christmas decor

A Book Lover’s Christmas Tree

December 16, 2011 By Kristie Barnett 19 Comments

Decorating with books – one of my favorite things! So I had to attempt a Christmas centerpiece of a bookish nature. I started with a white cake stand and a big stack of books. A few decorations and a bag of mica snow later, this is what I came up with:

I used small porcelain figurines to decorate my book tree and topped it with a porcelain bird.

This photo was my inspiration. My decorator friend, Linda Holt of New Light Redesign, posted it on my FaceBook wall and I KNEW I had to make a version of this! [Read more...]

Filed Under: Seasonal Meditations Tagged With: alternative, book stack, book tree, books, christmas decor, christmas tree, ideas, linda holt, new light redesign

Christmas House Tour & Fabulous Give-A-Way!

December 15, 2010 By Kristie Barnett 9 Comments

It’s hard to believe it’s almost Christmas! Thought you might enjoy a little tour of my home during the holidays.

Fine Tuning & Party Planning for Christmas

December 11, 2010 By Kristie Barnett 3 Comments

A client called me this week about fine-tuning her Christmas decor and helping her plan for an upcoming dinner party at her lovely home. After we introduced peacock blue into her rather neutral decor over a year ago, she wanted to see how she could add that color into her Christmas tree this year. A mix of gold ornaments of different textures and finishes was the base. A dose of evenly-distributed metallic brown and peacock/turquoise balls make for a sophisticated yet unexpected palette.

Oh, Deer – Another Collection!

December 6, 2010 By Kristie Barnett 4 Comments

I *heart* deer. I love to display my deer collection at Christmas time, because people aren’t as likely to think I’m nuts.

Christmas Decor Branches Out

December 3, 2010 By Kristie Barnett 10 Comments

Want a fabulous and unique Christmas centerpiece that doesn’t hog all the table space? Try this trendy alternative – just suspend a branch above the table and hang ornaments from it.

This works best if you don’t have a chandelier – that might get in the way. If you do have a chandelier, you might try hanging a branch over your buffet or serving table instead.

Unexpected Christmas Tree Skirts

December 23, 2009 By Kristie Barnett 1 Comment

Last year after Christmas, I found this beautiful blue ruffled tree skirt on clearance at HomeGoods. I liked it so much, I couldn’t wait all year to use it. I actually used it as a regular tablecloth on a small table and topped it with a large round tray to cover the big circular opening in the middle. Now it encircles my small pink Christmas tree. Using it in an unexpected way throughout the year got me thinking: if I could use a Christmas tree skirt for some other purpose than encircling a Christmas tree, what other things might I use as a Christmas tree skirt? Hmmmmm . . .

The resourceful folks at Real Simple took several simple scarves and wrapped them around the base of the tree to create this fresh and playful Christmas tree skirt. Love it!

scarf tree skirt from RealSimple 252x300 Unexpected Christmas Tree Skirts

Decorating with Candy

December 11, 2009 By Kristie Barnett 2 Comments

I love it when people decorate with unexpected items. Candy can be a fun medium to create beautiful Christmas decor. If you can just keep from eating it.

Christmas Candy in Jars via digsdigs Decorating with Candy

Nontraditional Christmas Color Palettes

December 2, 2009 By Kristie Barnett 6 Comments

I am officially encouraging you to change or maybe just alter your traditional Christmas color palette this year. How about a little inspiration?

white feather tree with pink via purl bee Nontraditional Christmas Color Palettes

Glass Vases, Vessels, and Cloches

July 29, 2009 By Kristie Barnett 7 Comments

You’ve seen how trendy it is to have glass vases, hurricanes, and domes, and cloches on tabletops and in tablescapes, but some of us have difficulty coming up with ideas of what to put into them. So, here are some ideas for you to try. I often load them up with fruit like apples or pears when staging homes to sell. Hemingway Hurricane Vase by Southern Living at Home.