Tag: festive season decorating

Maybe you have an extra set of ornaments you’ve been keeping in storage. Maybe you don’t have space for a full tree—looking at you, city-dwellers—but still want to give your home a spirited update for the season. Or maybe you’re simply looking for some fresh holiday inspiration. Whatever the reason, this roundup of our favorite off-the-wall (or rather, off-the-tree) ornament ideas is sure to get your creativity flowing. Happy decorating!

SET UP SPARKLING PLACE CARDS

Low effort and high impact, this simple place-card upgrade is sure to delight your holiday dinner guests. First choose one ornament per guest: Go with a matched set for a classic look, or pick individual designs you know each person will love. Write each guest’s name on a tag, tie it to the ornament with a sprig of greenery, and you’ve got a sweet yet simple way to elevate your seasonal table. A bonus: The place cards can double as festive favors.

HIGHLIGHT A COLLECTION

Have a set of vintage ornaments too delicate to hang? Place them in a shallow bowl or footed vessel instead, where you can admire their shimmering details up close. This zero-effort display makes a stunning centerpiece (just keep the container on the low side to avoid blocking sight lines) or a gorgeous accent for an unexpected spot—such as the kitchen counter or a hallway table.

CREATE A WHIMSICAL DISPLAY

Any open vessel can be turned into a festive holiday display—it just takes a little creative thinking. Look around the house for worthy candidates: Here, a vintage birdcage gets a touch of holiday cheer with a tumble of brilliant golden ornaments. You can achieve a similar effect by filling a clear glass cloche, a tall hurricane, or a wire basket.

ADD A LITTLE EXTRA BRILLIANCE

A touch of greenery makes any spot in the home feel more festive—especially when festooned with ornaments. To give your dining room an easy seasonal update, wrap your chandelier with a garland of greenery and berries, then trim it with a set of mini ornaments. We love how the ornaments’ golden tones complement the chandelier’s brass details, giving the arrangement a spirited yet sophisticated glow.

MAKE PRESENTS POP

Because presentation is half of the fun of gift-giving, why not finish your presents with a sparkling ornament topper? This is a perfect way to make use of lone ornaments or mismatched pieces (and a great excuse to invest in a new set for your tree!), plus the recipient gets a little extra something special.

FASHION A STATEMENT PIECE

This impressive ornament display is a true showstopper—and it’s easier to achieve than it looks. Gather a grouping of ornaments in a tight color scheme, such as the blues and smoky grays here, along with ribbons to match. Then suspend them from a hanging light fixture, making sure to vary the lengths of the ribbons so that the ornaments form cloudlike clusters. (You’ll want to do this over a table or in a space with high ceilings, so guests don’t bump into your handiwork.) Now just wait for the oohs and aahs to roll in.

Whether your home is traditional, contemporary, or eclectic, these Christmas decorating ideas will inspire a simply perfect holiday style.

BEACHFRONT BEAUTY

Let your furniture play a supporting role in your Christmas decor. Adding small wreaths (these are made from princess-pine greenery) to a cabinet with breakfront doors makes the whole piece — and all of its contents — shine during the holidays.

RIBBON GARLAND

Instead of greenery, embellish your stair rail with ribbons and wreaths this year. Attach small winterberry wreaths to the railing with wire. Then drape the railing with lengths of ribbon, threading them through the wreath wires to create a swag.

SIMPLY STUNNING

Let this simple vignette shine by grouping silver tea service pieces and topping them with crystal garland and a snowflake ornament. They’ll look extra special when arranged on a white cake platter and topped with a cloche.

QUICK THINKING

Need a last-minute table decoration? Snip greenery from your tree and bind the ends together with raffia bows, then place inside clear glasses filled with an inch of water.

GRAND ENTRANCE

Impress your guests with ribbon cascading from a chandelier. Gather lengths of ribbon and tie in a bow around the base of your light fixture. Spread the ribbons out (a la maypole) and tuck into place settings between a dinner plate and salad plate. Once the meal gets started, release the ribbons from the plates and either let them float to the center of the table or tie them in a loose knot to keep them out of the way.

On the whole, South Africans tend to show restraint when decorating their homes for the holidays.

It’s difficult to go ‘full on’ with winter-themed décor when the sun is shining and it’s hot. But we do like to put on a bit of a display to celebrate the festive season, especially when there are young ones involved.

If you struggle to dress your home for the holidays, try the following tips…

EVERYTHING IN MODERATION

Most people love anything that twinkles and shines, and tend to go a bit overboard during the holidays. However, you want to take care not to overload your home with bling. You can create a wonderful festive atmosphere with just a few tasteful accessories.

Smaller festive decorations can be used to create a wonderful vignette on a coffee table, shelf or fireplace mantel. These will add just enough festive flair to your home.

CREATE A FESTIVE DISPLAY

It’s easy to pile on the decorations in a smaller home, so much so that it becomes difficult to move around. Create a beautiful holiday display in one area of the home. Make sure that it doesn’t interfere with everyday living though. An entrance hall or staircase is a great place to hang and display assorted decorations. This is an ideal arrangement because the decorations will greet guests as they walk into your home.

To decorate a festive display, all you need are a few garlands of evergreen interspersed with shimmering baubles, a colourful wreath and a small, decorated tree.

LET THE TREE BE THE MAIN FEATURE

If you put up a Christmas tree every year, whether real or artificial, let this be the main feature when decorating your home for the holidays. When dressed with beautiful ornaments and shimmering tinsel, the Christmas tree will be a focal point and set a festive atmosphere for the entire house.

Choose tree ornaments that tie in with the style of decorating in your home. With so many beautiful tree ornaments to choose from, it’s so easy to overload the tree, so decide on a theme and colour, and keep it simple.

ADD SOME SPARKLE

Fairy lights are a staple for decorating a holiday home. LED lights mean that you don’t have to worry about starting a fire as they don’t heat up as much as incandescent globes and can be used indoors and outdoors. When buying lights for the outdoors, make sure they are rated for exterior use.

Many LED fairly lights are battery operated. Being low-voltage and being able to run for a long time on a battery means you can hang these anywhere.

Create your own magical display using fresh, green garlands, strings of tinsel and baubles.

There’s something naturally rustic about the holiday season. Whatever the reason, this style gets a lot of attention, and we’re giving it some more.

FOCUS ON WHITE

There are quite a few colors that are associated with the holidays. Red, green, gold, and white are some of the most common. When it comes to creating the perfect rustic seasonal home, you want to keep your focus on the white. With subtle touches of the other colors as accents and décor, use white as backgrounds, upholstery, rugs, and more to create the feeling of being in a snow-covered forest.

RECLAIM YOUR FURNISHINGS

Add coziness and warmth to the room with lots and lots of reclaimed wood. Not only do furnishings made with these materials usually come in a more muted, wintery color palette, but they’ll also add texture and that beautiful unfinished quality to the space that is so important when it comes to rustic designs.

BE INSPIRED BY NATURE

When picking out holiday accents and décor, let yourself be inspired by nature. Reindeer immediately conjure up a Christmasy feeling, so use antlers as ornaments, hooks, and more to bring both the rustic and festive spirit into your home. Introduce succulents on wreaths, pinecones as bookends and candleholders, forest green upholstery on armchairs.

KEEP THINGS SIMPLE

Whatever you do, don’t over decorate. This rustic look is all about simplicity–going back to the basics. Choose your furniture and décor carefully so that each piece is doing as much work as possible. This will allow you to keep your home feeling open, clean, and humble while still enjoying the hints of festive features.

FEATURE YOUR TREE

The item that should be doing the most work in your rustic holiday home is your Christmas tree. This should be the center of attention. You must have a real tree in this style setting, though you can choose whether or not its branches are full or spare.