With December comes the holiday decorating rush! We’ve just started decorating for Christmas here.
As much as I love the Christmas season, I like to fully embrace Thanksgiving before I move on to Christmas! I’m definitely on team #oneholidayatatime
A straw cardinal greets guests at the front door!
My last post was an update with practical tips and everything you need to know for getting a beautifully decorated and meaningful holiday tree. But with over 300 blog posts here, I’ve written a LOT about holiday decor and food!
we’ve gotten SOME of the exterior holiday decor up…the front door is ready for a holiday welcome!
SO, I’ve rounded up some of the posts with the most useful information or inspiration for your convenience. Just click on the highlighted text for the link to more info on any of the topics that are of interest!
The Holiday Entrance
The front door is, of course, an important place to start with your decor. Making a welcoming first impression on your guests with a beautiful wreath is easy… anemic plastic bows need not apply!
Here are our 3 easy tips for a swoon-worthy holiday wreath
And once your guests are inside, the foyer is the next place where a touch of holiday should be in evidence. You don’t need to go wild, but there are usually at least a few opportunities to add some holiday cheer to the entry foyer.
Trees, Garland, and Mantels…oh my
And here are posts on
7 Christmas tree decorating ideas (from the year we designed 7 different themed trees for a commercial project!),
library mantel
Gift Wrap and Bows
And here is a post of tips for easy and elegant gift wrapping
Holiday House Tours
And here are Christmas house tours
from the 2019 Concord Holiday Showhouse, an annual display we were invited to participate in that benefits the Concord Museum
and assorted rooms decorated for Christmas in my own house in 2020
A Christmas mantel in a music themed living room in a holiday show house
Holiday Food and Recipes
And then there is food - for entertaining or gift giving…food is ALWAYS an important part of the holidays in our family! We made this charcuterie wreath last year for our Christmas Eve celebration.
But here are some perfect easy and delicious holiday appetizer ideas.
Nothing is so quintessentially the flavor of Christmas as gingerbread!
Here is the BEST gingerbread cake recipe which we LOVE to bake in these adorable house shaped individual size portions.
And here is our favorite gingerbread cookie recipe for gifting (and eating!).
This post also contains some of our go-to options for packaging food gifts…presentation is everything (well…after flavor, anyway). Beautifully presented food is always perceived as tasting better!
And last but not least this super easy (only 4 ingredients!) and totally addictive recipe.
If you make nothing else, this is totally worth trying - caramel, chocolaty, toffee flavors with salty and sweet together make it the perfect treat IMO.
Just plan to give most of it away as it is impossible to resist - AND you will be super popular with the recipients!
