EVERYDAY ITEMS AS CHRISTMAS DECOR

For those of you who just finished putting away your large collection of Christmas decorations. - this post might be helpful (for next year anyway).  I think it's safe to say - Christmas decorations can take up a lot of a home’s storage space, and I’m always amazed at the small mountain of boxes and bins we have allocated for this purpose.  After moving into our new home I took the time to go through our Christmas stuff and get rid of the extra items we were no longer using and donated them.  Having fewer boxes of Christmas items to store made me happy, and I really didn’t want to acquire any more.  This inspired me to find ways to incorporate everyday accessories into our Christmas décor’ as opposed to replacing them with something holiday specific, especially the larger items.  After all, the last thing we need is more stuff!  Here are a few things I came up with…

(1)  Cover large bowls with fabric.  This particular bowl is the everyday centerpiece for our dining room table.  It’s very large and I didn’t want to buy something equally large just for the holidays.  I bought a piece (about a yard) of silver satin-like fabric (I think it cost about $6) and simply placed the bowl in the center of it and wrapped up the sides of the bowl.  The raw edges are covered up by the items in the bowl (I used the same copper balls that regularly sit in this bowl.  Some silver floral sprigs were added for a little more interest.  (Christmas Storage: the fabric and floral springs store away to almost nothing!)

BEFORE >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>AFTER

 

 

 

 

 

(2) Cover platters with fabric.  This flat woven platter is another everyday centerpiece for our dinette table.  Again, it’s kind of big and I didn’t want to buy something else just for the holidays.  I used burlap to make a custom cover for it (which goes with the rest of our burlap Christmas décor).  The pinecones are re-used that regularly sit in this on top of the stones, and a few ornaments were added (leftover from my Christmas branch project and the décor for a light fixture).  (Christmas Storage:  the burlap cover and a few ornaments.)

BEFORE >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>AFTER

 

(3) Add holiday floral sprigs to existing arrangements.  The silver sprigs are added for the holidays and removed for everyday use.   (Christmas Storage: just the silver floral sprigs.)

(4) Add a little holiday flair to large accessories.  This was just as simple as wrapping silver ribbon and bells around these rustic wooden bottles.  Once again – large pieces that I didn’t want to replace with items of the same scale on the mantle.  (Christmas Storage: silver ribbon and bells.)

 
(5)  Fill bowls with festive elements.  The copper bowl usually has stones in it on our media table.  I replace them with the silver ornaments for the holidays.  Another wooden bowl is regularly filled with ceramic spheres, but is filled with garland for the holidays. (Christmas Storage: ornaments and garland.) 

BEFORE >>>>>>>>>>>>>AFTER

 

BEFORE >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> AFTER

(6) Red and Green Toss Pillows – I have an array of toss pillows I switch out throughout the year for our sofa.  The red and green are not holiday specific fabric, but seem like Christmas décor when I bring them out together for the holidays.

(7)  White, Silver & Glass serving pieces – All our serving pieces I have collected over the years are either silver or white or glass.  I have a avoided purchasing holiday specific items (regardless how adorable they may look in the store).  For example – my large white platter that matches our everyday dinnerware works for any occasion (rather than having a wreath shaped platter for Christmas, an American Flag for July 4th, an egg shaped platter for Easter. . . you get the idea).   One platter works for every holiday, just like all my other serving pieces (hors de vors plates, bowls, serving dishes )…

See...no reindeer, bunnies, shamrocks, or turkeys...just serving pieces I can use for any occasion.

 

Confession - Just before finishing this post I purchased 24 giant pinecones to use as Christmas décor next year.  How could I pass them up - they were over 90% off?!?!?!  Any ideas on where to store a large box of pinecones? . . . (sigh)

 

For more of my Christmas posts see the CHRISTMAS page...