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!  

I decided to do a tabletop version, although I feel quite sure I have enough books to put together one as large as the one above.  The problem is floorspace – where would I put it?

Ahh, there’s always next year . . .  By the way, there’s a lot of fun stuff that is shared via The Decorologist’s FaceBook page.  Why not come over and “Like”?

I love decorating with things that hold meaning to me.  That usually means VINTAGE!

But I also like to change things up.  This year I created a dining room tablescape using mainly green and gold, inspired by my vintage glassware collection.

Remember this chair I recently gilded and reupholstered?  I’ve decided to do the same to three more of these chairs, so that’s another thing on my to-do list before Christmas Eve dinner at my home.

A few vintage Santas on my grandmother’s hutch:

I can’t resist a vignette under glass.  I got this huge bell jar at Marshall’s this year for 19.99!

I piled some necklaces, ornaments, and a vintage card in this apothecary jar. You can see the snow in our yard in the background.

The large tree in our entry, viewed from the living room.

Love, love, love using faux snow when creating tabletop vignettes!

This was taken from my favorite spot in the house, my living room sofa.   I love my old marble fireplace, especially when it’s as cold as it’s been this week in Nashville!

I hope you enjoyed the holiday tour, and now I have a special surprise!  Ruffled Linens, my favorite source for slipcovers and tablecloths, is offering one of my treasured readers this beautiful tablecloth that you see in the photograph below!   Make sure you check out the Ruffled Linens blog and Etsy shop for handmade textiles for your home!

The tablecloth measures about 60 x 77  inches and is made of white linen.  It will look great on most rectangular tables and can hang short or long, depending on the size of the table.  It features a double ruffle along the hem.  This beauty sells for over $100 on Etsy, but could be yours for free!

All you have to do is “like”  The Decorologist on Facebook and leave a comment there that you’d like to win this beautiful tablecloth.  Also, I just started up on Twitter recently, and I’d love to have you on board.   So, all Twitter followers will also be eligible to win!  A lucky winner will be announced on Christmas Day!

Photo Credits:  The Decorologist.

This is the gorgeous entry I helped her create last year – it is in view of the Christmas tree, which ties in this amazing wall color beautifully.

Even a short expanse of banister can benefit from a simple, elegant garland.  We started with a plain, scrawny garland and added large clustered greenery picks to fill it out.  Then a few gold balls to tie back into the tree.

When you’re planning a Christmas gathering, you just focus on the decor and the food you are serving.  But there are lots of other details that are best planned ahead.   When having to seat a large number of people, you don’t want them to feel crowded – but you also don’t want them to feel segregated in different rooms in the house.  We strategically placed tables and chairs  within one area to keep her guests interacting, rather than wandering around trying to find a place to sit.

We also determined that 2 serving stations would be necessary – the one with food in the smaller room with the lovely tree as the focal point, while the drinks, napkins, and utensils will line a counter leading into the larger area where we positioned all the seating.  Better to figure out these details ahead of time, rather than panicking the day of your party!

When we were finished, my client had a short list of  ideas and items to purchase to finish up her party planning, including three glass apothecary jars of varying sizes (like these from Pier 1) to be filled with a variety of turquoise ball ornaments as a centerpiece for the food being served and a few small green and gold centerpieces for the dinner tables.  So, are you hosting a party this Christmas season?

Photo Credits:  The Decorologist

This is the fireplace in my living room.  I’ve got nine small deer that I display on the mantel. 

 I cluster my deer in the garland, like they are peeking out of the forest. 

Most of these lovelies I found at yard or estate sales for less than a dollar. 

I found this sparkly doe at TJ Maxx last year.

I’m using a lot of gold this year rather than silver or mercury glass, like I’ve done before.  It’s a good thing, because there’s a lot of vintage gold deer out there.

My mother bought this deer that was part of a store display over 20 years ago.  It’s hokey, but cute.  My kids love it – it’s name changes every year when it comes out for Christmas.  It’s been Prancer, Comet, Blitzen, etc. – this year it’s Dancer.  Visiting children always want to ride it.

This lovely dear, I mean deer, is always on display in my living room.  But it’s happiest when surrounded by snowy trees and friendly gnomes.

I only collect things I love.  And I only have collections that are truly functional for me or that speak to my decor style.   I enjoy finding creative ways to display my collections, especially during holidays.  What collections do you display at Christmas?

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. 

You might want to spray-paint the branch like they did here.  Use a metallic or high-gloss spray paint to make it sparkly.

Or just go natural with a fat branch and hang a combination of ornaments and candles attached with wire.  Use twine or strong fishing wire to suspend the branch from above.  You might want to try 3M hangers so as not to damage your ceiling.

You like?

Photo Credits:  CB2, Country Living, Ohdeedoh, Pier 1, Desire to Inspire.

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!

This photo from Country Living demonstrates how you can take a skirt you wear – this plaid one is perfect! – and use it as a tree skirt.

Talk about creative.  Check out this Christmas tree skirt made from neckties.

This little number from Laroza Imports is made from recycled juice boxes!

You could gather up triangular fabric scraps to create your own tree skirt creation, like the one here from Noodleheads.

So, now I’m thinking . . . I’ve got this cool collection of vintage aprons that don’t get used nearly enough . . . tah dah!  Vintage apron Christmas tree skirt!

Now you know I’m all about repurposing and thinking outside the box, but I beg you, don’t get excited and decide to WEAR a Christmas tree skirt as a cape like this misguided lady.  I BEG YOU.

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You can use any kind of glass container – I would highly recommend a lid.  Aren’t these ribbons and tags a clever touch?

These were created for a wedding, but I think they’d work great for a Christmas display.  Maybe on the sideboard in a dining room?  The colored ribbons make it extra special and tie it in with the color palette of your choosing.

What child wouldn’t want to hang out in this kitchen for awhile (or adult, for that matter)?

This display on a dining table was set up for Valentine decorating, but I think it’d be great for Christmas as well.

Why not get a little crafty with candy?  Start with a large glass bowl and set a thinner water-filled vase in the middle.  Fill the large glass bowl with peppermints so that the vase is surrounded and obscured from sight.  Fill the vase with white carnations.  Mount an apple on a skewer and stick down the middle.  It’s a Carnation Cupcake!  Or maybe it’s a Carnation Sundae . . .

You could make these candy trees with your children by mounting a triangular form to a pillar candleholder and gluing on peppermints or other goodies.

Create your own gumdrop wreath.  Who knew gumdrops could look so elegant?  You might want to hang this wreath inside, or you might find your front door stratched up by various woodland critters.  Or covered in bird droppings.

Photo Credits:  DigsDigs, Camilla, Southern Hospitality, Flickr, Curbly, Martha Stewart.

I am going more towards turquoise and peacock blues, hot pinks, limey greens, and plums.  I can do this over the base of my traditional greens, but it does require subtracting some of the predictable dark reds.  Metallics are big for Christmas, so lots of gold and a little silver for me.

Christmas trees come in all colors – pinks, blues, and white ones are particularly popular.

Any color or color combination will work for Christmas – as long as it’s in a context with a tree, ornaments, garland, and all the other “traditional” Christmas basics.  Oh, and anything metallic or sparkly is good.  It looks Christmasy, only a lot more fun!

1. Colored papers look like flowers when styled festively.  2. Love that pink shimmery pattern paired with gold metallic.  3.  Holiday charger plates are everywhere – and in cool colors like plum and this lime green.   4.  Metallics are all the rage and work perfectly for Christmas sparkle.  5.  Dark red and forest green no more -  here’s a softened but brightened version of Christmas colors.

The colors of peacocks – both the teal blue and electric green – work great for spicing up your Christmas decor.  I just randomly stick peacock feathers right into my Christmas tree branches.

Blues, greens, and creams make for a serene and sophisticated Christmas palette in this lovely dining room .

Same home, different room.  Rather than throwing in reds and greens in your existing color scheme, why not pick up on what you already have?  The blue on the chair and in the back of the bookcases is simply amped up and spread around in the form of Christmas decor.  It just works.

Maybe you love purple.  Check out this gorgeous table all set for Christmas dinner.

So pick a color, any color!   Inspiration can be found anywhere:  in clothing, wrapping paper, magazine layouts, store displays.  Make a change, spice things up, and embrace what you love when you decorate this year for Christmas.

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.

You’ve probably seen them filled with little brown woven balls and colored rocks - Target even has an aisle full of vase filler material.  But that’s a little too easy, if you ask me.  I like to use the opportunity to display small items or collections that you don’t want to see scattered all over table.  Fill a fat vase with old jewelry, beads, shell necklaces, shells, holiday decorations, marbles, etc.    

Try using glass trifle bowls, punch bowls, glass kitchen canisters, or other glass containers.   Fill them with rice, beans, sand, pebbles.  I’ve even gathered chestnuts from the backyard of a client to bring in some browns and texture to the kitchen.  Think in themes – this picture is an example of a nature or spring vignette.  Devonshire trifle bowl is from Southern Living at Home.

Drop a cloche over any little vignette.  Bird nests and vintage photos are my favorite.  Upon a small stack of books, of course!  If you don’t have a garden cloche, how about using a glass cake or cheese dome?

After Christmas is over, keep the wintry decor going with some vases filled silver balls, white and crystal napkin rings, and shell necklaces.  And top them with vintage black and white photographs, like I did here.

In January, this small punch bowl holds Christmas ornaments that don’t scream Christmas – just winter.

I found a bundle of vintage birthday candles at an estate sale – never used, still in the original packaging.  All for 50 cents.  Who else would want those but me?  But look at the cool retro graphics on these – the colors are so cool.  What a perfect way to show off a quirky grouping of things you love!

Display things that express what your family loves or enjoys to do.  How about a hurricane full of golf balls, matchbooks from favorite restaurants, vintage silverware, bird feathers, even billard balls for a pop of color?  My husband thought of a few more:  old bills, metal screws,  cigarette butts, and gallstones.  That’s why I do the decorating around here.