How Can I Decorate My House for Christmas?

Of course, the wide variety of Christmas decorations available in stores may be overwhelming. That’s where a theme comes in handy.

It can help you select decorations that go well with each other and suit your home interior.

Customarily, Americans decorate their homes with candles, wreaths, and garlands. But even these basic decorations come in various designs and can become a notable part of your Christmas interior.

If you’re looking for more creative Christmas decoration ideas, you may consider DIY wooden or paper elements.

Crafting them is fun entertainment for kids and grown-ups, and seeing plain materials turn into beautiful ornaments is truly fulfilling.

Not all original Christmas decorations are DIY, though.

If you don’t enjoy carving, cutting, and gluing, you may liven up your home with plants, holiday-printed textile, signs with merry quotes, or get a toy train that will travel around your living room.

Have a Theme in Mind

A theme can serve as a starting point to your Christmas decoration efforts. It’s of great help for those of us who struggle to choose decorations they like the most and tend to come out of the store with half of its assortment.

“Christmas” is not a theme, though. What I mean by “theme” is decorations tied with a common idea, colors, and style.

A Christmas theme can be a snowy wonderland, glistening gold, or rustic – most importantly, it should fit your interior and express your personality.

Some of the most exciting Christmas theme trends of the last years are retro nostalgia, nature sustainability, and geometrical minimalism.

The traditional Christmas colors are red, green, gold, white, and blue, and most Christmas themes follow this color code. But you can get creative and go for a pink or black Christmas theme instead if it makes you happy.

Wooden DIY Decorations

DIY wooden Christmas decorations fit the rustic theme perfectly, adding coziness to dark winter months. Furthermore, decoration crafting is a fun activity for the entire family that can become a tradition.

DIY wooden decorations include signs with holiday quotes, tabletop Christmas trees, Christmas tree ornaments, animal figures, candleholders, and even large outdoor décor.

Add some Christmas lights or a pop of color, and wooden decorations will look even more festive than those covered in glitter.

The Yule Log is a traditional Christmas decoration that’s easy to craft and has special significance. Initially, Yule Logs were entire tree trunks that were slowly burned throughout the Twelve Days of Christmas.

But today, they are commonly replaced with smaller logs used as candleholders. Add some spruce, holly, or ivy, and the log will look like straight out of an interior design magazine.

If you aren’t particularly crafty but adore the look of wooden decorations, visit Christmas markets or online platforms selling DIY items.

Wood is an extremely popular material, so you will easily find something to brighten up your celebrations.

Capture a Quote

If you have a chalkboard or a wooden sign, capture a jolly quote on it. It’s a cheap and easy way to decorate your home for Christmas that will elevate your mood every time you read it.

You can use popular quotes from Christmas songs, poems, or movies, such as: “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.”, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.”, “Let it snow.”, or “All I want for Christmas is you.”

Alternatively, if you prefer to capture a lesser-known quote, you may consider my top picks told by famous authors: “Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind.” by Calvin Coolidge, “The only blind person at Christmas time is he who has not Christmas in his heart.” by Helen Keller, or “At Christmas, all roads lead home.” by Marjorie Holmes.

And, if you have a darker sense of humor, you may opt for an expression by Ernest Hemingway: “If my Valentine you won’t be, I’ll hang myself on your Christmas tree.” However, this quote may be more suitable for Valentine’s Day.

Paper DIY Decorations

DIY wooden decorations require some skill and may be too challenging for smaller kids. Paper DIY Christmas decorations are a great alternative, and if done with attention to detail, they can be not less beautiful.

Of course, it’s best to use colored or textured, thicker paper rather than your regular printer paper.

Thankfully, today, you can easily find paper with a soft sheen or proper glitter, Christmas prints, or any other design in stores.

Paper stars are a traditional Swedish Christmas decoration. They are usually six or seven-pointed, feature intricate cut-outs, and are hung in windows.

You can even place a small LED light inside the paper construction to brighten up winter evenings.

Believe it or not, paper can also be used for garlands and wreaths. Craft them from paper leaves from different shades of green and add some red berries or bows.

Paper lanterns with winter scene cut-outs are also rather popular, but make sure not to use real candles! Lastly, you can learn origami techniques to make Christmas tree ornaments or tabletop decorations.

Add Christmas Plants

Not all Christmas decorations require you to be creative. Instead, you may liven up your house with Christmas plants, and I don’t mean the Christmas tree.

Poinsettia or Christmas cactus can add the necessary pop of color, mistletoe hanging in your doorway will add a bit of romance, and a balsam fir wreath will create a truly wonderful atmosphere with its strong fragrance.

Merry Textile

Textile with Christmas prints is another simple way of instantly bringing the holiday spirit to your home.

No need to craft anything – head to the closest interior store, and you’ll likely find numerous tablecloths, cushion covers, table runners, and duvet sets with reindeers, snowflakes, or Santas.

The core advantage of using Christmas-themed textile is that it’s suitable for any living space. Often, people only decorate their living room, neglecting the kitchen, bedroom, or bathroom.

But with Christmas-themed tea towels, bath robes, or bedspread, your entire house will emit holiday vibes. Of course, it’s best when different textile pieces have a matching pattern or at least colors.

Fir Garlands

Fir garlands are a beautiful traditional addition to any doorway or fireplace.

They can be made from real or artificial plants, have a plain design, or be paired with bright baubles, poinsettia flowers, holly berries, bows, pinecones, or other elements. Often, garlands have lights on them.

Evergreen plant garlands, along with wreaths, have been around since pagan times. They used to symbolize everlasting life and fertility.

Even after Christianity has taken over paganism, the meaning of evergreen plants, such as ivy or fit, didn’t change.

Genuine fir garlands look more natural (this isn’t surprising, isn’t it?) and have a pleasant, strong smell that creates a magical atmosphere.

The best choice for such a garland is balsam fir, and the worst is white spruce. Despite its beautiful color, its needles emit a bad smell when crushed.

On the other hand, artificial garlands come in an array of colors and can suit the most creative Christmas theme. They can also be out for as long as you wish without changing their look and can be reused.

Lights

Christmas is the season of lights – there is never too much of them. Candles, Christmas lights, LED signs and figures, and lanterns are versatile decorations that can be used both indoors and outdoors, bringing the Christmas spirit to everyone around.

Christmas lanterns are usually made from metal and feature some sort of holiday-inspired decoration, such as a holly branch on the top. However, you can craft one yourself from paper or wood and use an LED light instead of a candle.

The variety of Christmas candleholders available on the market is astounding. You can go for creative candle holders shaped as Christmas characters or choose a traditional candle bridge or Advent wreath candle holder instead.

Christmas lights come in different designs, too. For instance, for retro-themed Christmas, choose vintage C-style lights in warm white color.

And if all your home follows a blue color scheme, opt for ice blue or white Christmas lights rather than multicolored ones.

Stockings

Every Christmas Eve, American kids hang stockings over the fireplace or on the door, waiting to receive a gift from Santa.

However, stockings are not simply a traditional item but also a design element, so they should fit the overall decoration style.

Some of the most creative Christmas stocking ideas are personalized stockings and stockings with witty jokes or holiday quotes.

You can also make stockings yourself – it’s really simple, you only need to sew two pieces of cloth together. Use pompoms, embroidery, embellishment, or appliques for decoration.

Christmas Train

Trains were long associated with Christmas, as people used to travel long distances to see their families for holidays, mainly using trains back when planes and cars didn’t exist. Today, many amusement parks offer holiday train ride attractions.

Today, traveling by plane or car is much easier, but trains still have a special romantic atmosphere. You can bring the excitement home with a train figurine or toy train driving around your Christmas tree.

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