Last year I decided to sell my flocked tree and get a natural-looking, simple Christmas tree. I just wanted to keep things minimal. I loved the simplicity so much I decided to stick with the same green, black, white, and wood theme this year. It feels really good when all your Christmas decor can fit into a few plastic bins. Don’t get me wrong, I have way more than a few plastic bins of Christmas decor. However, the decor I have used the past few years can all fit into a few bins. Maybe it’s time to get rid of the rest of the decor I am not using?
We have just been living in the nicest little spot our family let us use (more like takeover 🙂 ) until we find the right property to buy. It’s newly remodeled with new, flooring, paint, kitchen, cabinets, tile, and everything! I wish I had pics of the before to share. A real great blessing to have such an awesome spot to stay while figuring out our next move. For now, I will just share a few peeks of the simple Christmas decor I put up in the living room.
The following post contains affiliate links. Read my full disclosure here.
Guess what time is it? Christmas home tour with some of my favorite bloggers. I can’t believe it is already time for CHRISTMAS!!! Be sure get all the inspiration from their beautiful homes by clicking on the links at the bottom of this post. I love this time of year and all the different themes and colors each home puts out. I know you will enjoy this tour just as much as I have.
Last year I did a pink Christmas and it was just magical. I guess having a new baby girl had something to do with that. It was really fun but this year I was not feeling the pink. It’s funny because I have so many cute pink decorations but just did not feel like it fit this house. Don’t worry, all the pink didn’t go to waste. I let my oldest daughter have free reign to decorate her room with all the pink. I will have a fun mini-tour of her bedroom all decorated soon.
I really felt like an earthy, minimal, and traditional Christmas. With that said, I still didn’t quite commit to the classic red. I was able to bring in some green and loved it! I don’t even know who I am with all this color?? I am all about neutrals but the green was a fun change. It feels almost like a neutral color at Christmas time. I got some new stockings for the mantel after almost 8 years of the same ones. 🙂 It was definitely time. I also added this fun green garland across the mantel to hide the stocking hooks. I ended up just using clear command hooks. All the stocking hangers were bulky and pricey. I really liked the minimal look of the stockings floating off the mantel.
I am so proud of myself for just using what I had when it came to the tree. I went all white and simple. I had all these white ornaments and picks. I usually have a jam-packed tree with more layers of ribbon and ornaments. This year I just wanted simple and less. It still looks very full because this flocked tree is naturally thicker. Maybe next year I will splurge for a thinner and simple looking tree. I did find this tree collar basket and like it much better than a skirt.
The entry was also simple with a bowl full of clear ornaments and some greenery. I snagged the $5 houses at Target. The white and wood were just what this little spot needed. I also got the most amazing wood sign from Craft Me Up Decor. This sign is such a statement. I was beyond impressed with the quality. You can customize size, frame color, paint color, and choose from tons of designs. I really just love everything about it! Be sure to go check out Jaesie’s cute little shop.
The mudroom is the only spot I kept some pink. The pink pillows from fall stayed while I added a simple white tree. I opted to leave it undecorated and just enjoy the simplicity. The fun wreath and small tree on the bench were some of the only glitter pieces I used this year. I limited the sparkle mess to the mudroom. 🙂
I hope you enjoyed seeing what Christmas looks like around here. It was actually a really simple year. I feel like over half of my decorations are still in boxes in the garage. It really doesn’t take much to get in the spirit of things for Christmas. Be sure to go see more of the gorgeous home tours below.
The following post contains affliate links. Read my full disclosure here.
I just finished up my Christmas shopping. Less than a week to spare. I can not believe I cut it so close this year. I wanted to share a few of my last minute gift ideas with you. There are so many people to remember gifts for. The neighbors, the teachers, friends, family, and the list goes on. You can click on any of the pictures below to take you directly to the product. Most of the items are under $25. Happy shopping and Merry Christmas!
If you caught my segment on The Place yesterday, you may already know these tips for Christmas tree decorating. I am just going to recap those ideas. Decorating a Christmas tree can be overwhelming and daunting to think about. With so many holidays in a row, it can get exhausting trying to switch out all the decor. I wanted to share my five easy steps to decorating a Christmas tree.
Step 1- First, I always start to fluffing out the tree and branches. It is usually out of shape from being in a box or storage. I like to start from the bottom and work my way up all around the tree. I extend the branches out arrange them to fill as much space a possible.
Before the extra strands of lights, I added.
Designer Tip: If your tree is very sparse after fluffing, you can add in extra pieces of garland or greenery that match your tree in empty areas. This gives a false allusion of fullness to your tree and will make it seem like your tree came that way. You can also find a lot of really inexpensive Christmas tree options that look high-end at Wal-Mart.
Great option at Wal-Mart
Step 2- Next, I take any garland or ribbon the I want to drape around the tree. This is assuming you have a pre-lit tree. If not, you will want to wrap your lights before you do this step. I like things as easy as possible. So, I always choose a pre-lit tree. Also, if our tree is in a corner or area where only part of the tree is visible, only decorate the visible parts. The wall doesn’t care if the back side of your tree is decorated. 🙂 It will save time and ornaments. Even if the back of your tree faces a window, you can go “light” on the decor for that window side. People driving by will not be able to tell that you didn’t put as much decor on that side. They probably will not be able to see much of anything except a pretty tree all lit up.
Designer Tip: Wrap a few extra strands of lights around your pre-lit tree. The extra lights on the tree make it glow more and seem more vibrant.
After the extra strands of lights.
Step 3- Now, I take my fillers and spread them through the tree. I use decorated sprigs, flowers, and twigs. I sometimes bend the end or just stick it straight into the tree. Super easy and it can fill the empty spaces on a sparse tree making it look fuller.
Designer Tip: Cut pieces of ribbon layered together and pinch the center into emptier spots with the long ends draping down. It will look like the end of a bow coming out of that spot without making an actual bow.
Step 4- Then I start putting on my Christmas ornaments. I like to start with my largest ones first. I spread them out to my liking. Then I fill in with my medium and small ornaments. The tree should start looking pretty good by this point.
Designer Tip: Add a new color to your tree for a whole new look. Choose a color of ornaments that coordinate with what you already have. You don’t have to buy everything new by just adding a new accent color that matches your old decor. A whole new look for just a new pop of a few different colored ornaments.
Step 5- The final touch is adding a topper and tree skirt. The topper can be a bow, star, decorative sprigs, angel wings, or anything you want. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box when it comes to this. The same goes for your tree skirt. If you can’t find a traditional tree skirt you like, use a blanket, scarf, tablecloth, or fabric. Anything can be draped around the base to give it the finished look. You can even use a large basket or galvanized bucket for your base.
Designer Tip- Leave up a tree for Valentines and just take down the Christmas ornaments. Add some valentines garland and decor to the tree instead. An easy decoration that can transition to a new holiday. You could even put up your tree earlier and add Halloween or Fall decor before you put on the Christmas decorations.
That is all! Five easy steps and you are done. Now got get started on that tree and have fun. Keep it simple and enjoy!
Welcome to my Christmas tour! I am excited to take part in this home tour with nine other bloggers. If you are following the tour you just came from Belle Amour Blog. Stephanie has such a wonderful tour and I am so glad to have you come over to mine. I know you will find so much inspiration for Christmas along this tour. Be sure to follow the links at the bottom of this post to see all the tours.
It is time for Christmas! I can not believe how fast this year has gone by. I guess that is what happens when you have a baby. Everything is going by so fast and I just want it to slow down so I can soak in every moment. I know that one day I will wake up and my kids will be grown. I want to try to enjoy every moment I have with them. I really love the holiday season that comes at the end of the year. So many good holidays right in a row. The perfect time to be together as a family.
This year I had such a hard time figuring out what color scheme I wanted to go with for Christmas. Last year I kept it completely neutral with champagne, white, and silver. That is pretty much my jam, leaving things neutral. I love the simple clean look of having things neutral. However, I wanted to mix it up this year. All the red and green had me really considering doing classic. It is so easy to find decor in red and green as well. I was soooo close to doing red and green but I then decided to do black and white. So, off to the store, I went to find some black to add into all the white Christmas decor I already had.
You would not believe how hard it is to find black Christmas decor. I found tons of inspiration on Pinterest and had the perfect look in my head. I was extremely disappointed when I went to THREE different stores to find black Christmas ornaments. I found ONE small box of black ornaments that were not what I had in mind at all. They were not cute and didn’t fit the style I wanted. Who knew that black would be so hard? As I was standing in my fourth store roaming the isles, a new light bulb turned on in my brain. I went down an aisle with light pink decorations. I instantly thought about how well it would blend with the champagne and white Christmas decor I already had. I would just have to add some small touches of pink. It would be a lot less expensive than a whole new color scheme. Best of all, I really liked the soft subtle color of pink that would transition into Valentines as well.
That is right friends, I am going to be able to get two holidays out of this color. I grabbed some pink ornaments and decor to get home and start. This year, I also chose not to put up decorations in every single room. I want to start simplifying things. I only decorated the rooms we use the most on the main floor. The kitchen got a few sprinkles of pink Christmas as well as our dining table, living room, entry, and front room.
I chose to put the Christmas tree in our front room, right off the entry. It is centered on our front porch window. I wanted to do a different topper this year. I grabbed some angel wings out of the Halloween Costume section last year. I brought them out of the basement and tied some pink bows onto the wings. I was pleasantly surprised how much I liked it when I got it on top of the tree. I mostly used all my white and champagne ornaments and decorations for the tree. I then took my new pink ornaments and sprinkled them into the tree. I found a cute pink faux mohair blanket at Home Goods. I thought this was perfect for the tree skirt.
The piano got a few decoration in this room as well. Using the same decor you already have can feel new each year if you just switch it up. Put it in new places and arrangments around your house. I had these items in completely different places last year. Grouping them together here makes it feel totally different and new. The entry table got another cute pink blanket from Home Goods. I was able to snag this one for only $10 on clearance because of an ink pen mark. I took alcohol and was able to blot the ink out of the blanket. A total bargain to add a pop of pink to the entry.
I really love this pink and silver Christmas ornament garland I found at Michaels Stores. It was the perfect touch to add pink to the mantel. I also found these pink pillow covers at IKEA last year for Valentines. I simply layered the pink pillows behind my white sweater pillows from IKEA to give a subtle touch. The dining table got a few pink trees I found at At Home. I added these pink houses from At Home to the kitchen counter. That is about all the kitchen got. Again, this year I wanted to keep things simple. Less decor means more time and less clean up.
I hope you have enjoyed this look into my pink Christmas. I am loving the feminine touch of this color popped around our house. I am also loving that I will be able to keep some of the pink decor up for Valentines as well. Be sure to visit Farmhouse on Boone for the next stop on the tour as well as the other blogger’s home tours below. Merry Christmas!
Christmas is in less than two weeks. I am still working on getting a few final gifts. However, I got most of my shopping done before Black Friday. I thought I would put together a list of last-minute gift ideas that include a few of my go-to gifts.
You can never go wrong with a pedicure or massage for the ladies in your life. Some people think it is impersonal and not very thoughtful. Are you kidding me? I would take pedicure or massage any day and twice on Sunday. Come on! Trust me, it is the perfect relaxing gift for the ladies in your life. In fact, my toes look scary right now. Santa- I need a pedicure!
My next last-minute gift is movie tickets. Who doesn’t love the movies? Every time Mr. Whitelane and I go, it seems to get more expensive. It is always nice to have a gift card or tickets to use. It makes a great date night for couples. If you want to go the extra mile, wrap the tickets up with a refillable mug from the theater and some candy.
Have you heard of the Dollar Shave Club? It is seriously so cool. You can get your first set of razors for just $1. That includes 4 cartridges and a handle that ships all free. After that first month, it is only a few bucks a month. You can cancel or pause your service at any time. This is not just for men. Ladies shave too. You can pick which blade you like best along with any grooming products as well. It is all delivered to your front door each month.
I have talked about Hello Fresh beforeand have used their services many times. I think it is so convenient and I love not having to think about meal planning. You pick how many people are in your family along with vegan or meat options. Hello Fresh then sends you meals for as many days as you chose that week. No measuring or shopping. Everything delivered cold in pre- measured packages to your front door. All you do is follow the included recipe with the ingredients provided. We have really liked every meal. Some meals are stuff we would never have tried and ended up loving. The best part is that we have the recipe to make it again anytime we want. Dinner delivered to your front door with fresh ingredients? Sounds like a great gift to me!
Finally, I think Amazon Echo makes a great gift for anyone in your life. Echo connects to the Alexa Voice Service to provide a wide variety of hands-free operations. This device can play music, read news, tell you the weather, sports scores, read audio books and much more. It can even be programmed to adjust lights in your house as well as thermostats. Turn any house into a smart house. I really want one for myself! Santa, if you are reading this…
Hopefully, this gives you some ideas for those last minute gifts on your list. Now hurry and get to shopping before Santa comes!
Hi there, I’m Kate. Welcome to White Lane Decor. Thanks for stopping by. I love neutral, bright, and airy spaces. I’m always looking for new ways to turn our house into a home. Have a look around and find inspiration for your next project.
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Some of my blog posts, ads, and banners contain "affiliate links." This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate compensation. However, I only recommend products or services I use personally and truly feel you will enjoy too! I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” White Lane Decor is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
