Christmas can be the most joyous time of year. Or it can be a fireball of anxiety and chaos. This year, I choose joy. So if you’re also craving a Christmas that’s just a little more laidback and fun-focused, you’ve come to the right place! Here’s how I let loose and let my family enjoy the holiday without all the micromanagement of years gone by.

There was a time in my life when I had two Christmas trees; a fancy tree the guests were allowed to see and a family tree. The fancy tree would always be front and center in my home for hosting our annual HOA’s Holiday Party.

That tree was pretty fancy and I was fancy right alongside it. (see more of the fancy tree here: Traditional Holiday Decor On A Budget)

Then we sold that house and downsized into a historic California Bungalow. With only 1200 square feet of living space and a lot less storage space than our suburban home, I decided to cut our Christmas tree allocation in half. Downsizing Christmas to one tree for the whole family meant that I had to completely re-think the way I approached decorating our Christmas tree.

If I was going to make sense of the collection of mismatched, vintage, and handmade ornaments from my wife’s youth plus allow additions that my daughter makes every year, I had to lean into it. The result?

A COLORFUL, FUN, + NOSTALGIC CHRISTMAS TREE

The first year we leaned into the family Christmas tree was 2019 and we haven’t looked back since. Here are the elements I use to make our family tree feel intentional and not haphazard:

Since Christine’s family celebrated each year with hand-crafting Christmas ornaments, we decided to carry on that tradition with our own daughter. Every year, we add a new ornament to our tree that she has made or painted herself. The collection, which we plan to pass along to her when she moves on from our home, started with her six month old handprint salt dough ornament and shows off a bit of her evolving personality every year:

They’re not perfect. She’s pretty young. But part of the joy in accepting the nostalgia of Christmas is letting go of perfection and just allowing memories to happen (more on that later but don’t worry I’m a neurotic and too much laissez faire can be detrimental to my brain).

As our family evolves, so do our hobbies and interests. We’ve begun marking each of our own personalities and tastes with fun new additions to the tree. We call this The Personality Collection. One of us picks or receives a new ornament every year to mark a milestone event, a thing we really love, or just something funny we saw in a store. Last year, our daughter was hellbent on getting a rocket ornament so we had our local gift shop order one for her (shout-out to the ladies at GiftHorse for never laughing at me when I ask for something wild).

This year, I added a super special and sentimental ornament to the tree. It’s the first time I’ve added anything that felt like it came from my childhood and not my wife’s or my daughter’s childhoods, despite being brand new.

If you follow me on Instagram, you probably know about the long-standing joke that, because I grew up on 90s public television, Tom Silva is my dad and Martha Stewart is my mom. It’s funny because my personality is a lot like a combination of those two and also what eight-year-old gets up early on Saturday to watch This Old House?! This one. Me. I did that.

Last year, I entered a giveaway on Instagram to win a set of hand-turned and painted ornaments made by Tom Silva and his lovely real-life daughter, Kate. I won a set and now I get to stare at these beauties every Christmas:

Simple creamy white globe ornaments (plastic!) fill any holes and provide additional contrast against the dark greenery of our tree. These are probably ten years old so at this point, they basically are vintage!

AN ARTIFICIAL TREE THAT LOOKS REAL

For years, I believe that I had to buy a real tree to get that perfectly vintage look. I was wrong. I admit it.

A few years ago, we bought the older version of this tree and letmetellyou. It’s showing a bit of wear and does need some fluffing after being stored every year but even so, I will hold onto this tree for as long as I can because IT COMES PRE-LIT and it has plastic-tipped branches that look so real.

It comes in three pieces that click and lock together to automatically connect power. I don’t have to find the end of the strand of lights to connect to the next one. The second all three pieces are in place, it’s ready to light up via the little foot peddle on the floor or the handy remote that controls all the different color and twinkle pattern settings.

You also read that correctly. The lights are LED so they’re energy efficient and they don’t get really hot like traditional Christmas tree lights. Just look at all the color options!

POM POM YARN GARLAND

I purchased two skeins of this pom pom yarn from a local craft store almost a decade ago. It’s since been discontinued but I did find a wired version that’s still available. You can purchase that here.

Even if you can’t find the exact yarn I use, you can still employ the method with a chunky yarn or a traditional acrylic sweater yarn that’s been knotted to look like pompoms. Either way, you can save a ton of money by using non-garland garland on your tree AND you can tie bows on your gifts with your leftover yardage (yarnage?)!

Because the yarn is really thin, you want to drape it around the tree for a bigger impact. This way, it’s taking up more visual space than it otherwise would if you just spun it in a circular pattern around the tree.

The next step is to add a tree skirt to cover that ugly fake tree base. Eventually, it will be disguised with wrapped presents but until I get around to procuring and wrapping said gifts, I use another cheap hack:

Every year, we spend about $15 on a new ornament for the family and another $5 on a kit for our daughter to make her own. This method has saved me time and a ton of money that I don’t spend on changing my Christmas theme each year.

My tree isn’t the most visually stunning Christmas tree you’re going to see today and I don’t want you to think that I’m implying my method is the best method. Christmas, to me, is about joy. Our family’s colorful, fun, and nostalgic Christmas tree brings me so much joy. I hope it’s brought you a little joy and some inspiration as well.

Here are links to the items I’ve talked about in this blog post and some fun ornaments to get your collection started:

You
can see all of the creative Christmas trees my fellow bloggers and
friends have created by clicking the links below:

 

 

 

Monday

 

 

Casa Watkins
Living // Up To Date
Interiors // Mocha Girl Place // Kate Decorates // House of
Hipsters // Monica Wants It

 

 

Tuesday

 

 

The Happy Housie // SKG Designs // Delineate
Your Dwelling // Cuckoo 4 Design // Room Bloom
Design // My Sweet
Savannah

 

 

Wednesday

 

 

Iris Nacole // PMQ For Two // Stacies Spaces // Rebecca Propes // Liz Morrow
Studios

 

 

Thursday

 

 

Au Petite Salon // Taryn
Whiteaker Designs // The Honeycomb
Home // Daly Digs // T Moore Home // Love Your Abode

 

 

Friday

 

 

Haneens Haven // Our Fifth House // Seeking Lavender Lane // Two Twenty One // Amber Oliver // Zig and Company

From here, head over to Yuni’s post at Love Your Abode and tell her I
said “hello!” She’s a doll. If you don’t know her, allow me
to introduce you to one of your new favorite people.

The post A Colorful, Fun, and Nostalgic Christmas: My Home Style Christmas Tree Edition appeared first on Fortune House Shop.

I’m not one to make a wishlist for people to buy from. I think it’s kind of tacky and, if I’m being honest, I think a person should only buy a gift if they know the recipient well enough to pick something special for them.

But as our gift-giving lists have expanded to colleagues and neighbors, I realize that choosing the perfect gift for someone we may not know intimately is one of the biggest stressors of the holiday season. So I’m here to help.

Here’s my curated list of items that even a snob with too many conflicting personality traits (like me!) will love;

The following post contains affiliate links. As an Affiliate Marketing Associate I earn commissions from qualifying purchases. This helps me keep the free content coming.

Thanks for your support! xoxo

GIFTS FOR THE DECORATOR

I am beyond obsessed with BluDot. Their modern powder-coated furniture and home accessories straddle the line between simple and artistic so, so well. My wife actually bought me a pair of these candle holders last Christmas and I was impressed, you guys.

The company is based in Minneapolis and is known for their compelling design work.

I happen to really love them because I have insider information that their work environment – for office, retail, and manufacturing line positions – is bar none. They treat their employees well and that really means something to me.

While some might consider diamonds and designer bags to be luxury, I’m a simple gal. My definition of luxury is: anything that makes me feel nice. The best home decorating luxuries are soft textiles that cuddle my skin.

This chunky knit throw is a bargain at $20 but it looks and feels like luxury to me. For a more impressive gift, pair it with a nice candle or a mug for tea. But even if you add nothing, this throw blanket is enough to impress on its own.

Don’t buy anyone a pet. Never do it. It’s not cool. They don’t want a new responsibility for Hanukkah or Christmas. If you have the urge to gift someone a pet, give them this instead.

These adorable balloon dog sculptures come in an array of colors to match any home decor and they’re just, like, really fun. Who can remain in a bad mood when looking at these guys? No one. Not even The Grinch. Not even I.

I love coffee table books as gifts. They’re expensive (for a book!) so we tend to not buy them for ourselves, making them the perfect gift to give.

This hardcover coffee table style book is full of inspiration and calming photos for your recipient to enjoy over and over again. There’s just something about flipping through a real book of photographs that Pinterest and Kindle can’t compete with. It’s a luxury in itself. Plus it’s heavy as shit so the recipient will mentally clock it as noice.

I’ve linked to my local bookseller (who offers shipping!) above but here are some slightly less expensive but still nice coffee table books that you can get from Amazon;

As always, I appreciate when you shop through my links but I also would really encourage you to shop locally whenever possible. A dollar spent in your local economy is worth so much more than a dollar spent with a global corporation. That said, you do what you need to do. If bargain gifting is what your budget allows, I’m not judging you.

I have a sentimental set of wine glasses from my wife’s aunt. But if I didn’t, I’d have these in every color available. I love them so much.

They’re lightweight but look substantial on display. The muted colorways add a little fun to every bar. If you have a wine and design lover in your life, this is the gift.

Plus they’re from DWR which is known, almost exclusively, for being expensive so that box is going to feel special for the recipient.

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GIFTS FOR THE NEUROTIC OVER-ACHIEVER

I have two digital google calendars, a day planner, and a wall-mounted monthly calendar. What do I want? MORE CALENDARS.

I really want this full-year overview calendar from Schoolhouse. It’s not meant to track daily life. It’s meant to provide your year at a glance and I truly believe it could help us all feel more positive by looking forward to the upcoming months’ fun ahead of time.

When the year is over, your recipient can flip the calendar and frame the gorgeous blueprint artwork on the backside. This is the gift that truly keeps on giving. Buy me one. kthx.

Wherever I find collections of items, I am compelled to contain them. Whether by the front door for mail or on my desktop for incoming task items, I have stashes of little gathered paper items everywhere.

But I’m not a paper hoarder and here’s why: The stacks of responsibilities don’t mimic the chaos in my brain because I use attractive storage systems like these little powder coated trinket trays from HAY Designs.

Y’all my back hurts. Because I’m a dummy who sits at a computer all day long, contorting her body to zoom in on the tiny little design details that go into every moment of my job. Where does my laptop sit? Wherever I am at the moment and directly on whatever horizontal surface I can find.

Friends don’t let friends need daily chiropractic adjustments. Get the dummy in your life this laptop stand. It’s really cool looking and it folds up to travel in your dummy’s laptop case. Let’s end the epidemic of Dummy Posture this holiday season.

My love of corralling items doesn’t stop at horizontal surfaces. Wall hooks are literally one of my favorite human inventions. If you think this wall hook obsession means my entryway is cluttered with hanging coats, you are incorrect. I will install hooks in literally every room. Entry for coats? Of course. Bathroom for towels? Check. Bedroom for robes? Duh. Kid’s room for artwork or other miscellaneous BS? Most important.

This wall-mounted rack is a knock-off of a popular Eames design. It’s smaller which makes it easier to fit into your decor. It’s roughly one-third of the cost, too.

Every scatter-brained neurotic knows that keeping up with time is the most important part of any day. I’m just realizing it’s currently 1:00 am because 30 minutes ago, I told my wife I was coming to bed and 30 minutes ago was 9:45. I need clocks. Your pals need clocks.

This clock can be wall-mounted or can sit on a desk or bedside table. It also has a handy thermometer which, in my opinion, makes it the perfect clock for your bathroom morning routine. Timeless yet also stylish, it feels like a more expensive Schoolhouse piece but it’s actually from Target (the collection which shall not be named don’t judge me). It’s freaking cute, you guys. Perfect for your work spouse so they never forget lunch dates again.

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GIFTS FOR THE ACTUAL FANCY PERSON

I used to think wine enthusiasts were the most obnoxious snobs on the planet and then the IPA got popular and let us off the hook! Beer drinkers love talking about beer but don’t you dare try to buy them a case of beer. You will not find the one they like. You will think you found the coolest beer and you will be wrong. You are not cool.

Get them a really neat bottle opener instead. Like this tasseled bottle opener from Whitney J Decor.

Whitney is one of my colleagues; a fellow Interior Designer from New Orleans, and good friend. She’s a bursting ray of sunshine every morning. I really mean that. For months after finding out I’d been struggling with depression, she texted me every morning to remind me that I was bringing good to the world and how much I was loved. I adore the lady.

Go buy everything in her shop. You won’t be disappointed.

Fancy people like Beyonce so they’re going to freak out when you tell them you’ve purchased them a pair of earrings that were featured on Beyonce’s blog. BECAUSE THESE EARRINGS WERE FEATURED ON BEYONCE’S BLOG.

It makes me feel fancy when I wear my Bobbi Made This earrings. I’m a devotee. I own five pairs now and you’ll see them a lot if you follow me on instagram. You’ll also notice I’m wearing them in my headshot photo on the blog. I’m not kidding. They’re my favorite earrings.

Don’t let the vibrant colors I’ve chosen here scare you either. She offers neutrals as well.

Wine drinkers are still fancy. Throw around words like “lush” and “bouquet” and “tannins” and try not to sound fancy. You can’t, NPR.

I actually own one of these fancy wine stoppers from DesignPretty and it perfectly complements my glitzy personality just right.

While you’re browsing Oneka’s shop on Etsy, check out her entire line of geode home decor items. I have bookends and have also really always wanted one of her lamps. hint hint

One morning, in my early 20s, I stumbled into boy BFF’s bathroom all hungover and discovered Kiehl’s. He had a whole toiletry kit full of little white bottles of magic. I’m not sure what made it feel fancy to me but my first thought was “Is he rich?” Kiehl’s came from the mall and not the drugstore so that made it special. Or maybe it was the branding.

Either way, Kiehl’s products are now my favorite skincare products and I think you should share that love with your friends or yourself.

For anyone who has never used Kiehl’s skincare line before, this gift set is a great introduction. It’s a wash and a lotion. No complicated routines. No overwhelming scents to irritate or cause breakouts. And it feels fancy because it’s from The Mall.

Okay bedding is expensive. But it should be expensive. You sleep there. Your skin touches it. Your sleep dictates your health in a lot of ways. If you’re going to splurge in any facet of someone’s life, make it their bedding.

I love linen and washed cotton sheets. But have you tried velvet????? These velvet shams from Ballard Designs are a lot less expensive than they seem.

Ballard is a staple brand in any designer’s home. Even those of us who tend to sway more modern will return to Ballard for basics. They’re quality. They’re reliable. We trust them.

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SECRET SANTA / WHITE ELEPHANT / CO-WORKER GIFTS

Even people who don’t love playing games will be charmed by the cute nostalgic design of these game sets. Giving a colleague a game as a gift is also a subtle way of challenging them. Be the tiger.

Showing up with a gift set from Williams-Sonoma is an advance-level power move for any office gathering.

You see, a gift set from Williams-Sonoma doesn’t just say something about the person you’re giving it to. It’s actually a statement about you. They open the gift and immediately, they have a visceral experience. Ooohhh it’s faaaannncy in here. I guess [insert your name here] must really love to bake. I bet they host large gatherings at the holidays and have sets of table linens and shit.

Your recipient won’t be the only one paying attention here. The boss is going to see this too. Give someone a gift set from Williams-Sonoma this holiday season and get yourself that promotion. *Results may vary. Promotion not included with purchase of this gift set but you can bet your ass they’re gonna assume you wash your legs.

There are two types of coworkers who deserve something from this Tranquility Gift Set Collection;

The first is your work buddy. Because you know what they’ve been through and they need a break. Here you go, babe. Take a long bath and light this candle and pray that the healing powers of these crystals can wash off all the evil this workplace has put upon you.

The second is your work enemy. Pray for peace, my dude. You’re gonna need it.

I don’t know who needs this book, but you do.

Know someone who’s waiting to humiliate their friends because they can’t tell the difference between a cold Coor’s Light and a local microbrew? This tasting flight set is going to rock their world.

It’s also the cheapest thing on this list so it makes the perfect gift for the guy who works in IT whose hobbies include bashing people who get error messages from the printer and whatever Tom Delay is up to these days.

I hope this list of 20 items you can buy for someone you don’t know or potentially don’t care about at all has made your holiday season just a little brighter and easier.

Happy Whatever,
Teri

HOLIDAY DECORATING IDEAS + DIY CRAFTS

The post Affordable Holiday Gifts That Will Impress Your Friends, Neighbors, and Colleagues But Not Your Mom Because Your Mom Can’t Be Impressed appeared first on Fortune House Shop.

This is our second Christmas in the California Bungalow and we’re continuing the tradition of our themed Christmas porch decorations. This year, since the house is black, we’ve gone full rainbow with our porch and yard decor. Here’s how I created a festive and fun front porch on a budget …

The following post contains affiliate links. As an Affiliate Marketing Associate I earn commissions from qualifying purchases. This helps me keep the free content coming.

Thanks for your support! xoxo

CHRISTMAS PORCH DECOR: for historic homes, it’s all about nostalgia

Because our California Bungalow is nearly 100 years old, I like to honor the age of the home and our neighborhood by creating holiday porch themes that speak to the way the neighborhood has changed. While I don’t ever set out to completely mimic a 1920s home or shop, I do like to imagine the traditions of the neighborhood with my porch themes.

You can see how I decorated the porch last Christmas with a lodge theme and homage to Tennessee, our home state, here: A Tennessee Christmas Porch

It’s been a year and A LOT has changed about our bungalow. In fact, nearly everything has. You can read all about our tornado rebuild here: 2020 Tornado Rebuild.

Most notably, our house is now BLACK!!! We love the look of the black paint on the bungalow but I do worry that the black could lean boring at best and morose at worst. So I’ve made a conscious effort to showcase how black can actually be a fun house color by using accents that contrast against the black. Most notably, I installed green light sconces and painted the windows in Chinese Red by Sherwin Williams for contrast.

Since Christmas is meant to be fun and festive, there’s no better time to really pull out all the colorful decor and let this black house shine. Luckily, we’re a gay family with a five year-old daughter who loves color so we already have a ton of rainbow decorations that we display year-round.

KEEP CHRISTMAS DECOR CHEAP: Shop the Dollar Store + DIY

I really didn’t want to spend hundreds of dollars on decor that will only be displayed for a month. So I opted to hit up my local dollar store to find some large scale accents that would pair nicely with my candy shop theme. Here’s what I found and what I DIYed –

In order to make sense of the rainbow decor at Christmas, we opted to go with red and white accents that felt more like the holidays and less like everyday decorations.

I found these sweet stockings and tree skirt at the dollar store and knew they’d look great with the other colorful accents we had already.

Since we don’t have a fireplace on the porch, I mimicked the look by adding the stockings to the front of the bar cart we keep out here to store garden tools. I used clear command hooks, made for securing Christmas lights, to dangle the stockings from the top of the table.

Using the same general concept as last year’s Vintage Lodge Sign, I created a custom sign for our porch based on the Chuck’s Sweet Shop items we’ve found at Williams-Sonoma through the years. Our daughter’s nickname is Chuck, so it just makes sense that we would honor her in this way. You can see the full tutorial for the retro-style sign here: DIY Vintage Sign: How To Get The Authentic Old Advertising Look With Paint

White and black pair so well together and give such great contrast that they’re easily visible from the road. So I grabbed a handful of these oversized felt snowflake placemats from the dollar store to create a playful snow effect. I used the same clear command hooks to affix them directly to the house.

You know I love dangling objects from the porch ceiling to create a layered effect, see my previous post about last year’s hanging Ornaments: Christmas Porch Decorations: Oversized Ornament DIY (From Trash!), so I decided to carry this idea into this year’s porch by creating hanging snowballs that look like real flurries.

I used white string, a standard needle, and jumbo and extra large cotton balls to create the snow flurries. It’s an easy DIY that requires no real tutorial. Simply thread the string through the center of each cotton ball until you’ve reached your desired length. Make sure to space them randomly. I attached them to the porch ceiling by tying the end of the string around a clear command hook.

The varying length and placement gives the effect of a real snow storm. Especially when it’s windy. Just make sure to place them far enough apart from one another that they don’t bunch up in the wind. That can create a mess.

USE VINTAGE-STYLE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS with modern efficiency

I’ve long wanted some large bulb christmas light strings to decorate with but I was always too nervous to buy authentic ones as I worried about house fires and energy efficiency.

Luckily, LED bulbs have come a long way and they’re pretty inexpensive now. I found two 25’ strands of colorful retro bulb lights worked perfectly to hang around my windows. I placed a nail in the two top corners and then secured the strands to the sides with clear command light hooks. Just go ahead and buy those in bulk because they are a real holiday decorating workhorse!

You may recall I used the same lights upstairs to decorate my daughter’s work station:

See the full post here: Holidays In The Kid’s Workspace: Adding Schoolhouse Style For Christmas

I love how the bright colorful Christmas lights add additional festivity to the windows without overbearing the entire porch.

At night, they’re especially festive as they glow inside our living room.

USE WRAPPING PAPER FOR CHEAP DECOR

You can jazz up anything with a roll of inexpensive wrapping paper. As long as your porch is covered, you shouldn’t have any trouble getting the wrapping paper to hold up all season long.

I wrapped the square side table that always sits out here in a rainbow stripe paper (that’s now discontinued, I’m sorry to say) and added a bow to make it look like a gift. Empty shipping boxes got wrapped in coordinating paper and I used an old grocery bag, filled with the felt tree skirt I found at the dollar store, to look like a gift bag from our “shop”.

Remember to go bigger outside as it’s harder for people to see small items on your porch.

A LITTLE KITSCH GOES A LONG WAY

It’s 2020. This year has been trying. We all deserve a little extra smile. So this year, we decided to finally give in to our daughter’s requests for inflatable yard decorations. We added this 4 ft tall inflatable Santa as a meaningful gesture to our neighbors.

And what rainbow themed porch would be complete without a giant rainbow unicorn? I mean, really. Obviously, our five year-old picked this one out but we do love how it matches the other decorations so well.

Since we want to travel to see our extended family for Christmas, we’re currently in quarantine to keep them safe. I’m bummed that we can’t greet our neighbors as they walk by the house but having these decorations on the lawn does make me feel like I’m giving them something to smile about this holiday season.

While we haven’t reached Full Griswold Status yet, our home does cast a lovely glow in the evening for our neighborhood that’s been through so much this year.

The inflatables have internal lights that cast even more of a glow across our street.

GET THE LOOK: COLORFUL BUNGALOW CHRISTMAS PORCH

* affiliate links help keep my free tutorial blog running *

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I hope our colorful Christmas decorations bring a smile to your face too. Remember to pin this post on Pinterest in order to refer back to it as you work.

If you recreate these easy DIYs, tag me in your post on Instagram @tmoorehome so I can share it!

I’ll be back soon with more ideas for decorating for the holidays. Until then, stay safe and sane. xoxo

RENOVATING HISTORIC HOMES ON A BUDGET ISN’T EASY
BUT I’M HERE TO HELP.

Commenting on this post is disabled so I can focus on our upcoming projects + client designs but that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to hear from you. Send me your questions and comments on Instagram by either commenting on my latest post or sending me a direct message. I really love to chat it out!

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The post Colorful Christmas Porch: Vintage Candy Shop Theme with Rainbows appeared first on Fortune House Shop.

When it comes to decorating for Christmas, I try to stay cheap. After all, these are items that I’ll only use one month a year. So I love a good DIY Christmas project and I’m always looking for fun ways to re-use items that would otherwise go into a landfill. For this Christmas Upcycle, I turned my kid’s deflated toy balls into oversized ornaments to hang on our front porch! It’s an easy and cheap trash-to-treasure story. Here’s how I did it …

The following post contains affiliate links. As an Affiliate Marketing Associate I earn commissions from qualifying purchases. This helps me keep the free content coming.

Thanks for your support! xoxo

CHRISTMAS PORCH DECORATING TIP #1: GO BIG

When decorating your front porch, keep in mind that little objects don’t work well. While we can fill a vase with standard ornaments for the living room, it’s hard to see these small touches from the street. So whatever you do on the front of your house, remember to MAKE IT BIGGER than anything you’d put inside.

Last year, I decorated our front porch in a Log Cabin theme. I used large Edison light bulbs instead of standard twinkle lights and doubled up the garland for an added effect. The result was a prominent decor theme that people could see easily as they walked or drove by the house.

You can see the full details and photos of that porch here: A Tennessee Christmas Porch.

I even DIYed my own vintage-style lodge sign. You can see how I created that here: DIY Vintage Sign.

The most fun DIY I tackled for this front porch was creating three giant ornaments to hang in a grouping from the porch ceiling.

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Years ago, I purchased three oversized Christmas ornaments from the dollar store and painted them with a classic red to match my decor. At the time, I was using them inside as a wreath alternative on our powder room door in our hold house (pictured above). For that application, they were the perfect size. But then we moved into a new house and no longer had a door on which I wanted to display this arrangement.

However, I did think they’d be adorable on the front porch as floating decor. But when I installed them outside, the impact was low. They were just too small to make a large statement on the porch.

CHRISTMAS PORCH DECORATING TIP #2: Group Small Items for LargeR Impact

When you really want to use objects whose scale isn’t big enough to really make an impression from farther away, there’s a solution! Make a large grouping or vignette of those items. That gives the illusion of one large item.

With the ornaments, the grouping of three was still too small to be impactful from the street. So I knew I needed to add more ornaments. I just didn’t want to spend any money on this project, so I started thinking about objects I already had that I could use to fake the look of Christmas ornaments.

Then I remembered a stash of old sports balls that were destined for the landfill.

HOW TO DIY OVERSIZED CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS

MATERIALS NEEDED TO MAKE YOUR ORNAMENTS FROM TRASH

plastic bottle caps
gorilla glue
fishing line or sturdy string

old sports balls, 6-12” diameter
spray paint in desired colors
drill

STEP ONE: Gather + Clean Old Toy Balls
It’s okay if your kid’s old toy balls are deflated (I’m hating every sentence I’m typing right now, just so you know). As long as they maintain a generally round appearance, you can use them! Clean them up in order to assist the spray paint with adhesion. Allow to dry.

STEP TWO: Paint
Once they’re dried, you can proceed to painting them. I opted to paint each of them the same color as the ornaments I already had on hand. This helped to create bigger impact as a grouping. However, you can opt to paint them in colors that coordinate with the decorations you have.

hot tip: place the balls on spray paint lids to raise them while painting. Allow to dry.

STEP THREE: Gather old bottle caps
Did you know that plastic bottle caps cannot be recycled?! I know. It’s appalling. So I dug into my trash and found some old soda caps and one really nice iced tea cap to use as the ornament top. Clean them up and allow to dry.

STEP FOUR: Drill small holes in caps
While the balls are drying (cringe), use a small drill bit to make holes in the tops of the bottle caps. The hole will need to be big enough to fit your string or fishing line through but not so big that a knot in the string will slip through.

STEP FIVE: Add String
You’ll want to use enough string that you can secure a little inside the cap and have slack for hanging at a visible height on your porch. I attached roughly two feet of string to each cap. Secure with a knot.

STEP SIX: Secure Caps to Balls
I used a ton of glue because I was worried it wouldn’t properly adhere in the cold. By turning the bottle caps upside down, I got the best adhesion to the balls.

STEP SEVEN: Hang Ornaments
I used these command hooks that are specifically designed for attaching light strands. They’re clear and tiny so you don’t see them at all!

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Remember to vary the length and depth of each ornament for larger impact. You could also hang them on a line at the edge of the porch for a floating garland effect.

I hope you enjoyed this true Trash-To-Treasure Christmas story. Remember to pin this post on Pinterest in order to refer back to it as you work.

If you recreate this easy DIY, tag me in your post on Instagram @tmoorehome so I can share it!

I’ll be back soon with more holiday decorating ideas. Until then, stay safe and sane.

xoxo
Teri

HOLIDAY DECORATING ON A BUDGET ISN’T EASY
BUT I’M HERE TO HELP.

Commenting on this post is disabled so I can focus on our upcoming projects + client designs but that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to hear from you. Send me your questions and comments on Instagram by either commenting on my latest post or sending me a direct message. I really love to chat it out!

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  Should You Wallpaper Your Bathroom? (Yes.)
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  Infusing Historic New Orleans Character Into A Boring, New-Build Home
• 
  Designer Obsession: Vintage Kilim Rugs
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  Free Design Ideas: Decorating With Rust and Rose Colored Home Accents
• 
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The post Christmas Porch Decorations: Oversized Ornament DIY (from trash!) appeared first on Fortune House Shop.

Like so many people, we’re terribly bored at home this Christmas season. After days of virtual school, my daughter doesn’t want to look at another screen in her downtime. So I’m coming up with low-cost ways to keep her entertained while feeling festive for the holidays. Here’s an easy way to repurpose all those cardboard boxes into a fun craft for kids. Bonus points: You can make this a tradition and use it as a kid’s Christmas table activity for your pod family to enjoy! Here’s how I created gingerbread house placemats that double as holiday decorating fun for kids …

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We have a holiday gingerbread house family tradition. Every year, my wife buys a pre-baked gingerbread house kit that she and our daughter craft together. This year, our five year old chose the Barbie Dreamhouse Gingerbread kit and it was a mess!

That got me thinking. Couldn’t there be an easier way to get into the Gingerbread House game without all the sticky frosting and candies? Because, let’s face it, half of that kit goes directly into my kid’s mouth anyway.

As I was cleaning up the living room and breaking down boxes to recycle, I realized brown cardboard looks a lot like the gingerbread we were just using. The color is even an exact match!

There are a ton of ways to create decorations for the house that aren’t edible. The only real limitation what that you’d want the look of the white frosting. What could we use to mimic that look?

That’s when the real dream house was born:

No Mess Cardboard Gingerbread House Craft Tutorial

supplies needed:

glue (if 3D desired)
string
misc adornments
pompoms, sequins, etc

cardboard boxes, varying sizes
white household trim caulk
craft paint
cutting tools: scissors, box cutter, rotary blade

STEP ONE: Prep your cardboard box

Remove all the packaging tape and disassemble the box until it lays flat. remove all the jointed edges, if creating a 1D house. Then cut the box into rectangles with a box cutter or scissors. I actually used a rotary cutter and placed the cardboard onto a cutting mat to protect my work surface. Any one of these methods works fine.

STEP TWO: Create a roof guideline

Measure the piece of cardboard and mark the exact center of the top of your board. Then mark the board at the roughly 1/3 point (where you want your roof pitch to end). This will assist you in getting the roof angle exactly perfect.

STEP THREE: Cut your roofline

Create a roofline by using a straight edge (or a scrap piece of cardboard that’s long enough) and connecting the center mark to each of the side marks. Then slice the cardboard along these lines.

STEP FOUR: Add “Icing”

Apply a line of caulk to the roofline, door, and windows to mimic the look of frosting. If you want the look of a snow-covered roof, apply the caulk liberally using a flat application tip (or cut your tip at an angle).

Allow caulk to dry and your work here is done! Now you can gather materials for the kids to use as embellishments.

DECORATING THE GINGERBREAD HOUSES

I gathered rainbow-colored beads, some string, lots of glue, and markers. I even created paper gumdrops using construction paper and a hole punch for the kids to decorate their houses with. A three-hole-punch works fast for this. I folded the construction paper into strips in order to make as many gumdrops as quickly as possible.

I made multiple gingerbread houses to keep the kids in our Pod Family busy while the adults celebrated Christmas together. A simple roll of wrapping paper acts as protection for your table in case the glue gets crazy.

I also added paint pens and a tub of decorating embellishments I found right before the party for extra Christmas cheer.

GET THE SUPPLIES FOR DECORATING:

some of these items may not be suitable for all children. you know your child best. use caution.

Gingerbread House Craft Party Table Setting

In an effort to encourage the kids to eat first, I set our table with the gingerbread houses as placemats for the kids to eat on. I used the green, red, and white pieces of plastic kid’s tableware from our collection to add extra Christmas charm.

DIY Gingerbread House Party Ideas: Get the kids involved in the festivities with this fun holiday themed table. After they eat, let them decorate their own cardboard gingerbread houses.

Make it extra festive with a Hot Cocoa Bar for kids. In addition to the cocktails we put out for adults, we always add a Christmas Cocoa Bar for the kids to enjoy! Of course, we supervise the cocoa-making and we always allow extra marshmallows.

SUCCESS!! These days, it’s hard to get a few minutes of time with adults and I’m happy to report that my Gingerbread House Craft Party was exactly what we needed to allow the kids time for fun while the grown-ups enjoyed talking, laughing, drinking, and generally not being involved for a whole hour!

I hope this easy craft project gives you the same result! Remember to pin this post on Pinterest in order to refer back to it as you work.

If you recreate this easy DIY, tag me in your post on Instagram @tmoorehome so I can share it! In fact, send me all your parenting wins this week. I need the motivation to keep going.

I’ll be back soon with more ideas for decorating for the holidays. Until then, stay safe and sane. xoxo

RENOVATING HISTORIC HOMES ON A BUDGET ISN’T EASY
BUT I’M HERE TO HELP.

Commenting on this post is disabled so I can focus on our upcoming projects + client designs but that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to hear from you. Send me your questions and comments on Instagram by either commenting on my latest post or sending me a direct message. I really love to chat it out!

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MORE IDEAS FOR KIDS

The post DIY Cardboard Gingerbread Houses: An Easy Kid’s Christmas Table Activity Idea appeared first on Fortune House Shop.

Last Winter, we were asked to take part in our neighborhood’s Annual Home Tour. Since we’d only been in our bungalow for a few months and weren’t planning to renovate, the interior wasn’t much to look at. To make up for our home’s lackluster appearance, I decided to go all out on the front porch holiday decor.

I built the theme around a vintage-looking lodge sign I DIYed with some paint and a piece of MDF. Here’s how I did it…

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Thanks for your support! xoxo

By the time winter rolled around last year, our 1920s bungalow was looking a little sad and neglected out front. I knew I could make the front porch look more authentic and vintage by adding lots of greenery and Christmas decorations.

Once I added plush fabrics and vintage-style Edison cafe lights, here’s how the final Holiday Porch looked:

Our little bungalow looked even more charming at night –

You can see the full reveal with every little detail here: A Tennessee Christmas Porch: Decorations For Winter That Play Up The Nostalgia

GATHERING INSPIRATION FOR YOUR VINTAGE SIGN

Since I’m a Tennessee Native, I wanted to really honor all that my state has to offer in the Winter. In order to do this, I decided to incorporate an old sign I remember seeing in my childhood on trips through the Chattanooga mountains into my porch decor. It took some google investigating but I finally found a picture of the sign online:

This sign was a lot more intricate – and racially insensitive – than I’d remembered but I knew I could get the general look and feel of a roadside lodge sign for my front porch if I just incorporated a few of the details without trying to entirely replicate the entire thing.

If you’re looking for DIY vintage sign inspiration, I recommend a Google image search that includes the following: Your Locale + Roadside Lodge + Vintage. Here are some of the image results I got when I used this method:

Your vintage sign doesn’t have to be a lodge either. You can Google literally anything that matches your theme. For instance, here’s the search “Tennessee Vintage Candy Store Sign”:

And if I ever decided to do a Vintage Toy Shop theme for Christmas, I would absolutely style my sign after Nashville’s oldest and best toy store, Phillip’s Toy Mart. Their sign is so adorable:

Once you’ve landed on your theme and old sign inspiration, here’s how you can get your DIY sign to look authentic and old:

HOW TO DIY A VINTAGE SIGN THAT LOOKS OLD

MATERIALS NEEDED TO BUILD YOUR SIGN FROM SCRATCH

artist’s paint brush set
putty knife

1/8” thick piece of MDF, cut to desired size
acrylic craft paints in desired colors
painter’s tape

STEP ONE: Base Layer
Paint a base layer over the entire MDF board in white. This will act as a primer so your additional layers of paint will be vibrant and the MDF doesn’t soak them up. Allow to dry completely.

STEP TWO: Accent Color Layer
Next, paint the entire board in the color you want to be exposed during the chipping process. Choose this color by considering what colors would have been popular at the time of your sign’s original creation. You want this color to be in stark contrast with the rest of the sign. So if you plan to add black accents around your lettering, use a color that is bright. If you’re planning a red sign, you may want to consider using white or blue during this phase.

For information on historically accurate color ways, you can refer to Sherwin William’s Historic Collection.

STEP THREE: Base Lettering and Outline
Add your first layer of lettering to the sign by freehand or using stencils with a pencil. Then go over the pencil with a contrasting acrylic paint color. This color will be prominent in your sign so make sure it’s one you want to highlight.

I chose blue and then outlined the letters of “LODGE” in black for additional contrast.

STEP FOUR: Remove Random Layers of Paint
Once your paint has dried, cover the entire board with strips of painter’s tape. Press the tape firmly in place and then remove it all in one strip. This technique will allow for further weathering in the next step.

STEP FIVE: Faux Weathered Effect
Use a putty knife to chip away additional pieces of the accent layer. Press lightly and move the knife against the grain of the exposed paint stripes created by the previous step. This technique should remove your accent layer of paint in a way that looks like it’s been chipped off over time. Remember to remove some of the paint on the lettering as well in order to create additional weathered effect.

STEP SIX: Final Background Color
Carefully paint the entire sign with the color you wish to use as your background. Use caution to paint around your lettering so as to not cover it entirely. You can leave portions around your lettering exposed to the accent color for a more realistic look.

STEP SEVEN: Accent Lettering Base
Using a pencil, sketch your lettering by freehand. This will give a more authentic look. Then trace your sketch with your final accent color for contrast. I used red in order to contrast against both the blue and the yellow.

STEP EIGHT: Dimension
Add dimension to your accent lettering by painting a shadow in black around the bottom and left sides of the lettering. This will make your sign legible from farther away which is particularly important if you plan to use this as porch decor.

HANGING YOUR VINTAGE SIGN

I installed my sign on the front porch with a piece of chain. In order to do this, I drilled a small pilot hole in the top of the sign with a 3/16 drill bit. Then I placed a bead of gorilla glue into the hole and screwed the cup hooks in place before it dried.

The result was a sturdy sign that stayed in place on my porch all winter long!

Since the decor wasn’t overtly Christmas-themed, I left my porch decor in place until February.

I hope this helps inspire you to make your own Vintage Sign. Remember to pin this post on Pinterest so you can refer to it later. Just hover over the image below and click the little red P button.

I’ll be back soon with more ideas for decorating for the holidays. Until then, stay safe and sane. xoxo

RENOVATING HISTORIC HOMES ON A BUDGET ISN’T EASY
BUT I’M HERE TO HELP.

Commenting on this post is disabled so I can focus on our upcoming projects + client designs but that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to hear from you. Send me your questions and comments on Instagram by either commenting on my latest post or sending me a direct message. I really love to chat it out!

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The post DIY Vintage Sign: How To Get The Authentic Old Advertising Look With Paint appeared first on Fortune House Shop.

If you’re joining today from Making Home Base, welcome! I’m so happy to have you joining us! Chelsea showed you adorable updates from her daughters’ bedroom and now I’m going to show you how you can carry that same fun holiday vibe into your kids’ home workspaces as well.

Whether your child has a dedicated classroom in the home or just a place they like to color or read, here are some simple ways to incorporate their interests into decor for the holiday season.

The following post contains affiliate links. As an Affiliate Marketing Associate I earn commissions from qualifying purchases. This helps me keep the free content coming.

Thanks for your support! xoxo

Our daughter is headed back into a virtual learning environment and we’re a little bummed. We know she’s going to miss all the fun holiday activities she would otherwise have participated in during Kindergarten. So we’re giving her a fun, new workspace where she can learn and feel inspired.

Come see how we’ve added some holiday cheer to help boost her enthusiasm about learning from home…

CREATING A SPACE FOR KIDS TO LEARN FROM HOME

Let’s go ahead and get this out of the way fast: THERE IS NO SCENARIO IN WHICH I EXPECT ANYONE TO TACKLE A MAJOR RENOVATION JUST TO MAKE ROOM FOR VIRTUAL LEARNING. The photos you are about to see are going to show you a massive transformation from Before and After.

As luck would have it, our home was hit by a tornado two weeks before Nashville shut down for the pandemic. The renovation you will see was a necessary rebuild to our 100 year-old home. Do not remodel your home based on a temporary situation. And take my advice – don’t renovate your home during a global pandemic. Decorating is fun. Having contractors complete work in your home whilst also trying to socially distance your family is terrifying. Hang curtains instead.

The extent of the tornado damage required us to rebuild the entire second story of our home. The BEFORE photo shown above is from the real estate listing. We purchased this historic bungalow in 2019 with plans to restore it over time. You can read more about that here: Our 1924 California Bungalow: Full Home Tour.

As we rebuilt, we decided to raise the roof ridge by two feet and to add an additional 600 square feet onto the back of the house in the form of a large dormer. The dormer you are seeing today is the original dormer at the front of the house. It had originally been a part of our daughter’s upstairs bedroom but was made into a play space off the central upstairs hallway during the rebuild.

Since we’re still unpacking our boxes, this space has been relatively empty and useless for the past three months but we knew it would make the perfect spot for an impromptu homeschooling room for our kid.

The plan for this little nook was always to turn it into an arts and crafts space for our self-proclaimed artist daughter. And what to artists need? Horizontal space for drawing and writing, of course! It just so happens that’s exactly what she needs to be able to learn alongside her classmates in a virtual school environment too! So this little update will be handy for now and serve a longterm purpose as well!

Major renovations aside, there are lots of easy ways to create virtual learning spaces for kids. Use what you have. Buy a desk if your budget allows. Or build something custom on the cheap like we did:

We purchased a hollow core slab door from our local home improvement store and ripped it down with a table saw in order to fit it tight along the wall. Using scrap MDF 1x4s from our recent bathroom moulding buildout, we created a bracket system along the wall on which the slab could rest. Then we nailed the slab into the braces from the top in order to secure it permanently to the wall.

The result is a floating shelf-style desk that doesn’t budge even with the most vigorous crayon drawings.

If you’re not looking to permanently affix the desk to your walls, you can also find inexpensive table legs on which you can rest the table top and secure with screws. Just make sure your end result is a desk that’s no higher than 30” off the floor. Here are some cute options:

DECORATING KID’s WORK SPACES FOR CHRISTMAS

I’m no elementary school teacher so I had to really channel my inner Mrs. Frizzle when trying to decide how to decorate my daughter’s home learning room. I thought back to my own childhood and tried to remember what the classrooms of yore looked like. Minus the dinosaurs (hahaha.. I’m an older mom but I’m not that old).

My fondest memories of school were those when the teacher would let us come to the chalkboard and write our answers in front of the class. I know a lot of people have anxious memories about those moments but I’m a show-off and a people-pleaser so they always made me so proud.

That’s when I remembered a thrift store find from two years ago that has just been sitting in our garage, collecting dust!

This massive chalkboard was only $4 at a local thrift store and although I didn’t have a direct need for it at the time, I knew I’d one day be able to show it some love. I love Schoolhouse style and nothing says schoolhouse like an actual artifact from an old school!

The original chalk finish was scratching off and stained. A quick coat of Rustoleum Chalk Board Paint (it’s tintable so I had mine tinted green) made it look brand new! I left the wood frame in kind of funky condition to show its age.

Using large stencils, I traced the outline of “Holly Jolly” with a chalk pen.

Then I went back over the outline with a thick chalk layer and turned the chalk on its side to shade in the letters.

A simple strand of vintage-style colorful Christmas lights acts as a garland across the top of the chalkboard. I used Command Clear Mini Light Hooks to secure the lights to the wood. These will come off easily at the end of the season.

Since this little nook opens to our newly-created bonus room, I wanted to make sure the vibe stayed the same. We like a lot of vintage tchotchkes and colorful accents for decorating. This chalkboard fits right in!

The result is a space that’s both functional and really welcoming for my daughter. She really loves it!

On the wall opposite of the chalkboard, I used the same Command Hooks to hang metal clips on which she can display her school work and artwork alike.

A simple paper ring garland and construction paper letters encourage her to get into the holiday spirit even if her dress indicates she’s feeling the wrong holiday.

I’ve teamed up with some of my talented blogger friends who are also sharing their fun and festive spaces for the Holiday Home Tour – Kid Edition. Please be sure to check out all the adorable kid spaces and trees decorated for the holidays!

MONDAY

Two Twenty One // Love and Renovations // Lemon Thistle // Stacie’s Spaces

The Organized Mama // Design Improvised // Inspiration for Moms // Bright Green Door

TUESDAY

Making Home Base // T. Moore Home // Casa Watkins // Up to Date Interiors

Living Letter Home // Home on Poplar Creek // DIY Decor Mom // Kate Decorates // The Goat Abode

Next, you’ll definitely want to head over to see what Stephanie from Casa Watkins Living has up her sleeve. Her style is so graceful and lovely. I know you’re going to adore how she updated her daughter’s bedroom with a festive theme for the holidays!

GET THE LOOK

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From my family to yours – Have a Holly Jolly Holiday Season!

xoxo

RENOVATING HISTORIC HOMES ON A BUDGET ISN’T EASY
BUT I’M HERE TO HELP.

Commenting on this post is disabled so I can focus on our upcoming projects + client designs but that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to hear from you. Send me your questions and comments on Instagram by either commenting on my latest post or sending me a direct message. I really love to chat it out!

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• 
  Designer Obsession: Vintage Kilim Rugs
• 
  Free Design Ideas: Decorating With Rust and Rose Colored Home Accents
• 
  Summer Rental in Nashville, TN’s Coolest Neighborhood

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The post Holidays In The Kid’s Workspace: Adding Schoolhouse Style for Christmas appeared first on Fortune House Shop.

It’s that time of year again! The Cookie Swap Party invitations are rolling in. Usually, I panic about what I should bake and bring to these cookie parties but this year, I’ve figured out a very simple process for decorating cookies that make my cookies look super professional! Here’s how I faked baking expertise using an easy family sugar cookie recipe and some melting candy.

The following post contains affiliate links. As an Affiliate Marketing Associate I earn commissions from qualifying purchases. This helps me keep the free content coming.

Thanks for your support! xoxo

First, allow me to be honest for a moment. I am not a baker. I don’t like the mess and I’m terrible at the precision required to get a good outcome when you bake.

Luckily, my wife has a family recipe for sugar cookies that is so easy even I get good results when I bake them!

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Aunt Judy’s Easy Sugar Cookies

• prep time: 15 mins
• cook time: 15 mins
• total time: 30 mins

Servings: 24 cookies

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg
• 4 tsp milk
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

Instructions:

1. cream shortening and sugar together.
2. add vanilla and egg to mixture and beat until fluffy.
3. add milk and stir.
4. add dry ingredients and mix until blended.
5. roll dough and cut into desired shapes.
6. bake at 350 degrees for approximately 15 minutes.

These cookies are delicious but they’re not incredibly sweet on their own. Since I’m a mess when it comes to decorating with frosting, I decided to try a new way to give them the sugar-y taste this year.

Using this method, I was able to decorate two dozen cookies in under 15 minutes!

Please check out these other bloggers who have great ideas for baking and decorating cookies during the Cookie Swap Blog Tour:

A Small Life

Brand Spanking You

Modern Envy Interiors

Houseologie

Made by Carli

Casa Watkins Living

Bloom Wild with Bari J.

Blake Hill House

Katrina Blair 

Rebecca Propes

@ohsojo_

Happy Holidays and here’s to a fun new tradition!

MORE SEASONAL DECORATING INSPIRATION

Ready to make some updates in your home? Check out these posts to get you started.

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DECORATING AN OLD HOME ON A BUDGET ISN’T ALWAYS EASY BUT I’M HERE TO HELP. Commenting on this post is disabled so I can focus on our upcoming projects + client designs but that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to hear from you. Send me your questions and comments on Instagram by either commenting on my latest post or sending me a direct message. I really love to chat it out!

The post Easiest Cookie Decorating Ideas appeared first on Fortune House Shop.

The holiday season is officially upon us and I’m fully decking the halls. My first project of the season has been spreading the Christmas (and generic Winter!) cheer to my neighbors. I achieved Neighborhood Elf Status by decorating our front porch.

The following post contains affiliate links. As an Affiliate Marketing Associate I earn commissions from qualifying purchases. This helps me keep the free content coming.

Thanks for your support! xoxo

Today, I’m showing you how to decorate a historic home’s facade for Winter with my Tennessee Christmas theme. It’s really log cabin decor but since I’m a Tennessee gal, humor me.

I’ve also joined a group of fantastic bloggers to show off their porch and outdoor holiday decor.

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First things, I’m going to admit that the outside of our house isn’t looking great these days. Just before it got cold, I removed the storm windows and doors that were blocking the view of our home’s original historic details. Then it got cold and I couldn’t patch and paint the holes that were left behind. Right now, we’re stalled. So all I really can do out here at the moment is decorate. Everything else will have to wait until Spring.

We purchased this house in July 2019. For more details on why and where we moved, check out this blog post: Our 1924 California Bungalow Home Tour

Luckily, the front facade looks just fine when you step back a little bit. Plus, by decorating the porch for Christmas, I’ve essentially distracted the eye from even noticing the blemishes on the siding. It’s a two-for-one deal!

THREE EASY WAYS TO DECORATE YOUR FRONT PORCH FOR CHRISTMAS

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USE vintage holiday decor

Even the least sentimental person would have a hard time staying cool when they’re faced with adorable reminders of the winter season from their childhoods.

This vintage sled is a hand-me-down from my mother-in-law. I’ve used it in my porch decor for the past five years and it always gets the most comments. Sprucing it up this year, I hung a simple white scarf and a mistletoe ball from the top to give it a little holiday cheer.

I’ve been showing snippets of my porch on my Instagram Stories and I’ve had so many people message me to let me know about their childhood memories of Rock City! If you’re not familiar with the Rock City barns, you probably never travelled through the south as a kid. They were everywhere!

My Rock City birdhouse was a perfect Tennessee addition to the porch and it even ended up giving me a color scheme.

This past Halloween, we installed a large sign over the bench on the porch and it looked great! It added such personality to an otherwise boring space on the wall. So I knew I would need to fill this space with something charming. Since Lookout Mountain and Rock City go hand in hand, I decided to dub my porch the Lookout Mountain Lodge when I created this vintage style porch sign for Christmas.

The crate is a family heirloom from Kentucky (my wife’s family hails from Southern Indiana / Louisville). While it’s not Tennessee, it does look perfect out here and it’s holding all of the items I removed from our porch and replaced with Christmas decorations.

GIVE FAKE CHRISTMAS GARLAND A REALISTIC LOOK WITH TREE CLIPPINGS

Every window and the door frame is covered in greenery. I also filled the pots on my front porch with greenery, pine cones, and wood slices to fill the space and bring in nature.

While it might look expensive, it was actually incredibly affordable. Why? Because I customized cheap store-bought Christmas garland by adding clippings from our own tree and a fallen branch at our neighborhood park!

Because I used evergreen stems and branches, from far away, all the garland looks full, natural, and real! I simply tucked the real branches behind the faux garland and used floral wire to join the two together.

ADD SOME COZY FOR CHRISTMAS

No matter where (in the Norther Hemisphere) you live, Winter is going to be colder than Summer. When we think of Christmas, we imagine plush throws and evenings by the fire, no? Since your outside is cold, why not warm it up with some plush throws?

I love to be outside and I don’t want a little chill to stop me from enjoying my front porch. So every Winter, I use inexpensive but nice-looking throw blankets that I use for outdoors.

Hanging untraditional Christmas lights on the front porch also helped to cast a cozy glow. Instead of stringing small twinkle lights, I opted to use our existing patio lights and save some money.

With all the vintage elements, I think these Edison bulbs really just add another layer of nostalgia to my front porch decorations. I also live in a historic home that could feasibly justify these lights all year long. So I may not even need to take them down after Christmas!

I completed my porch as part of the Festive Christmas Porch Tour, sponsored by Amy of Atta Girl Says. Here are the details on all the bloggers who are showing you how to decorate your outside spaces today.

Please go show them some love and let them know how you feel about their ideas and decor.

More Christmas Porch Inspiration

Be sure to visit all the participating bloggers for festive decorating inspiration for your front porch, patio, sunroom and screened-in porch.

Atta Girl Says // The Frugal Homemaker // House of Hawthornes // Southern State of Mind

2 Bees In a Pod // The Chelsea Project // Virginia Sweet Pea // T. Moore Home

Top Row: Our Crafty Mom // Postcards from the Ridge

Bottom Row: Cottage at the Crossroads // Worthing Court // Major Hoff Takes a Wife

MORE SEASONAL DECORATING INSPIRATION

Ready to make some updates in your home? Check out these posts to get you started.

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DECORATING AN OLD HOME ON A BUDGET ISN’T ALWAYS EASY BUT I’M HERE TO HELP.
Commenting on this post is disabled so I can focus on our upcoming projects + client designs but that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to hear from you. Send me your questions and comments on Instagram by either commenting on my latest post or sending me a direct message. I really love to chat it out!

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The post A Tennessee Christmas Porch: Decorations For Winter That Play Up The Nostalgia appeared first on Fortune House Shop.

DIY VALENTINE’S DAY DECOR ON A BUDGET

A Romantic Ski Chalet: How To Re-Use Your Christmas Decor for Valentine’s Day
I’ve left my Christmas decor up a little longer and really stretched its life by transferring it into this adorable – and romantic – chalet tablescape. Today I’m showing you how I DIYed it and how you can too!

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Thanks for your support! xoxo

I started with a simple base – this red velvet fabric that I use as a Christmas tree skirt.

You can see the full Winter Home Tour, with all of my Christmas additions, here: How To Decorate With Traditional Holiday Decor On A Budget.

For snow-capped mountain peaks, I turned some mixing bowls upside down and covered with fluffy, white upholstery batting to mimic snow. If you have any of that fluffy artificial snow laying around, it would work as well!

Next, I pulled the wooden houses and trees I used to decorate our living room and layered them into the snow. I especially love the large wooden skis I scored at the Target Dollar Spot a few years ago. They really make this whole look!

With those elements in place, I wanted to layer in some plaids to really drive the winter theme home. I cut down an old scarf into napkins and they look great! They complement the gingham appetizer plates so well!

Now it’s time to layer in the romance!

So far, everything I’ve used in this tablescape was recycled from Christmas.

To continue this budget theme, I added my everyday Champagne glasses (what? like you don’t have everyday Champagne and then special occasion Champagne???). A single raspberry makes them look extra lovely.

A single bouquet of grocery store red roses really took the romance to the next level!

On the menu? Fondue, of course!

Nothing feels more perfectly romantic and chalet than a pot of bubbling cheese and strawberries dipped in chocolate!

Some Dollar Store heart doilies finish out the placesettings and a single chocolate truffle goes a long way!

What’s Valentine’s Day without Champagne? Can’t forget that!

Easy Valentine’s Day Ideas

Make this super simple champagne cocktail with only two ingredients to wow your Valentine.

Ingredients:
Champagne or Sparkling Wine
St. Germaine / Elderflower Liqueur
Raspberries or Strawberries, to garnish

Drop a raspberry into your Champagne glass. Pour Champagne over to fill glass 3/4 of the way. Add a splash of St. Germaine!

This Winter Tablescape idea was the mastermind of Ariel, at PMQ for TWO! This week, she invited a group of us to show off our talents at crafting a fun table for these cold months. The bloggers showed up with their best!

Please go check them all out here:

Monday

Woman in Real Life
Jenna Kate At Home
Cribbs Style

Tuesday

Boxy Colonial
Pink Peppermint Design
Orchard Hill Farm & Home
Houseful of Handmade
Red Cottage Chronicles

Wednesday

Our Crafty Mom
From House to Home
Dixie Delights
Jaime Costiglio
Up to Date Interiors

Thursday

PMQ for two
T Moore Home
House By The Bay Design
This Simplicite

And tag me when you craft your own Ski Chalet Valentine’s Day table!

Happy Decorating!
xoxo
Teri

YOU’VE GOT QUESTIONS + I’VE GOT ANSWERS.

Commenting on this post is disabled after 24 hours so I can focus on our upcoming projects + client designs. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to hear from you. Send me your questions and comments on Instagram by either commenting on my latest post or sending me a direct message. I really love to chat it out! xoxo

CHECK OUT THESE OTHER POSTS YOU MIGHT LIKE

The post A Romantic Ski Chalet: How To Re-Use Your Christmas Decor for Valentine’s Day appeared first on Fortune House Shop.