This Post May Contain Affiliate Links. Please Read Our Disclosure Policy here
It’s the week before Christmas, and while the to-do list always feels long this time of year, I’m excited for next week. And I’ve managed to find a few small pockets of time for my very favorite activity…puttering.
I like to decorate for Christmas in phases—adding wintery touches (like the winter table and chandelier I shared here), a bit of greenery, some lights—then slowly building from there as Christmas approaches or as I’m inspired.
Too much change all at once just overwhelms me! My goal in every season is to maintain my sense of peace, so the best way I know to do that is to go at my own pace and do only what inspires me when I’m inspired to do it!
How my home feels and how I feel in it matters deeply to me. Even though I’ve shared my home online for nearly 20 years now, I never decorate my home like it’s a showplace. It is our sanctuary.
I am a true homebody at heart, so I love puttering—making a little tweak here, a little change there, in ways that work for us in our everyday life and honor the season we’re in.
Today I’m sharing a few little glimpses at what I’ve done around the house lately with some new simple Christmas touches added. I’ll share more photos for our “Christmas tour” in the coming week, and I’ll have our annual Christmas video up after Christmas too (so I can include a few real-life holiday moments, too —our kids and grandbabies will all be here and I can’t wait!).
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, or a little disappointed by things you hoped to do this season or could not do, I filmed a pre-Christmas pep talk this week for fellow Homebodies in my Homebody group called “Just Because You Can, Doesn’t Mean You Should.” This little mantra has encouraged me in many ways this season, so I think this video would be an encouragement to you, too! It also includes a few moments from my home this week. You can find that—and so much more—right here.
I’d love to have you join us in The HomeBody House for our virtual Wintering for Homebodies retreat and for the new The Room Recipe Workshop that starts in January! More to come on that.
By the way, before I share more, is anyone else still gift shopping? I have a few gifts left to get! You can find my Last Minute Gift ideas HERE (with things our family has and loves!).
I had already styled this for Christmas, but our mix of plates is always changing and I just added a little antique wintery creamer I’ve had for years.
Sources: Dish Set on Rack // Green Floral Plates and Bowls on back // Similar White Houses // More Similar White Houses // Oval Cabbage Platter // Blue and White Teapot at Top
I set out our blue and white nativity scene–the reason for the season!
More Sources: Nativity Scene also available here // Paper Trees // Pleated Lampshade
Last week I got inspired to add a few sprigs of festive red berries to my Christmas chandelier which was already decorated with the cedar garland and plaid ribbon I added before Thanksgiving.
We put our garland up on the porch recently (with real evergreens from Costco) and hung up our stars! It’s so magical to see them dancing in the wind. They are joy bringers for sure!
I shared more of the porch and our front door here in this post last week.
I got our staircase garland up and added black and white striped ribbon and our gold star garland. Simple but charming.
I decided to bring our brass bunny and fox bowls over to the mantel and added copper string lights for extra glow. Our blue velvet stockings are hung now (it seems the dogs aren’t interested in them this year, so they are leaving them alone!). And I added these darling needlepoint Santa stockings we’ve had for years. I also hung our pretty painted shells with the stockings (not shown here but I’ll have the pics in my Christmas tour).
(Velvet stockings are unavailable right now but I got them here // find similar needlepoint Santa stockings here)
These flameless votive candles are on a timer so they come on automatically when it starts getting dark out and I’ve been enjoying turning on the string lights when I come downstairs early in the the morning for extra coziness.
If you missed it, I shared all the mantel details here.
I’ll have more photos and ideas to share next week for our Christmas tour!
Thank you for stopping by for my Christmas Puttering! 🙂
