Elegant Christmas Decorating Ideas

December 8, 2014 Jennifer Davenport

Beautiful ideas to make your home look wonderful for the holidays

There is something about elegant Christmas decorating ideas that always charms me the most. Maybe it is the little girl in me, who always dreamed about what Christmas was like in the large mansions down on main street.

Well, I am still living a plain but sweet lifestyle. And, I believe you can add elegance to your home no matter what your budget. So, here are a few ideas that I hope you enjoy.

A beautiful embroidered pillow, makes a chair come alive. Especially, if it has some “bling”. I found this pillow at a local discount store.

Front Door Christmas Decorations

Learn how to make this beautiful swag for your front entryway!

Christmas Centerpiece Idea

This is my Christmas table centerpiece. I added some decorative Christmas ornaments and real cranberries to this urn. A large ornament sits in the middle topped off with a pretty bow. The entire centerpiece sits on an oval mirror for added beauty.

A large glass candle lantern is flanked by two silver reindeer. I placed a large candle in the lantern, and then put small gold ornaments all around the candle.

I added artificial pine pieces around the lantern to help “nestle” it in. Candles are one of the easiest ways to add elegance to your Christmas decorating ideas.

A Sweet Christmas Village

I love lighted Christmas houses. Mine sit on top of a table in my living room. My daughter arranges the scene every year. She places fake snow around the houses, and even on the rooftops of the little houses.

I love the evening hours when I can gaze at the little houses while sitting by the fire.

Just a Touch of Green

Adding a little greenery in areas around the house is one of my favorite elegant Christmas decorating ideas. It is easy and simple, but really brings the spirit of Christmas into every room.

My living room tree is stuffed with ribbon, and shiny ornaments. Instead of a bow at the top of the tree, I place ice twigs and branches.

A Pretty Wrapped Package – One of My Favorite Elegant Christmas Decorating Ideas

When wrapping my presents, I always try to add shiny ribbon and bows. The lights from the tree just sparkle off of the packages and look so beautiful.

If there is time, I will really get creative with my packages by hot gluing on a few Christmas sprigs and berries.

Christmas Artwork

I love finding unique Christmas artwork. I bought this handsome Santa at a garage sale for $2. I had him re-framed and think he is gorgeous. He is hung above my chimney with care.

This is a Santa I painted a few years ago. He is named the “six finger Santa”, because unbeknownst to me, I had painted an extra pinkie finger and didn’t realize it until my kids noticed! So, needless to say, I had some erasing and re-painting to do!

This is another painting I did, and it does not qualify for “elegant”, but it is loved anyway.

These old windows hang above my desk. I made two swags and hung them with 3M hooks.

I found these rustic Christmas ornaments at T.J. Maxx and thought they were so unique. Adding little gold sprigs made the marriage of rustic and elegance perfection.

My stairs are decorated simply, but beautifully. I use pine swags, then add a clear wide iridescent ribbon, and finally these grapevine glitter bells.

Christmas towels hung in the guest bathroom, are a fabulous way to decorate for the holidays.

There are several tabletop Christmas trees in my house. This one is in the master bedroom. Use different decorating styles for your trees if you have several. This one is a woodland theme with nature elements added like rolled twig ribbon, snowball garland, and a little white bird on top.

The biggest element of elegance you can add to your home is making everyone feel welcomed!

Easter Table Decorations

December 8, 2014 Jennifer Davenport

Great ideas to help you set a gorgeous table!

Below are some delightful Easter table decorations. Unique designs from table setting ideas, chair decorations, beautiful Easter centerpiece, fun and flirty napkin ring craft ideas, to charming place card ideas.

If you are looking for some ideas to make this holiday special, then I am so glad you stopped by!

Table Setting Ideas

Easter decorating ideas are always full of bright spring colors, and decorating your table should be no exception. If you have white plates, then add some colorful salad plates on top.

I love plate chargers. They add elegance to any table. I used bright green place-mats for this table setting, along with some artificial carrots I found at the craft store.

Shop local discount stores for dishes, you never know what you might find.

This is an Easter place setting idea I saw at the store Williams-Sonoma in the mall. It isn’t a discount store, but they have some neat ideas. I love these bunny plates.

Napkin Ring Ideas

How cute are these little bunny ears made of burlap? I found these and the bird napkin ring below from Pier 1. You don’t have to use cloth napkins with napkin rings, but if you are going to use paper napkins I would buy nice ones, like the one made by Vanity.

For just under $3 you can add some charming napkin rings. If you don’t want to use napkin rings, try some stunning napkin folding ideas.

I found some adorable bunny napkin rings at a sweet little antique shop. After a stop at Sonic for Diet strawberry limeade, I was headed in search for pretty napkins to compliment these charming bunnies.

Eight little bunnies, all in a row; decorated with sweet little bows.

Place Card Ideas – An Easter Table Decorations Must

Unique place cards are one of my favorite Easter table decorations. Write a simple initial on some hard boiled brown eggs using a paint pen. Then place the egg in an egg cup. This is a cheap table decorating idea that is adorable!

This is one of my favorite place cards holder ideas. I took a simple little peat pot, filled it with green moss, small painted eggs, and made a handmade place card glued on a stick.

You can find these little paper eggs at the craft store. I painted mine with the acrylic color called “Spa Blue” from the Americana acrylic paint line.

After you add a coat of this paint, rub some watered down “Burnt Umber” onto your eggs if you want them to look antique.

I found these little wood cut-outs at the craft store also. They come in a bag with all different sizes. When I saw these smaller pieces they reminded me of bunny ears. Perfect!

Paint the wood pieces white. Then using a damp paper towel, gently rub on some “Burnt Umber” acrylic paint onto the edges. Use a little watered down red paint for the middle of the ears. Dip a corner of your brush into the red paint and wipe off the excess paint onto a paper towel. Next, brush on a a very small amount of the red paint, then rub with a damp Q-Tip to blend the color.

Once dry, brush on Burnt Umber on the edges of the bunny ears like shown in the above photo. This little trick makes the ears stand out from the rest of the place card.

Next, hot glue your little ears onto the name plate, and then hot glue a small stick to the back. Place your eggs in the peat pot, and poke your place card into the spanish moss. Easy!

Chair Decorations

Here is another idea for Easter table decorations that include decorating your chairs for this holiday.

Are you wanting to go all out for your Easter brunch or dinner? Then make these easy chair decorations.

This little grapevine basket is perfect for decorating the back of a chair. I think this basket could be used for wedding chair decorations also. It is perfect for holding flowers.

To make this arrangement, simply add some green spanish moss, flowers, greenery, and painted Easter eggs.

Make your four loops for the bow. When you cut the ribbon to tie the middle of your bow, cut it extra long. That way you will have enough ribbon to attach this arrangement to your chair.

Moss Ribbon Chair Decoration

I designed this chair decoration around the idea of using moss ribbon.

This moss comes on a spool. Let me warn you, working with it was very messy! You do not want to wrap it around the entire chair back because it will make a mess and get on your guest clothing.

Start by making two loops and tying them off with a long piece of covered floral wire.

Take the excess of your wire and tie the moss onto your chair.

Purchase eggs that already have ribbon attached. Slip two eggs through a piece of the floral wire to attach. Try to make one egg hang higher than the other.

Bunch a few small flowers together with another piece of floral wire. Then attach the flowers to your moss bow.

To cover your flower wire, cut a small piece of moss and hot glue onto the wire. The only wire that should show is the one used to attach your moss bow to the chair.

I think this moss ribbon would be great for a wedding chair decoration. But, after you make your bow and before you add any flowers, I would spray the moss with heavy hairspray. This will keep the moss from shedding.

When trying to photograph your chair decoration, put the dog outside first. Emma thinks she has to be in every photo shoot!

Easter Centerpiece

If you are looking for cheap centerpiece ideas; an attractive floral container, moss, and three large painted eggs creates a lovely Shabby Chic look.

These large paper eggs were only a dollar! Again, I used the color “Spa Blue” and then rubbed some Burnt Umber over the eggs once dry.

This is a beautiful Easter centerpiece made with special paper cabbages. This arrangement can stay on your table all through spring.

I hope these Easter table decorations help you create a wonderful table for your family and friends. Remember to add some great dinner music. But, above all, don’t stress out over having company. Relax and enjoy. It took me a long time to learn that lesson. People are always happy just to be together.

Decorating Ideas For Christmas

December 8, 2014 Jennifer Davenport

I love finding new decorating ideas for Christmas! But, I am busy just like I know you are. So, if I am going to make some Christmas decorations, they need to be inexpensive, quick, and easy!

Here is a Christmas decoration you can make for under $20! If you are looking for some unique homemade Christmas gift ideas, this one is fabulous! I would be over the moon if someone gave this to me!

I love painted letters! I found these large letters at a craft store on sale for $3 each! For the rest of the project, you will need a roll of ribbon, floral wire, acrylic paint, and a few scraps of Christmas sprigs and greenery.

TIP: Never throw any extra snippets of holiday greenery or sprigs away! I keep a large Ziploc bag full of my remnants. You never know where you might use them!

The first thing you need to do is paint your large letters. One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint will be plenty.

I like the look of antiquing; it gives depth to painted items. I always use acrylic paint for antiquing projects. My favorite color is “burnt umber”. You don’t have to add a lot of antiquing paint to get a great effect.

The trick is to water down your antiquing gel a little, then apply with a brush. Wet an old washcloth and rub off the excess before it dries. Don’t worry about being perfect!

The letter “Y” above has been slightly antiqued, and the “O” is waiting in line.

Try keeping the edges of your letters a little darker. You want to give the impression of “old”, so a little goes a long way.

This is actually some burlap ribbon I had left over from my fall decorating. I really liked the black color, as well as the chevron pattern. Now it is time to make your bow. A bow with four loops will be just right.

For hanging my letters, I attached a sliver ring to the bow using floral wire. The wire is thin enough to poke through the burlap. After you have threaded it through your bow, wrap it around the ring several times very tightly.

You will need a staple gun, or small nails to attach your bow to the “J”. Use the tails from the middle knot to staple the bow to the letter.

I just cut small strips of the burlap to attach the rest of the letters together, but you could easily use craft rope.

Ticky Tack is my favorite little helper.“Make work your favorite. Okay? Work is your new favorite”. ELF

Sorry, got side-tracked. Use Ticky Tack to secure your letters wherever you hang them.

You can leave your project just like it is, or you can “accessorize” your bow with some different greenery.

Cut a few small pieces of greenery, some berries, and if you have some small pine cones, that would be perfect! I have a pine tree that drops these little tiny pine cones and I use them in everything! They are so beautiful.

Remember, a little goes a long way when decorating. In my opinion, creating elegant Christmas decorations is all about embracing simplicity. Decorating ideas for Christmas really don’t have to be expensive in order to be stunning.

The black in the ribbon really brings out the red in the letters. Adding the greenery made this bow sing “Christmas”.

So, give this homemade Christmas decoration as a gift, or keep it for yourself. Or, better yet, do both!

Christmas Wreath Decorating Ideas

December 8, 2014 Jennifer Davenport

Ready to Make a Fabulous Wreath?

Here are some Christmas wreath decorating ideas to help you make a beautiful wreath for the holidays. Whether you want to make a traditional wreath, or a fun and whimsical wreath, you have stopped by the right place!

The first Christmas wreath I want to show you how to make is a country/traditional wreath. For your supplies, you will need a twig wreath, Christmas greenery sprigs, red berries, Christmas floral stems, burlap ribbon, pine cones, and a hot glue gun.

This is a twig wreath. You will find it located in the same aisle as the grapevine wreaths.

Take your Christmas greenery sprigs, and cut off some small branches. Hot glue them around the middle of your twig wreath like shown.

I love this floral, but I did not use the red berries. What I liked about this floral stem was the frosted pine sprigs.

Trim the floral stems into smaller pieces and hot glue them under the darker greenery that you just added. It is okay if it sticks out longer than the twig wreath.

Next, hot glue some small pine cones in the center of your wreath.

Now you are ready to add the little red berries. Pull them apart, and glue them sparsely onto your wreath.

To finish off your wreath, make a burlap bow and tie it onto the top of your wreath. Make sure to cut your bow tails at an angle. Beautiful!

More Christmas Wreath Decorating Ideas

These colors may not be your tradition holiday colors, but they just make me smile! All of the ornaments are shatter-proof.

I found ribbon with all the right colors. I added pretty picks around the shatter proof ornaments. A glue gun is a girl’s best friend.

Whimsical Wreath Make Me Happy!

This is my fun little Sock Monkey wreath. I love lime green and red together!

To make this wreath, you will need a sock monkey, colored ornaments, matching ribbon, colorful sprigs, and a unfinished wood letter you can paint.

Make sure all of your wreath accessories go together. Keep the colors similar.

Attach your sock monkey with thin floral wire. Attach him in more than one spot on his little body to hold him secure to the wreath. I attached my little monkey at the neck, and waist. No animals were harmed during this procedure.

This ribbon is so fun! I love how it looks great on both sides! Make a simple loop bow for your wreath.

Using hot glue gun add your ornaments in sets of three.

For even more whimsy and character, I add a painted wood letter. I painted it red with acrylic paint. To make a perfect circle dip a pencil eraser or a small hot glue stick into the paint, then dab onto your letter.

Just a touch of elegance…

This wreath too absolutely NO TIME to make! Promise. Check out the video below and learn how I made this wreath in under 30 minutes.

Christmas Tree Decorating Ideas

December 8, 2014 Jennifer Davenport

Christmas tree decorating ideas always get me excited and ready for the holidays. Decorating for Christmas should be a fun and nostalgic memory every year. BUT, I’ve spent many a Christmas ready to throw my tree out the front door. I’ve had a real tree that wouldn’t fit in a tree stand. I’ve had a fake tree you could throw a softball through and never hit a branch. I’ve had lights that won’t work; ornaments missing hooks; crooked trees– I really could go on. I hope I’m not the only one that has had “Grinch” moments.

Now, I usually stick to the the same design for my tree every year. I may change to a different ribbon color, or use mesh ribbon , or I will add a few unique greenery picks. Changing just a few things helps me stay within my Christmas budget.

So, below are the steps to great Christmas tree decorating ideas; and hopefully it will be without a lot of stress.

Christmas Tree Decorating Step-By-Step

You can get so many Christmas tree decorating ideas from magazines, and t.v. shows, and the web. I keep a small folder full of pages that I have ripped out of magazines.

The key to a really beautiful Christmas tree is having a uniform look all the way around, and really filling the tree with plenty of trimmings and ornaments. It is easy to quickly get your tree looking like a mismatch mess. It is all about accessorizing with a finished and designed look in mind. Take a photo of a tree you see in a store that your really like, and duplicate that look at home.

Now, before I go on, if you have children or grandchildren, or special childhood ornaments with a lot of memories, sometimes a “designed” tree doesn’t fit with all of these different ornaments. You can have a smaller tree that has just your special ornaments and make it your “memory tree”. You can also hang them with ribbon from windows, or run a ribbon in front of a pretty mirror, thumb tack it to the wall, and hang your ornaments that way. It really is a pretty way to display them.

My mother has given us adorable children’s Hallmark ornaments for years, so we have many of them. I love them, and hang them on a ribbon in my bonus room. It fits the theme of that room, and you really can see them up close. I love it!

I do not have a pre-lit tree. I do not trust that they will last more than a few years. Every year after Christmas I will buy extra Christmas tree lights when they are on the clearance rack. That way, the next year if a strand isn’t working, I am not going to spend an hour looking for that one bulb that isn’t working. Blood pressure remains down, and all is well.

After you have all your working lights on your tree, the next layer is ribbon, garland or, grapevine. I love using grapevine. I buy a wreath and pull it apart. This does make a huge mess, but it really gives the tree fullness, and brings in natural elements. I reuse the grapevine every year, and store it in a new trash bag.

Next, I put ribbon around the tree in even rows. Stores are now carrying the really wide mesh ribbon. This ribbon is great to work with and adds a lot of color. Just remember after you have your rows evened out, go back and twist and tuck your ribbon, so it doesn’t look like you just threw it on the tree.

After that it is time for Christmas picks, or large flowers such as poinsettias, or hydrangeas. These are a hoot to shop for and so easy to use. I love the Christmas picks that have little glitter balls attached, or little presents. Just start putting them in your tree, and space them out evenly.

Next, you’re ready for your ornaments and then your tree topper. I use the Christmas picks with little glitter balls on the top of my tree. Then I make two large bows out of two different types of ribbon. I tie one ribbon on at a time, tying them back to back. Then the tree topper looks like one large ribbon. After that, I stick the glitter ball picks in the top, and I am DONE! Decorating your Christmas tree can be stress-free if you have a plan!

How do I decorate my tree with ribbon?

There is a difference in making your tree look like you either threw the ribbon on the tree, or got frustrated and stuffed it in the branches everywhere. Been there done that! I had a wonderful salesperson at Trees-n-Trends show me how to decorate my tree with ribbon. She was so helpful, I can’t thank her enough!

This is how my tree turned out thanks to her help! I have written a whole page with detail step-by-step photos on how to decorate your tree with ribbon. Once you get the hang of it, it really isn’t that hard at all!

I’ll have a blue Christmas

Christmas tree decorating ideas that are different from the traditional decorations can really add some fun and whimsy! I decorated this tree for a college student. Her room was already decorated in teal blue, so I thought it would be fun to carry those colors into her Christmas tree.

Cheap Christmas decorating idea!

I found these large glass balls at the craft store. They hang above her bed. Another cheap decorating idea that looks great!

After I am done with all of my holiday decorating ideas, I turn the lights off, sit quietly on the couch, and reflect. There is nothing like a beautiful Christmas tree to bring joy to everyone. I hope some of these Christmas tree decorating ideas help! Good luck, and enjoy your season! Please visit my other Christmas decorating ideas pages to help with all of your holiday decorating!