Room by Room... Ho Ho Ho

By Leslie Pleasants

I love decorating for Christmas.  I look forward to it for so long.  My husband on the other hand dreads "that" day... the day that he has to bring down the 22 bins from our garage attic.  Poor thing.  :)  I just tell him "look at that great work out you just got!".

Every year I try to decorate just a little bit different.  Plus with all the new decorations I bought on clearance after Christmas from the previous year I have even more to explore with.   After opening all my bins this year I realized that I have a lot of the same themed items..  enough to put in each room.  So that is when I thought of a great way to decorate and to call each room by a different name!  Call me crazy I know... but if you don't have enough of a certain item or are tight on budget to buy Christmas decorations I highly suggest places like the Dollar Tree.  I just love that store and to lots they would never know that a lot of my decorations are from there.  It's amazing how you can get creative with some of their things.  A great website that has some super cute ideas using Dollar Store product is Dollar Store Crafts.  You must check them out!  :)

So going with my themed rooms this year I thought I could help you out with some different themes.  Sometimes it just takes someone else's idea for you to get that kick start that you need.  Or maybe you have those items and just didn't realize what you could do with them all.

THEMES:

BY COLOR;  red/green,  red/gold, red/silvers, etc...  Having one room with all of the same colors can sure make a room pretty.  Once you pick the colors it is amazing how going to the stores your eyes will draw right to those colors.

SNOWMAN;  Whats more cuter then snowman everywhere!  Kids love snowman and you can even leave snowman up after Christmas (depending on what they look like).   Use fake snow(the sprinkles or fabric) around the room for added decor.  Take white styrofoam balls to use as snow balls.  They even have tablecloths, placemats and fabric that you can purchase.  Now you have a Snowman room!

NUTCRACKERS;  What I love about nutcrackers is they come in all different sizes, kinds and colors but they all seem to come together.  I have been collecting them for many years now.  Even the Dollar Tree carries them.  :)  The big ones can get spendy but not if you get them on clearance after Christmas or wait till they have a really good sale.  All you really need is a good 2 footer to highlight the room then smaller ones all around the room.  Get rid of all your other decor and replace with nutcrackers.  What about a small tree with just nutcracker ornaments.  Fun!  :)

SNOWFLAKES;  Snowflakes can be one of the easiest to do besides doing a colored room.  You can make your own or I purchases TONS from the Dollar Tree.  They have all different kids.  I got big foam ones that I used suction cups and hung them from the windows.   So many decorations that you can purchase have snowflakes on them too.  I even have a table runner that I made from fabric and no sew tape that has snow flakes on it.  Everywhere has snowflake ornaments too.  You don't need to hang them on your tree... you can hang them from your lights, down your stairway, off your mantel, or even just lay them on your table(cut off the string).

SANTAS;  I have quite a few santa decorations but what really stands out is the santa hat decorations that I have.  I bought some santa seat back covers from the Dollar Tree.  You can even make your own throw pillow taking just a red frilly pillow and putting a thick black ribbon around it and making a belt.  How about a santa hat for the tree topper.  Turning the room into a red, white with a hint of black and now you have a Santa room!

CANDY CANES;  The given...  candy canes!  Fill different size vases with mini candy canes or starlight mints.  Decorate the room in red and white.  Use red and white ribbon around railings to look like candy canes.  They even have fake candy cane looking poinsettias at some of the craft stores (Joanns and Michaels).  Make topiaries with styrofoam cones and hot glueing mini candy canes on them.

I know I could be an ad for the Dollar Tree but its amazing what you can find there.  But there also many other stores over the years where I have found a lot of my cherished pieces.  Just putting them together just the right way can create a new look like its just out of a magazine.  :)