Seasons > Christmas > Decorations for the home > Living Room and Dining Room
This tree is decorated in gold and off-white, with a musical theme. Brass and wooden musical instruments are interspersed with gold balls and bells, off-white bows, and brass buckets filled with candy. Christmas carols, reduced and photocopied on parchment paper, are rolled and decorated with gold leaves. The tree is topped with a crocheted angel. The tree skirt is a tablecloth swirled at the base of the tree, but any cloth will do--my mother-in-law uses a sheet. You can achieve the same look if you choose gold and off white ornaments.
This Cross is ceramic, but you could make one like it from a light modeling material such as Hearty. The heart represents God's love and how it was exhibited through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross for our salvation. The vine represents John 15 where Jesus says, “I am the vine and you are the branches.”
The items displayed here represents the gifts given to the baby Jesus by the wise men. The box and canister contain real frankincense and myrrh. Unfortunately, there is no real gold--just gold colored objects. The menorah and wooden star-of-David puzzle represent Jesus' place in the line of David.
The figures in this Nativity set were purchased at an American Christian book store. But the "barn" is actually a lap table put on it's side, with the legs forming the side walls. Extra boards form the floor and fill in the walls. The trees are, of course, dollar store Christmas trees. The figures by themselves seemed small and lost in this space, and disappeared against the white wall. By adding the barn and trees, it made the group appear larger, and filled the space nicely, and gave a darker background to make the figures stand out more.
Link to Amazon site that sells Willowtree figurines:
http://www.amazon.com/Willow-Tree-26005-Nativity-Set/dp/B00164M9XA
Candles and greenery add a touch of Christmas spirit just about anywhere. The height and width can be varied to fit the space, and the colors can co-ordinate with the room decor, or your whim for the year. This is a large arrangement, so it is a whole Christmas tree (dollar store, of course) with it's base removed, laid on it's side. Then brass candle sticks are scrunched between the branches. These are brass, but any kind of candle holders will work, as long as they are different heights. Christmas balls are laid on top of the branches--these, too, can be any color, but it is best if they coordinate with the other colors in the room. The angels echo the Nativity set in the same room.
This wreath and basket of musical instruments repeat the musical theme and green/gold color scheme for this room. Baskets make a great decoration for any theme--just pile high with wrapped presents or toys or pine cones. Smaller baskets can hold candy or wrapped cookies to give to guests on their way home.
This room already has 2 wreaths, so I needed something different to hang on the wall. The swag combined with a wooden German ornament filled the space nicely. You can achieve a similar look by hanging something else from the swag, such as a pine cone wreath, or giant snowflake. If you see a swag at a dollar store, but don't like the decorations, go ahead and buy it, take off the ugly decorations, and add decorations that you like with florist's wire. If it is not as full as you would like, buy two of them and twist them together for a fuller look.
The table-top arrangement continues the green and gold theme from the rest of the room. The gold candles add height to the center of the arrangement. The gold ball is resting on a candle stand with the candle removed, and embellished with branches from a miniature tree. Only the camels and brass candle stands were not purchased at a dollar store.
This wreath's colors co-ordinate with the colors of the decorations in the rest of the room. It's mirror image flanks the other side of sliding glass doors. The greenery and poinsettia are simply poked into the holes of the vine wreath--no glue or wires necessary. The ribbon is fastened on with florist’s wire (sold in packs at Walmart and craft stores.) Using wire makes it easy to change the decorations from year to year. The greenery is actually branches cut from a dollar store tree (about half of a tree was used because the wreath is so large), and the poinsettia was purchased at a dollar store, as well. The ribbon was not, but many dollar stores do sell ribbons before Christmas--but they sell out quickly, so keep checking.
The two ornaments on the right depicting Jesus birth and the visit by the wise men, were also purchased from the 100 yen store. They are given extra height by hanging them from stands. Their dark color and delicate design mean that they would disappear on a Christmas tree. Displayed this way, they are clearly visible.
Hint: If your tree looks a little scrawny, fill in gaps with branches cut from a dollar store Christmas tree, or swag. For a 6 foot tree (2 meter tree) to look full, you need 10 each of 5-7 different kinds of ornaments, or 10 each of 10 different kinds of ornaments for a 7 foot tree. view tips for decorating a Christmas tree
Seasons > Christmas > Decorations for the home > Living Room and Dining Room
This is the candle stand that the gold ball is resting on above