Even though we haven’t hit Thanksgiving yet, this year as soon as November arrived, I couldn’t help but start to think about Christmas. More specifically about Christmas decor to deck my halls – because this year I am ready to make some changes. The past few years I have been in a bit of a holiday decorating rut. I realized my cache of holiday decorations is a potpourri of mismatched items acquired over the years and in various ways that lacked any cohesion. Do I really have to hang every ornament everyone ever gifted me on my tree, even if I find them *ahem* less than palatable? Must the large-royal-blue-unnamed-decoration find a home yet again this year on my sideboard, just because it was expensive and passed on by family? I respectfully say no. It’s time for a Christmas decor do-over.
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Maybe it was my recent birthday, but whatever the reason, I feel like I am at an age where I can say “enough!” and reclaim Christmas in my own home. This year, I want to start fresh and be intentional about what I display. Taking a page from Marie Kondo’s revolutionary cleaning book, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, I have decided to take each item out of storage, gaze at it, hold it in my hands and see if it brings me joy. If it doesn’t, I will thank it for its years of service and pack the offending piece back up to live another year (or two, or twenty) under the eaves.
With that as my mindset, I’ve set out looking for new decorations and here is my first purchase from Joanna Gaines’ new collection at Hearth & Hand with Magnolia at Target (that’s a mouthful!) – her artificial lamb ear and white berry wreath:
I think this captures the vibe I am looking for: simple, neutral, calming. Yes, this wreath brings me joy. So, I have begun a journey to find other pieces that speak to me. And as I embark on my Christmas decor re-do, I wanted to share some of my finds with you:
When I lived in Germany, I was struck by the use of natural materials for holiday decorations. Ornaments were made from wood, straw and fabric. There was nary any plastic to be found. I have a good friend with Swedish ancestry who achieves the same look with traditional ornaments from that country. Same idea. Lots of red paired with neutral tones and natural materials.
This is what I am after and I’ll be sharing more of my redo as part of a Christmas House Tour the first week of December, so stay tuned!
