Changing Up Christmas

So, if you thought my ribbon tree was "patriotic"-check out the rest of my decor. To me, it doesn't seem "4th of July" simply because I would never use turquoise for that holiday, but it doesn't really matter, because I loved changing all my stuff!

Our tree, as seems to be the norm now, was ridiculous. Long, painful story, but we cut it ourselves, and after three hours of looking this was the best we could do. I promised Joel that next year we will just buy a tree from a lot!;) I actually liked its personality-I don't love cookie-cutter trees, or decorations, so it was fun.

I know lots of people think tinsel garland is tacky, but I thought for our gap-holed little tree that it gave it some kitsch. I used all the red ornaments that I already owned and bought about 8-10 new turquoise ones from Walmart for $1 each. I bought a 6 pack of glitter turquoise balls from Hobby Lobby to round it out. Our tree was unable to hold a tree-topper, so I skipped that part!

This was supposed to be a candy cane wreath, but time ran out. Instead, I piled all my candy canes in a dish from the Dollar Store, and I thought the little "Merry" sign from Michael's (also a buck) was cute in front of it. It turned out to be one of Joel's favorite things.

I had a ball wrapping my gifts this year. I love to wrap gifts, and I prefer paper over bags. I only used coordinating papers, and that made it so much more fun! I didn't buy anything this year-all of it was clearance from last year. It was absolutely providential that I bought it all in the colors I decided on-the turquoise paper was from two years ago!

I used all kinds of embellishments and mostly only fabric ribbon. I put on ornaments, candy canes, and lots of bows! I was really pleased with how cohesive it looked. 

My new stockings were the most expensive, but I absolutely loved them! I didn't want matchy-matchy, and I am somewhat opposed to ones with embroidered names (I don't know why) and these were perfect! I also loved the little red glitter tree that you can see at the top-Hobby Lobby!

My ribbon tree found a home on one of the lower shelves and I thought it tied it all together nicely.

I hung my snowflakes from last year in my kitchen pass-through, interspersed with ornaments on fishing wire. I liked being able to use something I already had, but in a completely different way. I couldn't get them to stop turning long enough to get a decent photo.

I thought the fireplace needed a little color, so I threw together a simple pennant banner from scrapbook paper. You can't see it, but there are snowflakes on one of the red papers, and another says "Merry Christmas"- it made it feel more holiday.

Another thing that I didn't get a great photo of was my ornament bowl. I filled it will matte, shiny, and glitter ornaments in different sizes. Would you believe there are over 60 balls in that bowl?! I used leftover banner paper to mat this adorable printable, that is framed above the bowl, and I loved the way it turned out.

And that's it! I was thrilled with how fresh it felt-we hadn't replaced our decorations since we got married, and they weren't really "me" anymore. I love the unexpected! Using a color I already had in my living room (turquoise) helped to pull it together. I got a lot of impact without spending a ton of money and best of all-it was really simple to store.