting this tour! xoxo

    Reply

  15. Laura @ The Turquoise Home says

    I love the pops of blue and the Christmas tree on the chalkboard. I may borrow that idea next year. beautiful home!!

    Reply

    • Carrie says

      Thanks so much Stephanie! I am looking froward to sharing my tree too – it took me a long time to figure out how to decorate it in a way that I really love.

      Reply

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