2015 Holiday Home Tour

Friends, it has been so much fun decorating our new home for Christmas! I’m so excited about how everything turned out that I wish I could just have each of you over to visit. We’d drink coffee and sit by the tree, and then craft all the things! But, since that’s not very realistic, I thought I could at least give you a little virtual home tour of the Artsy House. So, welcome…I’m glad you’re here!

house

Let’s start in my favorite room of the house and take a look at the mantel. Because, guys, I FINALLY have a mantel! After feeling like the only blogger in the world without one for years now, you can imagine my excitement when we bought a house with a gorgeous fireplace. Ever since we moved in this past spring, I’ve been envisioning what this would look like all decked out with our stockings, greenery, and lights!

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I started with a pre-lit garland, then tucked some silver ornaments into the part on the top of the mantel. The focal point is a gold glittered “NOEL” {which happens to also be my middle name} that my mom bought for me last year. On the left, I arranged three candles of varying heights, and on the right I have a white lantern filled with glittery silver accent balls, both from Michaels. I also added two pretty silver candle holders next to it.

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Below the mantel is the Advent Crate I created this year for the Sawdust and Snow challenge with Crates and Pallet. And of course, there are our stockings. Can you guess which one is mine? Stocking hangers are SO expensive, so I grabbed some really cheap metal ones from Walmart and gave them a coat of Krylon Cherry Bomb gloss spray paint to make them look fabulous!

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The central decoration on our coffee table is a pretty rustic Advent Box we made a few years ago. It’s actually built {not by me} from pallet wood, but you could also just buy a half crate and do something similar. There’s a small mason jar with a battery operated candle for each of the four weeks of Advent, and a larger central jar to light on Christmas Eve/Day. I have fake greenery in there to fill it up, along with multicolored ornaments. The red cloth is just a pretty cloth napkin…I love using those to add a pop of color to tables and bookshelves.

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One end table features my fun Marquee “L” monogram {because who’s not obsessed with marquee letters…come on!} and my fun little Sheet Music Star Bowl. Erin and I did the star bowls a few years back; you should see how differently hers turned out!

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The other end table, which happens to be a Goodwill find I re-painted, was the perfect spot for my Rejoice Tray. I made this last year using all products from Staples…it’s a letter tray, a pencil holder, and some stickers, believe it or not! It’s also the perfect place for our coasters to live.

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Next to the mantel is a bookshelf I decorated by swapping out some of the usual things with Christmas candles and my sparkly Metallic Glitter Monogram. On top, I used a white and silver cloth napkin with a few candles and a brand new project, my Shine Tray!

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I used some of my favorite things to make it, including Metallic Lustre wax, hand lettering, Elmer’s paint markers, and GLITTER! You can find the full how-to on the Walnut Hollow blog.

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You might remember the North Pole Arrow Sign I created earlier this year; that’s sitting on a table in the entryway, along with some snowmen I painted about 14 years ago {ack!} and my Willow Tree Nativity.

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Above that is my ornament wreath, which is still one of my absolute favorite decorations.

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The chalkboard sign I made is hanging on a wall in the dining room…although not in this photo…

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…and you saw how I’m decking out my table this year in another post! Keep an eye out for a post very soon about how I created the centerpiece.

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That leaves us with just one more thing to talk about…my very favorite thing…the Christmas tree! I’m incredibly excited that we finally have a house where we can put the tree in a front window! In our old house, the kitchen was the front room, so that obviously didn’t work. Now, though, I had to decorate the back of the tree just as well as the other three sides.

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Although it looks very real, our tree is actually a 7.5′ pre-lit artificial tree we bought three years ago and absolutely love. I’ve had a lot of questions from “real life” friends about how I decorate it, so I’m going to tell you my secrets. It’s actually filled with hundreds of personal and handmade ornaments…some from hubby’s and my childhoods, some from our early years of marriage, and many from and for Little Crafter. The key to making it look so cohesive is choosing a color theme and using enough of that to pull everything together. I, obviously, chose red. I start with a red glitter ribbon {found it at Walmart for $4 a roll and use 3 rolls}. I actually put that on first, before any ornaments. Then we put on the personal ornaments, spreading them all around the tree. Finally, I add an assortment of sparkly red {along with some pink and some burgundy} ornaments and balls. These usually hang on the outer parts of the branches, while the handmade and personal ones are further toward the inside of the tree.

tree

You’ll notice Fuzzy photo-bombing both of those tree pics…she likes to keep an eye on it, but fortunately, she’s too old and lazy to try and climb it.

Well, there you have it! The 2015 Artsy House Christmas Tour! What do you think? Do you have a favorite part? I’d love to see pics of your decor; feel free to share them on the Facebook page so I can “visit” you too.

 

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3 Comments

  1. I love it! Your own handiwork makes it so special, & I adore your mix of colorful and more toned-down/monochromatic(?) accents! Thanks for the inspiration!

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