With the holidays just around the corner, there’s a lot on everyone’s mind.
What gifts should you buy?
Which of Grandma’s cookie recipes should you make?
What food will you serve at your annual holiday party?
And last, but certainly not least, how should you decorate?
While we can’t help you much with the other questions (except to suggest our brand-new Nixplay Iris frame as a perfect gift for Mom), we can share these great holiday decorating tips. Not only are they all bound to make your home instantly feel more festive, but they’re also all relatively simple to put together.
Christmas ornament centerpiece
Create a sophisticated centerpiece for your holiday table by taking a serving platter or cakestand and arranging traditional Christmas ball ornaments on top. Bring some nature indoors by adding sprigs of evergreen branches or holly or large pinecones.
If you prefer, you can use a glass bowl or vase in place of the platter and tuck a Christmas bow in near the top of the ornaments.
Christmas ornament “chandelier”
Another good use for your extra Christmas ball ornaments is to hang them together from the ceiling to create a false “chandelier.”
This Real Simple tutorial explains in detail how to construct your chandelier using 16 ornaments, a hook mounted to the ceiling, reusable adhesive, and ribbon. Basically, you’re tying ribbons to the hook and tie your ornaments on the ends in layers, cutting your ribbons a few inches shorter for each layer. Make sure the ornaments stay put by using adhesive to stick each one to its neighbor.
Vases and bottles filled with greenery
For simple, easy decorating, take a clear glass vase or bottle and fill it with a sprig or two of greenery. Larger vases can hold pinecones and holly branches as well.
Mix things up by choosing vases in a variety of sizes and shapes. Vintage and oddly-shaped bottles can work well, too.
Glassed-in holiday scenes
If you’ve got any holiday decorating miniatures, like bottlebrush trees, reindeer, birds, etc., you can create an adorable holiday scene inside a glass apothecary jar.
To start, fill the jar about 2-3 inches high with Epsom salt, which makes great fake snow. Then arrange your trees and other miniatures inside. Some fun ideas to make your jarred scenes more stylized include lightly spraying your miniatures with gold spray paint or dusting your trees with glitter.
Holiday playlists on your digital frame
Your digital frame can easily become part of your holiday decor – all you have to do is create a holiday playlist. A silver Nixplay Iris will integrate beautifully into a holiday theme.
You can include candid images of your family and friends during the holidays, portraits that you’ve taken for Christmas cards, and even holiday-themed nature or home photography. Wintry landscapes, cozy fireplaces, and lit-up Christmas trees are great complements to the more personal pictures of you and your loved ones.
Hurricane lamp lights
Create soft, glowing lighting for your mantel or table with Christmas lights and hurricane lamps.
You’ll need a few bottomless hurricane lamps of varying heights and several strands of Christmas lights. Coil the lights inside the hurricane lamp, running the plug and socket ends of each strand out through the bottom of the lamp. Connect the strands together before plugging the last one into your wall or an extension cord.
DIY wreaths
Storebought wreaths can be lovely, but if you’ve got a bit of time on your hands, why not create a wreath that’s totally unique? There are plenty of options ranging from the incredibly easy to the very advanced.
On the incredibly easy side, consider:
- Spray painting a grapevine wreath white, to add a wintry look
- Hot glue faux Granny Smith apples or lemons into an evergreen wreath
If you’re looking for something more involved, try:
- Creating a recycled Christmas card wreath with old Christmas cards, a stencil, and a styrofoam wreath
- Construct a wreath out of Christmas ball ornaments of varying sizes, felt, and Styrofoam
Decorating for the holidays doesn’t have to be complicated. Any of these ideas can instantly take your decor up a notch and make guests feel welcome. For more decorating ideas, read our post “How to Fit Digital Frames Into Your Office.”
Bea is Nixplay’s Social Media Manager. She enjoys drinking coffee, reading about wars, and writing stories. Send her a message at beatrice.bisais@nixplay.com.