A Christmas home tour with classic reds and whites, a flocked tree decorated with mercury glass, greenery, twinkle lights, cozy candlelight, and touches of vintage old world charm.
It's here! The Holiday Housewalk! And I am so excited to be participating again this year! It is one of my very favorite blog posts of the whole year as I welcome you into my home during the magical Christmas season. If you are coming over from Annie's beautiful tour at Zevy Joy, welcome! I'm so glad you're here! If you would like to start from the very beginning, you can head of to our host, Jennifer Rizzo's blog and get all caught up.
Welcome to our home for Christmas! I hope you leave feeling the magic of the holiday season.
Decorating for Christmas, to me, means the soft glow of twinkle lights and candles, accents of red, greenery, nostalgic vintage santas, and a flocked tree decorated with my mercury glass ornament collection. Above all, it means adding touches of coziness and Christmas magic to our home for our family to enjoy throughout the season.
With four littles, our family room sees a lot of snuggles, reading books, laughing, talking, and playing. It is always so fun to add our Christmas decorations to this room because of the amount of time we spend in here. They make it feel more special than normal. I am still looking for a nativity for this table behind the sectional, but I haven't found one that I love yet. In the meantime, I did a little cloche forest with my bottlebrush tree collection. I love the nostalgic Christmas feel- with old world vintage Santas. I will share this as a printable soon.
One of my yearly traditions is to go pick out my fresh boxwood wreaths and hang them in places around our home. My favorite place is right here in these dining room windows.
In the kitchen, I draped a faux garland and grass bells over my jar shelves.We use these jars multiple times a day, so I really should hang the garlands up on the wall above the shelves. You can download these free printable vintage Christmas botanicals HERE.
One of our favorite things to do as a family during the holiday seasons is to bake together. All of my littles line up at the counter with their aprons on to help me and we make all of our traditional recipes- gingerbread cookies, sugar cookies, fudge, toffee, and this year, our new favorite gingerbread cakes. You can grab the recipe HERE.
This year I had decided that I was going to go neutral with our Christmas decorations, with just little pops of red here and there. Instead, I ended up doing a lot more red than I had originally intended! I guess I am a sucker for those traditional Christmas colors! Our Christmas tree is a mix of my mercury glass collection, rusty bells, floral picks and branches, berries, pinecones, vintage book page ornaments and ribbon. I usually have a big 9 ft. tree in this room, but my baby is jetting around in her little walker now and she is my first one to tear my tree apart! I set to work in the garage to build a box to keep it up and away from her, and I put a smaller Christmas tree (which is the favorite one I own- find it HERE) inside. I love the way it looks! You can grab the DIY box tutorial HERE.
More resources- To see my Christmas tree decorating tips HERE, and my Christmas tree ribbon tips HERE. You can also see how to flock a Christmas tree HERE.
You can read more about my Christmas tree and mantel HERE.
I have been collecting mercury glass for many years, and it is always so fun to pull it out each year for Christmas. I also added these pillows this year. They are so soft and festive!
One of the very best things about Christmas is the twinkle lights! I added some haphazardly to our entryway just for fun.
I will be sharing my kids' Christmas bedrooms tomorrow, but here is a little sneak peek. They love decorating their rooms for Christmas!
These ornaments are ones that we will have forever. My hubby's grandma made them and she loved my Ella so much, so it is only fitting that they go on her tree.
My boys' room.
And one more peek at our upstairs toy tree in our family room/play room. I will also be sharing this space later this week on Thursday!
That's it for now! Thank you so much for visiting! Nina Hendrick's beautiful home is next on the tour and I know you will love it!
Merry Christmas everyone! You can find the sources linked here- just click on the picture below.
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Maureen H Saraullo
I love the trees and the colors you used. I'm thinking of going with blue and white plaid this year instead of traditional red and green. Can you tell me where you got the beautiful rustic bench?
Kristen Whitby
That sounds gorgeous! My bench is an antique.
Britt
Can you share where your mantel garland is from? Thanks!
Kristen Whitby
Sure! I did a tutorial Here: https://www.ellaclaireinspired.com/christmas-garland/
glenda lafont
I get lost in all the pictures. Everything is absolutely perfect and resonates happiness.
Deborah SAARANEN
Absolutely marvelous. Your decorating style is my most favorite...thanks so very much for the inspiration!
Kimberly
Can I ask where you purchased the white hat boxes with gold trim? Beautiful website!
Kristen Whitby
They were from target! And thank you so much!
Camille
Hi, there! Lovely decorating throughout your home--thanks for the inspiration! Can you share a source for the large rustic jingle bells? Thank you!
Kristen Whitby
Thank you! I bought those at Craft Warehouse 🙂
Kelly Elko
Gorgeous as always! I absolutely adore that toy tree! Santa just put you on the nice list!
liz
Your home hugs my heart- it is just so warm and welcoming. You have decorated with just the right touch, it is absolutely beautiful and I am loving your mantle design and of course the magical tree!!
Annmarie
Just love all your decor. You are so talented. Love following along on all your projects and decorating. Merry Christmas to you and your sweet family!!!!
Ashley
Kristen,
I just discovered your blog through Pinterest, and I am so excited! Your home is simply beautiful, and you have absolutely inspired me. I especially love your “cloche garden” with the vintage Santa; I make Putz houses, so I have tons of bottle brush trees that I’ve acquired, and this gives me an idea of what to do with some of them along with some of my favorite Graphics Fairy Christmas images. I look forward to seeing all that you do in the seasons to come!
Happy Holidays, and best regards to you and your beautiful family,
Ashley
Cindy@countyroad407
I loved this tour and adore all of your decor and trees. But the tree in your family room has been my all time favorite tree in all of blog land for like forever! It's gorgeous. Thanks for sharing. I bet your kids love having you as a mom. You are so talented and seem so fun. My kids never got trees in their rooms! Big hugs.
Sue
Your style is exquisite! Thank you for sharing your beautifully decorated home. I live in Canada and it is difficult to get some of the items that you decorate with. This is just so nice to sit down at the computer and enjoy your lovely decor! Merry Christmas!
Kristin salazar
As always, everything is absolutely gorgeous!
Pamela Lee
This is the first time I’ve heard from Ellaclaireinspired this whole year. I know there has been technical issues but I am so grateful to know you’re still creating. My husband and I moved from Coeur d’Alene to Caldwell and I work in Nampa. So howdie neighbor. Love your style.
Cindy D
What a delight to the eyes. Thank you for sharing these beautiful photos of your decorating skills at Christmas. Love the flocked tree with the bells. So inspiring.
Cindy
Lauren
So stunning, Kristen! Your home at Christmas is always one of my favorites and this year definitely didn't disappoint. 🙂
Jenn
Kristen,
I always love seeing your tour every year. I love your collection of mercury glass and I love how you made the wooden box this year. I hope this is your best Christmas yet.
Jenn