Christmas season this year has been so much fun! Jack is 3 now and finally understands it all, and Caroline loves anything sparkly, so she’s on board with all the festivities. We’re still living in a fairly small Hawaii apartment, so Christmas decorations aren’t as extravagant as they were when we lived in Kansas in 2016 (see those decorations here…gosh I miss that big old house!). At Christmastime I’m so torn because I love the traditional green, red and white color combination, but I’m also a sucker for a candy-colored Christmas…so we have a traditional section and a whimsical section of our home. (In the first photo Jack and Caroline are wearing matching PJs from Hanna Andersson. They’re so soft and I love them so much! I bought them big so they can wear them for a long time. Jack is wearing this pair, and Caroline is wearing this pair. They make PJs for parents too but I can’t imagine trying to sleep in pants or long sleeves here in Hawaii.)
We stuck with our artificial tall skinny flocked Christmas tree because we don’t really have room for anything bigger, and honestly I’ve come to really love it. We can’t fit as many ornaments on it as we’d like to, but it’s a great way to save space without really sacrificing much. I found it at Hobby Lobby back in 2016 and I know it’ll always be a mainstay in our home. I placed it in an old basket from Target and weighed it down with two 15 pound dumbbells to help keep it from tipping over if the kids mess with it. I put an old West Elm sequined blanket (similar) on top of the weights to hide everything. (The mug in the photo above is from Giddy Paperie and I’ve loved drinking my coffee out of it this season!)
Behind it are two ikea shelves I “hacked” by spray painting the brackets gold and wrapping them in marble contact paper. They look remarkably similar to these pricy CB2 shelves, don’t you think? I normally keep baskets with art supplies on them, but swapped them out for my pink letter board (only $19.95 and on Prime!), some bottle brush trees I bought at Target a while ago (these are similar), a couple ceramic white houses from Target (this house and this house are similar), a canister holding vintage ornaments I’ve collected, and my collection of white and wooden Christmas trees. I wove a strand of battery powered wire lights throughout the houses and into the jar of ornaments. This little spot may be one of my favorites!
Shop my Whimsical Decorations Here
We don’t have a mantel so I used our bookcase (from Nadeau Furniture) to hang our stockings on, just like I did last year. (See last year’s bookcase decorations here.) I store all my large ginger jars and blue and white pieces up on top of the book case year-round, so to make it a bit more festive I added a strand of white lights, a strand of pre-lit garland, a few sprigs of faux cranberries and called it a day. Jack and Caroline’s stockings are from LL Bean (I love their traditional needlepoint stockings), and mine and Tom’s were found at a Christmas market when we lived in Kansas and I had them monogrammed.
On the bookshelf I have a couple heirloom German Christmas wood carvings, a fun disco ball, a Nativity scene made for children (similar), a Christmas truck, and a photo from Jack’s first Christmas. Caroline is wearing the cutest plaid dress, riding her rocking elephant (that she’s obsessed with), and wearing a funny little flower and glitter reindeer antler headband I found at Target.
On the vintage Queen Anne mirror (similar) over our dining table I hung (with a suction cup hook) this preserved boxwood wreath. I wrapped the wreath with some wire lights and tied a simple gold bow on top.
Shop my Traditional Christmas Decorations Here
I hope you’ve enjoyed this little tour of our home all decorated for Christmas! If you enjoyed it please let me know! Your comments keep me going and I love hearing from you 🙂
Love it all! Your little girl is growing up gorgeous. Great use of color, everything looks frosty and beautiful. Boxwood is so festive. Sleeping in short sleeves sounds quite nice from all the way in Frozen South Dakota!
Thanks Kathleen! I love boxwood too, and I like that this wreath is preserved so I can use it year after year. And yes! I don't take sleeping in short sleeves for granted! I'm not sure what I'll do when I move back to a place with seasons 😉 Thanks so much for taking the time to read and comment.
Love it all! Your little girl is growing up gorgeous. Great use of color, everything looks frosty and beautiful. Boxwood is so festive. Sleeping in short sleeves sounds quite nice from all the way in Frozen South Dakota!
Thanks Kathleen! I love boxwood too, and I like that this wreath is preserved so I can use it year after year. And yes! I don't take sleeping in short sleeves for granted! I'm not sure what I'll do when I move back to a place with seasons 😉 Thanks so much for taking the time to read and comment.
You did such a great job! The house looks beautiful but I do believe your daughter wins the prize!
You're too kind, thank you! She definitely knows how to steal the show! Thanks so much for reading 🙂