Before I get into the meat of today’s post, I’d like to take a moment for reflection. This is Post #200! It’s hard to believe this blog is almost 3 years old and has 200 posts. I’m so grateful to y’all for visiting my little corner of the world, sharing our gardening/chicken/food adventures – and the books. It is so lovely to have you along for the journey. Okay, sentimental moment over, let’s get to the good stuff: Christmas decorations!
For all the dark nights and dreary cold, I have come to love hibernation season. The slower pace, the primal urge to burrow into a blanket nest and rest until the world wakes up again come Spring. I lean into the cozy, I embrace the cozy, I cannot get enough of the cozy. Is it any wonder that I have, again, opted for all the simple, cozy, vintage-y Christmas vibes?
While some of the decorations are generally the same as last year {as expected: the colored felt ball garlands stayed up all year}, I’ve made a few tweaks. Especially outside, thanks to my string of solar lights finally shining their last. I went with warm white for their replacement, to match the looping twinkle lights under the carport, and I love the way it looks.
Also very much a fan of this adorable chicken I snagged at Tractor Supply.
As much as I love colored strands of lights, warm white twinkle lights have become my go-to. For everything. They worked so well on my little Norfolk Island pine, I kept that as my “Christmas tree” this year. I did have to completely restring the lights because this guy grew over the summer! You can see the “spike” from the growth spurt. I remembered I have teeny-tiny glass balls, so I added a few dozen for a little sprinkle of muted color.
The balls gave me so much joy that I filled a dish with them and added them to my plant table. Fun fact: I have several thousand glass balls, in varying sizes and so many colors. When I set up my big tree, which I have not since being married, it’s essentially a ball tree. And it is glorious.
I’ve scattered dashes of whimsy, color and festive cheer among my plants and bookshelves, adding to the cozy already established without getting overwhelmed.
Not a decoration necessarily, but definitely cozy and colorful: my wrapping paper, also from Tractor Supply. {Seriously, who knew Tractor Supply had so much fun stuff for humans? I love it!}
As much as I love the splendor of a Christmas wonderland, there is also a case to be made for adding simple festive touches to your existing environment. Little extras that enhance {and enchant} without dumping a lot of preparation and/or undecorating stress. Meanwhile, I’m over here trying to figure out if I can add more twinkle lights somehow …
How do you like to decorate: over the top or simple + cozy?
Do you prefer warm white lights or multicolored?
And is there such a thing as too many glass balls?
It all looks so lovely, Rebecca. For my tree, it’s white lights and the more the merrier. I have paired strands of solid white with strands that blink white. I did this completely by accident one year after Christmas when I stocked up on lights at 90% off – not realizing they were not all the same, and I love it! And I LOVE glass balls. You can get them for a song at any yard sale, thrift store, etc. I have a big glass vase I fill with them for the house, and another for on top of the piano at church. They just speak Christmas to me 🙂
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Thank you! ❤ Oh wow, mixed lights! Can't beat that sale though! And I think if not all of them are blinking that would help offset the strobe effect. One year at mom's the lights got switched from steady to FAST blinking and it was unsettling, lol.
Glass balls are so perfectly Christmas, and I love finding the vintage ones – there's a depth of color there you can't find in newer balls {but that's not stopped me collecting any and all yet}. 🙂
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Love it! And that wrapping paper is TOO CUTE!
Things look very festive and cozy, without being overwhelming. Life still has to go on and I don’t like decorations to get in my way!
Those glass balls are charming. That’s one thing I don’t have, but it reminds me of childhood. My mom always filled various glass containers with globes of various colours and it was lovely.
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Isn’t the paper just the cutest?! I’ve got a whole stash of wrapping paper, but when I saw those rolls I had to have them. {And they were 40% off!}
Life definitely still goes on, and we always plan a deep clean after Christmas so I really don’t want extra massive putting-away to do, LOL
Glass balls are the best. My mom also has a huge collection – and now a very large shatterproof collection, due to kittens + littles in the house {my niece loves Christmas}. I’m so used to them being on trees, I didn’t immediately think of filling my dish with them until I was sorting out colors. So glad I did 😀
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Rebecca, your decorations are beautiful! I am a simple & cozy Christmas decorator. I love any color of Christmas lights, but I prefer them static rather than flashing or twinkling. Those make me woozy! There is no such thing as too many glass balls! They’re so pretty!
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Thank you ❤ Huzzah for Team Glass Balls! 😀 hehe… I'm not a big fan of flashing lights either. My battery-powered twinkle lights have like 10 different settings, but I usually have it on static. There is one that's a gentle barely-there fluctuation that I don't mind sometimes but usually it's a steady glow 🙂
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Love your decorations. We don’t celebrate it here but I would love a cozy decor any time.
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Thank you 🩷 Cozy decor is the best, because it’s so universal!
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Gorgeous!
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Thank you! 🩷🎄
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