Tuesday, December 21, 2010

My Holiday Decor and Paperwhite Update!

In the spirit of the season, I thought I'd share my holiday decor with you.  I wanted to keep it natural and love to use greenery and plants to decorate for the holidays. My husband is Norwegian and grew up with his home filled with Norwegian Nisse or Santas.  I am a big fan of family traditions and have tried to incorporate his family traditions into our home - it doesn't hurt that I am also of Scandinavian descent!  Our tree is filled with sentimental ornaments and I have left all the ornaments where the children have placed them.  So the majority are hanging at a 5 year old's height when standing on the couch in front of the tree :)


On the mantel I used cedar bunches, pine cones, gold jingle bells and flameless candles.


This year I also tried something new - a Scandinavian Cedar Wreath.  I found it on Martha Stewart and knew I had to make it. The only advice I have is ask your local florist/nursery to make the actual wreath for you - I did it myself and it was tedious hence the single version and not the double that Martha shows!


The Scandinavian wreath calling attention to the dessert buffet at our holiday party.



You may remember that I planted Paperwhite bulbs to force for Christmas...well they are here flanked by some of our Norwegian Santa's and they are beautiful! 



And as a follow-up note, I did end up adding alcohol - vodka to be exact.  I do think it helped.  The stems are still tall, but not unruly and there was no stale water smell - just the aroma of martinis as I relaxed on the couch :)

I kept it pretty simple in my dining room.  More cedar in the chandelier to give the illusion of a Scandinavian wreath with navy plaid ribbons and white flowers.  Traditional red and green just don't go with my dining room!




My new armoire dressed up for the holidays....do you see the Santa perched on the "bonnet"?


 And my 5 year old son's contribution to decorating for the holidays - Q-tips in the bathroom candles!


Cheers!
Becky

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