small snippets of holiday decor

Everyone is SO busy this time of year!  

And for some the idea of decorating their home for the holidays can really put people over the edge, myself included!

This year I am opting to focus on a few small areas that are making me happy.  I am not talking about the entire room folks I mean one small area within the room. 

A wise woman once said....

"Just because you have 

7 bins worth of holiday 

decorations 

doesn't mean you 

have to use them all."

Take some pressure off yourself and follow along!

1.  Front Entry Hall

In my basement of goodies (that's another blog post in and of itself) I re-discovered an old Restoration Hardware butlers table from oh about 20 years ago...no really.  I think it was when the store first was open.  The bench previously living there had been moved for extra seating at Thanksgiving and still now put back...(see, we are all BUSY!)

So up went the table and on it went a couple things.  

I love using my old books to lift things up and add some interest to a design story.  The overall store improves so much when there are a variety of heights...design secret!  The burlap wrapped tree got lifted and I draped a JOY glitter sign over it.  

As you can see my entry hall is fairly vanilla (no wallpaper and a mellow wall color) so these muted tones of green, gold and parchment work for me.  The 2 glitter houses spice things up a bit and since there is no outlet on this wall I saved my lit up house for the mail table across from it.

2.  Dining Room Table

When I opened my store a year a half ago I added pads of paper placemats and I haven't looked back since!  I love the way they make the table look "done" with no effort.  And I have a drawer full of them....Turkeys, Blue Ikat patterns, Sisal patterns, Antlers...the list goes on and on!

Because we don't have an eat-in kitchen 

we use this table A LOT! 

The placemats are not only fun but with 2 boys in the house, practical as well.  

3.  Kitchen Bulletin Board

When we moved to this home 8 years ago we had to gut the kitchen and so I asked the guys to build me a custom bulletin board on this skinny piece of wall.  It's where most things important go...invitations, address', passwords (why do we need so many??!!), receipts, etc.

I discovered that if I add a layer of fun paper as a sort of runner it takes things up a notch and helps to keep it look a bit tidier.  I found a paper table runner at Marshall's and I love that it was the perfect width because that meant no cutting and instant satisfaction.  I assume I am not the only one who LOVES a project that is quick and offers instant satisfaction??!!

I have seen the cutest wrapping papers out there and I know they would work equally as well.  Just have a scissor handy as you will have to do some cutting.

The red makes my kitchen feel festive and I love it next to my preserved boxwood wreath.  People come into my store asking about and buying the preserved boxwood wreaths and I encourage them to keep them up year round.  

I like to rotate the add-ons based on the season.  Mostly I use small metal or wood signs nestled into the opening or tied on with a string.

I found this gold glitter banner at JoAnn's a while ago and I had no idea what or where it would go at the time but I love it layered onto the board and placed just above the family picture from our annual vacation in Cape Cod.  (I make a picture calendar for my parents filled with pictures from the family vacation, it makes the perfect Christmas present for grandparents who want nothing.)