I made a pact with Chris that we would finally decorate for Christmas this year! We blocked off the day before Thanksgiving and dedicated the entire day to finding, buying, and decorating for the holiday. (We donated ALL our Christmas decorations last year so we were starting from scratch.)
Decorating day honestly felt like Christmas morning for both of us – the anticipation of making the house feel cozy, listening to Christmas music, starting a fire, and watching a corny Christmas movie is what our dreams are made of! I hope this becomes a new tradition for us!
I’ve never had a real Christmas tree before so we decided to break that streak and get a real one instead! I don’t think I’ll ever be able to do a fake one again! Of course, I couldn’t decorate for Christmas without making a garland for our mantle. Chris trekked through the woods nearby and clipped a bunch of pine tree branches for me. You can’t beat free garland!
I ended up having PLENTY extra, so I tucked a few branches in vases around the house.
I wanted to keep the decorations simple, cause that just how I roll, and we didn’t want to spend a ton of money on pieces that only get used a couple weeks out of the year. So, I challenged myself to find as much as I could at our local thrift stores. For reference, 80% of what you see in these photos are from thrift stores (minus the furniture + the Christmas tree). The rest are either products from my own shop or pieces I already owned.
The biggest jackpot of all was finding nearly 20 brass candlesticks! I love the eclectic feel of mismatched candlesticks.
I found a few oversized vases at Goodwill! Two had an unsightly color but the shapes were good so I painted them with a speckled and textured beige paint. The other is a gorgeous green bowl vase which I didn’t dare repaint.
My holiday art is sparse, but I did find a couple vintage painting at the thrift store with warmer tones – particularly green – that made it feel a little more festive. Eventually I want to replace the dated wood frame with something a little more current but this will do for now!
I can’t tell you how refreshing it was to redecorate the house! It’s been a hot minute since I’ve done much of anything (decor wise) with our kitchen and living room and switching out the decor gave me a whole new love for this house!
It’s a cozy thrifted Christmas and I couldn’t love it more!
SOURCES THAT WEREN’T THRIFTED:
DO YOU WANT
The Inside Scoop
Where behind the scenes, exclusive advice, and candid conversations are sent straight to your inbox every week.