2013 Holiday Housewalk – Nature Inspired Christmas

Hi everyone, thanks so much for stopping by to see my 2013 Nature Inspired Holiday Housewalk!  I’m a little late to the party, but better late than never.  I’ve been so inspired by all of the lovely homes, and want to thank Jennifer Rizzo for being such a gracious host.

For those of you who are new here, I’m Amy and my little family of four recently bought a house that we have been slowly personalizing to fit “us”.  As new homeowners on a tight budget, we’ve had to get creative in furnishing our home.  We’ve just started on this journey and have a long way to go, but we’ve made some progress on our great room and dining room, so those are the rooms I’ll be sharing with you today.  With a full time job and two busy teens, I try my best to keep my decor as simple and functional as possible, especially during the holidays.  I’m also making a conscience effort to only purchase things for my home that are both beautiful and purposeful.  I got rid of tons of holiday decor before we moved in, and will work on replacing it with things that fit “us” and our new home.  That being said, welcome …

This is our artificial tree, stuffed with free clippings from the tree lot at Home Depot.  We’ve had it for several years and it’s starting to look a little “thin”, but a new one just isn’t in the budget this year, so tree clippings will work just fine (plus, they make the house smell like Christmas).  

I usually decorate our tree in a “vintage toy” theme, with traditional Christmas colors, and lots of ornaments made by my children.  Although I love our usual tree, I was craving something different; calmer.  I wanted a natural, woodsy look this year.  I soon found out that buying all new ornaments would be expensive and we have other financial priorities right now, so I got creative and filled the tree with found objects, gift card purchases, and inexpensive ornaments from the Dollar Store.

The pine cones were collected on walks in my neighborhood and painted with white acrylic paint to look “frosted”.  The burlap garland was purchased at Home Goods with a gift card I received for my birthday.  The pom-pom garland was made by me, using cotton balls and white thread, and several of the other ornaments were ones I already had.  The branches and vines are clippings from my yard.

I carried the ‘natural” them over into my gift wrap as well.  Tree clippings, burlap, twine, and my new best friend, brown packaging paper.  I also used some sheet music wrap that I purchased at Home Goods.

The sofa is a recent purchase, and is so comfy, you will almost always find “someone” napping on it …

The sweater pillows were made by me, the fur pillow and throw were purchased years ago at Target.  We are still looking for the perfect furniture pieces to fill up the rest of the room.  

And our tree lit up…

Our dining room is just off of the great room, and is in the midst of a makeover.  While the room isn’t quite finished, we found some furniture that fits our new decorating scheme. The dining room table has been dressed in a “runner” of little Christmas houses that I picked up from the Dollar Store and spray-painted white.

I love how the glittered roofs catch the light…

The hutch got glammed out too…

My Thanksgiving banner got updated with “Believe” printed on sheet music.

And my thrifted manger, or parts there-of, so as not to forget the reason for the season.

And the last stop on our tour; my back patio where the hot cocoa bar has been set up, next to the fire pit.

Thank you so much for stopping by!  Wishing you a very happy holiday…

Amy

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