Merry Christmas! Come on inside where it’s warm and take a quick tour of how we decorated for Christmas this year.
As promised, here’s a quick photo tour of our home dressed for the holidays. This was the first year we really committed to decorating—previous years we’d been in transition and didn’t put much out. It felt wonderful to settle in and “deck the halls.”
My sister-in-law has inspired me to be craftier lately, so I made matching wreaths for the front door. I caught a 50% sale at Michael’s and spent about $20 on supplies for each wreath—much cheaper than the store-bought options I looked at. Simple materials and a little time made a big impact.
I sprayed the wooden “G” with gold glitter spray paint from The Home Depot to add some sparkle. Now let’s step inside and see the rest of the decorations.
The first thing you notice inside is our DIY Christmas card tree. This idea came from my sister-in-law and was one of the easiest projects to make. Ben measured and cut the wood while I painted the stems, feet, and clips. We glued the clips on and nailed the pieces together. The star on top was an inexpensive find at Michael’s that I painted with the same gold glitter spray and a touch of bright yellow acrylic. Since we already had most of the lumber, the whole card tree cost under $10 for the remaining materials.
Our Christmas tree is real and came from The Home Depot. It’s the tallest tree we’ve ever had and I love how full it looks. I topped it with a big burlap bow and wrapped wide ribbon around the tree—those accents cost about $20 during another sale. I plan to keep these decorations for future seasons.
We use Pottery Barn stockings that we’ve had for a few years; I ordered an extra one this season for Simon. The stocking holders are sturdy cast iron from Target—more than I planned to spend, but they hold filled stockings well. The garland was another Michael’s find at 60% off.
We don’t do the Elf on the Shelf, but these little elf figures are part of our holiday display. They’re actually our wedding cake toppers, custom-made to look like us, and they sit on a shelf year-round. Each Christmas I pop tiny Santa and elf hats on them—an easy hack: cut the tips off adult-sized hats from Dollar Tree and they fit perfectly.
After searching for the right look, I finally found holiday pillows I truly love—mostly from Target. The “Merry Christmas” pillow in the title photo was about $12. Others were pricier but worked out well with sales, a REDcard discount, and a coupon. I’ll keep the neutral pillows out for winter and store the more seasonal ones after the holidays.
I’ve also been using Judah’s artwork to decorate. Alongside school projects, we made this simple Santa craft at home—paper plate, cotton balls, red tissue paper, pink paint, and sticker eyes. It’s hanging proudly on display.
I’m excited about the Advent calendar I made this year. I stapled a canvas drop cloth to a large insulation board and attached numbered burlap bags that came with clips and twine. The total spent was just the drop cloth and the bags. My plan is to add scripture passages from Luke and read the Christmas story each night in December with the kids in future years.
I love the word “Merry” above the door. I found the piece for free and refreshed it with the same gold glitter spray paint used on the wreaths and card tree—it ties the entryway together nicely.
I’ve always wanted a mailbox decorated with a big bow for Christmas. I wrapped the mailbox in a soft-pine garland recommended by a sales associate and secured it with craft wire. The bow was a sale find—I’d love to learn to make bows like that myself to save money in the future. The mailbox project ran about $25 total.
We still have space to fill on our bookshelves and walls, as you can see behind the tree, but I’m delighted with how cozy and inviting the house feels with the Christmas decorations in place.
That’s our holiday tour for this year. Next season I hope to add a nativity set—something I’ll collect gradually to spread the cost over time.
Does anyone else want to keep their Christmas decorations up all year?