Christmas Decorating Inspiration That Will Spark Your Imagination

A Christmas Decorating Plan Takes Shape

Toying with the idea of what colors to highlight for this year’s Christmas decorating in the family room, the ribbon wreath I made earlier came to my mind. Using it over the mantel is my intention. My original intention was to use “Twas The Night Before Christmas” as my theme.

However, placing the wreath on the wall above the mantel, it seems that using the Santa collection is a great idea. The extra Santas can spill over onto the tables on either side of the fireplace.

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Santa Christmas Mantel Display

After centering the wreath over the mantel, place the Santas on the mantel. This collection includes large and very small Santas. The larger Santas sit on the outside and the other Santas create a visual curve from one end to the other. Place smaller Santas in front of the larger ones across the front. You can see that I have some tiny Santas but they do add interest to the collection.

Spilling Over Onto The Tables

There is not enough room for the whole collection of Santas to be displayed on the mantel. Extra Santas are displayed on either side of the fireplace on the half-round tables. ◄Click here for how to create your own half-round tables to flank your fireplace.

You can see the jingle bell wreaths I made a few years ago, on the mirrors on either side of the fireplace. find directions for these here►Jingle Bell Wreaths.

Christmas Decorating

Colors

The red of the Santa suits, the white of the beards, the contrasting green on some of the Santas, and the touch of gold on the wreath seemed a perfect group of colors to repeat throughout the room. Repeating the colors visually helps tie all the decorations together.

Santas

Over the years, we have collected a lot of Santa ornaments, too. In addition to repeating the colors, the Santa theme is repeated on the tree, too.

Two White Lanterns

Adding white reminded me that we have two white lanterns perfect for setting on the fireplace. To add some color to them, remote-controlled candles are set inside and handfuls of small red ornaments surround them. These lanterns have a small tin for a tea light. The candle is set on top of it. The tiny ornaments cover up the base and the tea light tin.

You can see in the picture of the fireplace above that these lanterns still needed something. I picked up two picks from Joann’s. (They have all their Christmas things heavily marked down right now!) Bending the stems slightly and slipping them through the rings at the top, the stems are secure. I had thought to add a bow but decided it was too much.

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Then, I changed my mind and added a red velvet ribbon on top of each of the lanterns. Yeah, I like it.

Inspiration For Decorating The Christmas Tree

As I was assembling the Christmas tree and adding the lights, a vision of red and white poinsettias in a swirl around the tree began to take shape. I have to admit, the thought of the red and white together, in contrast, made me a little excited! Why hadn’t I thought of this before?

After some searching in the multitude of Christmas bins downstairs, I finally find the white poinsettias. Those were hiding in opaque bins. The sparkly red poinsettias are stored in clear containers and much easier to find. I am gradually trying to replace all those opaque ones with clear ones!

Creating A Topper

Using three of the red poinsettias and a feathery red sparkly plume, I created a topper. To make your own, just gather the stems, facing the flower heads outward on three sides with the plume in the middle. When you have the desired look, wire the stems together securely.

Using floral wire, attach the wired stems to a 24-inch long 1/4-inch dowel, which has been painted green with craft paint. Then, place the green dowel along the trunk of the tree, extending above the top branches. Wire the dowel to the trunk, securing it to the trunk of the tree. The dowel will give the group of flowers the support it needs to keep it upright instead of flopping sideways.

Next, you can add a white poinsettia at the base of the topper, effectively covering the wired flower stems and the dowel.

Creating The Spiral

After adding the topper, use the red poinsettias to create a spiral. Then, add the white poinsettias around the red ones. Note that this year I added a couple of the red poinsettias toward the base of the tree to add some extra weight to the spiral.

Add Ribbon And Large Ornaments

Next, you will want to add ribbons or garland along with your largest ornaments. The ribbons or garland should follow the angle of the poinsettia swirl.

This year, on the tree in the family room, I limited the ornaments to the four colors, gold, red, white, and green. The remainder of the ornaments will be displayed on the tree on the catwalk and another twig tree displayed on the foyer table. Wait until you see this one!

I love this tree! What a difference there is in the look of the tree during the day, and then, at night! You can see I’ve started wrapping the presents using the Japanese wrapping techniques! You can find posts with instructions for several of those here.► Japanese wrapping.

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