Christmas Home Tour 2015 - Part 1 | Vintage, Paint and more...

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Christmas Home Tour 2015 - Part 1

Hello Friends.
So happy you all are able to be here today as
I join with some of my friends in the Holiday Homes Blog Hop.  





Welcome to our home.  Usually I try to come up with a theme or  design element to follow for our Christmas decor each year. This year was no different however, my theme was quite different for me - I chose 
             "Keep It Simple"
  I decided to use items I already had and simply embellish them with bits of paper, ribbon, flowers, and ornaments I also had. Then I mixed in a few special Christmas items that we absolutely love. I decided to use typical reds and golds instead of my usual neutrals this year and I have fallen in love with this new (to me) concept -  a very simple and yet festive bit of decor for our home.
   Today I am sharing our living room and dining room. I will share the family room and kitchen area on Friday as I join our
         Share It One More Time 
ladies with their home tours.  
Come on in grab a cup of coffee, tea, or cocoa and a cookie or two and we'll get started.  
As you came in you walked through our front porch which I shared last week.  

DIY Christmas decor done with thrifted and recycled objects

As you come through the front door you will step into our foyer which is open to our living and dining rooms. You will notice all the pops of red among the gold and black of the vintage industrial and rustic pieces I use year round. (We are in the midst of redoing this area and have tabled it to be finished after the new year. This means lots of projects I'll be sharing with you all then.) 


vintage Christmas vignette with old world Santa, wire baskets, pinecones, sled

 I have a simple little vignette on this table using one of my beloved Old World Santas and a little sled I piled high with wrapped packages.
  I made the "Believe" sign from an old canvas we had that I no longer used.  I just simply painted over the top of it. 

 DIY BELIEVE sign done on recycled canvas, vintage sleigh with faux packages, Santa and mini tree

On the shelf below this little vignette I placed two wire baskets with burlap liners. These add that vintage industrial feel I have fallen in love with lately. 


vintage industrial wire baskets with burlap liners filled with pinecones and faux packages

 Filling one with pine cones and ornaments add texture to the room while filling the second basket  with pretty wrapped  " faux" packages add a lot of color and interest. These packages are actually books I wrap with pretty papers and add embellishments. 

industrial wire basked with burlap liner filled with pinecones and ornaments

 To the right is our living room. 

neutral living room with touches of vintage industrial dressed for Christmas

 I keep the color palette neutral in this area so I can change it up with pops of color to reflect each season - and for this time of year it's red and gold with a touch of black.  For a quick change of added texture and color I like to use interchangeable pillow covers on our throw pillows.  A very simple solution without a big investment. The ones you see here are stenciled drop cloth, sweater, and a DIY felt and drop cloth wreath.  

stenciled pillows, sweater pillows, faux packages, book page covers with wrapping paper, vintage wire basket

Next to the sofa is a round table that I added a very simple bit of color to by covering some old books with wrapping paper.

gold spray painted flower pot with faux berries, twigs and flowers

 Then I simply added a gold vase filled with "faux" berries, flowers and twigs.  Easy, colorful and full of texture.

faux packages in a vintage wire basket with a wooden merry christmas sign

Below the table is another old world Santa and a vintage wire basket filled with more "faux" packages.  I tied a wooden Merry Christmas sign to the front of it.
   
paper wreath with burlap ribbon on china hutch

I hung the little paper wreath I just made with a gold threaded burlap ribbon on the china hutch.  This cabinet houses my tea cup and saucer collection right now but I have other plans for it in the future.
I set our tree in the middle between the two rooms this year. 

christmas decor in the living and dining rooms featuring a christmas tree

 I was really not sure about this arrangement at first but it has grown on me and I actually like it now.  It looks so pretty from either room and gives a beautiful ambiance to each in the evenings. 


living room view with Christmas tree, stenciled pillows, sweater pillows, felt wreath pillow

 Usually I try to do a theme tree and have all the garlands and tree topper on before my annual Christmas tree decorating party with the grand kids each year.  But this year I let them do the whole process from taking the tree out of the box to putting the skirt under it.  I think they did a marvelous job and I have to pat myself on the back for not moving one ornament from where they placed it.
Although they always tell me they like my themed trees they actually like putting all our older ornaments on it. They love putting them on and telling stories about why each one is special to them.  Then there is always the joy of finding their very own ornaments that we have collected over the years.  I let them chose a new one for the tree each year so our ornaments are an eclectic collection
from "Miss A's" snowman addition for this year:

snowman chirstmas ornament

    to handmade ornaments like this wreath:

diy button hole christmas wreath
            
     to this vintage wood angel and more.          
vintage wood angel ornament

I also like to add sprays of berries and pine cones that I pick up at the dollar store along with garlands of burlap ribbon and white pearl beads. Although it's not a designer tree - it's our tree and we all love it.

faux berries and pinecone pics from dollar store added to christmas tree

Next we'll head into the dining room where I have done very little to decorate. With the tree in the center of the two rooms it becomes the highlight of this room also.


dining room at Christmas

I  made a centerpiece for our table using the lanterns I recycled this fall. I placed them on a crochet doily resembling a snowflake that my Mother made many years ago. 

upcycled lanterns with winter scenes used as table centerpiece

I added a little wooden snowman scene to the smaller one along with a big red bow and some jingle bells.


diy snowman and dollar store silver tree vignette in lantern

And the larger one received a small snow covered church in a snowy glen with bottle brush trees.  It also has a large red bow with a snowflake on top. 

winter scene in a lantern

Heading down the hall towards the family room you will find the vintage French table I did a couple of years ago.  I love bringing color into this dark area of our home.

vintage French table with ribbon, burlap and paper trees, ornament wreath and vintage chicken wire window

As you can see I started with the chicken wire window and added the ornament wreath  I made earlier this month.  The red and gold just pops off this frame.


chicken wire window with diy ornament wreath

On the table is a vintage wire basket with a burlap liner filled with more "faux" gifts and a gold spray painted pine cone.  

vintage wire basket with burlap liner and faux packages

Adding to this little vignette are some of the little trees I have made over the years using burlap, ribbon or paper.  I have placed them on candle sticks to give them variegated height and interest.  They are also sporting the reds and golds I love this year.

diy trees with ribbon, burlap and paper

And so ends this first part of the tour of our Christmas home.  Join me on Friday along with the other fabulous hosts of Share It One More Time when I bring you the rest of the tour.
Until then enjoy creating something you love. Be sure to visit the rest of the homes in this exciting Holiday Home Tour. 


Follow the #holidayhomes on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to see all the wonderful tours.



1. Casa Watkins ~ Winter Home Tour, Part 3
4. Karen's Up On the Hill ~ Holiday Hallway and Holiday Homes Blog Hop
7. Creatively Homespun ~ A Vintage Christmas Dining Room
8. 2 Bees in a Pod ~ Guest Room Christmas Home Tour
10. Knock It Off Crafts ~ Holiday Homes Blog Hop: Festive Master
11. Vintage Paint and More ~ Christmas Home Tour 2015, Part 1
12. Inside the Fox Den ~ Candy Coated Living Room
13. Penny Love Projects ~ Holiday Home Tour
14. Made In a Day ~ Mini Holiday Decor Tour
15. Refashionably Late ~ Holiday Home Hop
17. Intelligent Domestications ~ Christmas Traditions Home Tour 2015
20. C'mon, Get Crafty ~ 2015 Holiday Homes Blog Hop






I will be linking up to the parties listed on the Where I Party page.  Please be sure to visit them - you'll find so much creativeness and inspiration at each one.

19 comments:

  1. So beautiful! I love the old world santas!!

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  2. The Old World Santa's are my favorite. Your decor is very elegant and warm. Love the tree in between the two rooms! Your grandchildren did a great job decorating it!

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  3. Cathy - we love too Santa and yours are lovely as is your beautiful home. So happy to share the tour with you...Merry Christmas!
    Vicki and Jenn
    2 Bees in a Pod

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  4. Love all your decorations! The ornament wreath is so pretty, and I love all the little trees! Merry Christmas!

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  5. Love all your touches, Cathy! So classic and charming!
    It was fun joining everyone for this hop!
    Happy holidays friend!

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  6. I love red during the holidays and you mixed it great with your other decorations. And I had to laugh about you not moving a single ornament. When the kids were younger, I would let them decorate the tree and all the ornaments were only on the bottom. I had to wait till they were sleeping to move the ornaments around...lol.

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  7. Hi, Cathy ~ Your house look so beautiful! I love using things I find around the house (or out in the yard) in my holiday decorating. I can always find new and fun ways to decorate without breaking the bank! Thank you for joining the hop. Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

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  8. So pretty Cathy! I love how you arranged everything in your hutch! So unique! Lovin that burlap tree with the berries too! Have a great holiday!
    Kim

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  9. Merry Christmas! Thanks for sharing at Home Sweet Home!

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  10. Merry Christmas and thanks for sharing. I will be featuring this tonight at my Fall into Fall party that opens at 8pm EST. Please stop by and pick up an I've Been Featured button. Thanks. http://diybydesign.blogspot.com

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  11. Wow, everything looks great! And I am still loving that French table you did, it's still stunning!

    Merry Christmas

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  12. Fantastic, Cathy! I really love all the unique touches you've used. I especially love the use of gifts as decor - such a cute idea! - and the berry embelishments on the tree! Such a nice pop of color!

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  13. Your home looks just beautiful, Cathy (as always!). I'm in love with your vintage music paper wreath, as you know :) Your lantern scenes are lovely, too--I'll be on the look-out for some this year to use next Christmas. Thanks for linking up with Vintage Charm--

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  14. Such a pretty tour Cathy! Such a great idea to use wrapping paper to cover the books. The mini trees look great too. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas, Tara

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  15. Sooo cute Cathy. I just died over the adorable snowman. Super adorable and great tour. pinning!

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  16. Love it all Cathy! Fun how you can enjoy the tree from both rooms. I love your little collection of assorted trees and the covered books! Thanks for sharing it wit SYC. Happy New Year!
    hugs,
    Jann

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  17. This room looks so nice!! I absolutely love your tree.. it's stunnig!! It was so fun doing this hop... I'm so glad you were a part of it!! I'm getting so many new ideas for next year already! haha! xo!!

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