Christmas Home Tour – Part 2

Welcome to Part 2 of our Holiday Home Tour! This week I’m joining an awesome group of bloggers for the Home For The Holidays Blog Hop, organized by Emily at Table + Hearth (you can start at the beginning of the tour by clicking here).

For those of you who are new here, I’m Amy and I live in a small, rural community on the outskirts of Phoenix, Arizona with my husband, two kids, and four pets. We’re celebrating our second Christmas in our “new to us” home; and we’ve (slowly) been making improvements to make it comfortable and functional for the way our family lives.  We’re a busy family on a tight budget, so we’ve had to get resourceful when it comes to furnishings and home improvement projects. We’re not exactly DIY pros, but we are always willing to give something a try, especially if it saves us a few dollars. But enough about us, welcome to our home!

This year I decided to decorate the front porch. Our winters here in Queen Creek are usually pretty mild, and we practically live on our front and back patios, all winter long. Of course, it was cold and rainy on the weekend I decided to take these pictures.  

My hubby and I found this adorable carafe while thrifting last weekend, and its just perfect for helping us keep a steady supply of hot cocoa on hand. 

I don’t usually leave throw pillows and blankets on my chairs (critters and stuff), but I grabbed some from inside the house to cozy up this space. 

My front door is dressed up with a simple wreath, and a small bit of garland. I didn’t realize just how small a piece of garland this was, until I got it all stapled to the door frame, then stood back to take a look. Oh well, too late now, it will just have to do. :) 

Come on in, hang up your coat, and let’s get warmed up. 

Our entryway is fairly small, just enough space to put a bench, a shelf, and a console table on the opposite wall. The hooks are great  for hanging our coats, scarves, and (usually) bags and backpacks. 

I recently found the artwork on clearance at my local grocery store.  I had been eyeing a similar piece at World Market, so when I saw this one for such a great price, I snatched it right up. I made the coffee filter wreath a few weeks ago – it’s something I can move to another room after the holidays. Or not.

The other side of the entryway also got a little holiday makeover. A simple wreath, some mercury glass ornaments, and a poinsettia lend a little festiveness to this area. 

Our home is an open-concept floor-plan and the main living areas (kitchen, great room, entryway and dining room) all flow together so I tried to make sure the decor transitioned easily from one space to the next. 

Our family/great room is where you’ll find us hanging out most often; watching holiday movies, playing board games, or relaxing on the sofa. 

Our dining room is very “rustic-glam” this Christmas.  I used a lot of natural elements in this space; pine-cones, greenery, and some birch logs my brother-in-law hauled home from a recent trip to the mountains.

I love changing out the chalkboard art for each new season. My daughter is the resident artist, and she re-created a greeting card design from (here). 

The dining room also has it’s own mini-tree in a galvanized bucket. I re-used my DIY cotton ball garland from last Christmas, as well some Dollar Store ornaments, and a couple of the birch-bark stars I shared here a couple of weeks ago. 

I love making up tablescapes (you can see my recent ones here, here, and here). I used some birch logs, greenery, pine-cones, and mercury glass ornaments, for a simple, rustic tablescape. And yes, that’s my burlap table runner, yet again. It’s so versatile and I believe strongly in using  (and re-using) what you’ve got.

 This guy was another grocery store clearance find. Love when that happens.

The last stop on our tour is the corner of the great room that holds the Christmas tree. I used the burlap garland and the Dollar Store ornaments from last year, adding a few new ornaments picked up for cheap.   

 A faux fur rug acts as a tree skirt and is the perfect spot for our wooden crate advent calendar,  which helps fill up the empty space until Santa brings the rest of the gifts next week. 

We don’t have a fireplace or mantle, so the stockings have been hung on the half-wall that separates the kitchen from the great room.  Hmmm… looks like we’ve all been good this year! 

 And that concludes Part 2 of our Holiday Home Tour. In case you missed Part 1, you can click here to find it. Thank you so much for stopping by! Please make sure to visit the rest of the bloggers on the tour – there are so many beautiful homes to see!

Wishing you Happy Holidays from my family to yours!