A New Spin on Christmas

I love decorating for any season or holiday but inevitably, decking the halls for Christmas is a bit different when there are two 13 month-old children in the house. I began thinking about these must-do changes a few months ago when my best friend and I took a trip to the Country Living Fair in Atlanta and saw dozens of vendor booths with amazing holiday ideas. Oh, that gorgeous Christmas pillow with hand-sewn ribbons and jewels? Yeah, that would be destroyed in five minutes in my house. Those glass ornaments? Shattered. That one-of-a-kind ribbon? Torn right off the tree. I began to regain hope when I stopped at a vendor who sold mostly vintage paper products and suddenly the ideas began to flow. What if I could substitute paper for glass this year? Between that and the conviction that decorating could be done on the cheap and with existing items and outdoor flora and fauna, I have to say I am pretty pleased with how it all turned out. (My wallet is happy too).


Our mantle all decorated for Christmas. I lieu of typical greenery, I chose a neutral color scheme.


Right next to some old skates I picked up at the thrift store a few years ago, I added some season
appropriate vintage flash cards.



This one helped mommy decorate the Christmas tree last week. Since we went to all paper, I let her choose ten of her favorite Christmas ornaments to adorn her own small tree in her bedroom.



Found old-fashioned word and trivia cards at The Fair. In case you're interested, rococo means fancy style of ornamentation with curves and shell work. Who knew?

Couldn't pass these up!



I've been putting magazines in this old tool box for the past few years, but decided that it would look nice as my table centerpiece this Christmas.



Had to have this ornament, circa 1985, out somewhere in the house. Actually a real flip book, I used to look at this for hours as a kid.



Didn't want to pack away all the "Baby's First Christmas" ornaments either, so I rounded them all up into a vase.


Gained some further holiday inspiration with two friends, Stephanie and Serrine, on a Historic Inns Tour a few days ago and had fun too!


Came home from the tour and made this. My dying mums were replaced with greenery found in my own backyard. Pine, boxwood, holly, and magnolia leaves (okay, I had to ask the neighbors for those) are all arranged right in the dirt. Serrine promises they'll stay fresh for weeks!


What new ideas are you incorporating in your holiday decorating this year?