This week’s Inspiration Workshop! prompt is Holiday Decor. I’ve been *waiting* for this prompt for weeks now, even though we decorated just last weekend. Decorating for Christmas makes me super happy… bringing up the boxes from the basement, rotating fall decor for winter decor. Living in Minnesota ~ and growing up in Michigan, we experience all four seasons ♥. Which means we get lots & lots of snow at Christmas, which I do love!!!
Zack and I are so blessed to have a home filled with so many reminders of our family & friends. Most of the things inside our home has been gifted to us by them, which makes rotating our decor each season super sweet & sentimental.
Want to tour the Whitley home?
Grab a cup of coffee, here we go…
Winter family photo taken in Petoskey, Mi, white paper/cork balls from Target, white stand from Ikea // burlap table cloth from JoAnns, glass tea lites from Target
Stocking holders, felt + fabric winter trees from Target ~ A D O R A B L E, right?!
Glass jars from Ikea, glass cylinder from Pier 1, pine cones from our backyard {tee hehe}, silver string beads + red berry sticks from Ikea, silver glass ornaments from Target,
greenery passed down from my mom :)
Gutted sewing machines {obsessed!} from a local thrift store, red string beads from Ikea, bunched up table cloth
Snowman ornament from a local Minneapolis store, wicker ball from Pier 1, green vase + square platter from Target, wire birdcage from a local artist, silver glass ornament from Target
Nutcracker ~ a gift from my Aunt, mini Christmas tree from a local Minneapolis store, bird wall piece from JoAnns
Our tree — absolutely loving the red + green plaid, the shiny red ornaments and the handfuls of fun and quirky ornaments that tell their own stories. Vintage tins sit under the tree, also from my mom
Minnesota state ornament {from I Like You, local shop}, red & white paper ornaments from Target, Gingerbread “G” for Gussy {right photo, bottom right corner} a gift from my mother-in-law,
Willow Tree nativity set {love this!}, a Christmas gift from my parents the past couple of years
“Bauer’s first Christmas, Minneapolis 2010” ornament by Lisa Leonard. More favorite ornaments ~ passed down from family members {great aunts, grandmas, moms},
gifted to us at our wedding or at our first Christmas
Here are some things I’ve learned that help us decorate:
* Be open to the quirkiness of holiday decorating! We love having memorable Christmas ornaments, but we balance their “uniqueness” by having a few select themes: red + green plaid ribbon on tree & shiny red ball ornaments. We carry this plaid theme to our tree skirt, which is a 2-yard scrap of red & green plaid fabric.
* Gather like items to create small collection. Glass jars, natural items {plants, pine cones, sticks}, themed items {Nutcrackers, snowmen} are perfect for this.
* Add natural items to your home. Nester wrote a great post on this on Monday. One of my favorite things inside our home are the pine cones I brought in from the backyard.
* Carry like colors throughout. For us, this means lots of red, silver + green.
Want to see our home decor from years past? From 2009 and from 2010, part I and part II.
SHARE WITH US: what are your favorite memories or moments during the holidays? I love the warmth of our home, all the family time {we’ll be heading to Michigan soon!!!}, and twinkling lights and remembering what Christ did for us. xoxo
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This week’s Inspiration Workshop! prompt is HOLIDAY DECOR!
♥ Share your blog post with us by linking up below. I’ll be clicking through the links so I hope you join the party and share your inspiration!!!! You have through Sunday night to share your DECOR IDEAS! :]
It’s a-OK! to link up an older post to the current weeks Inspiration Workshop!, or link up on Friday, Saturday or Sunday {instead of on Thursday} — just as long as it’s relative to the weekly prompt. The linky parties are open through Sunday nights at 11:59pm CST, and you certainly may link up a post that you previously wrote :]
Want even more inspiration? Read all previous Inspiration Workshop! posts by clicking here.
♥ REMEMBER to click on the links added that surround yours, and if you like what you see leave a comment. xo!
Maggie I love your decorations! :) I also have a Willow Tree Nativity set that we got pieces of for Christmas. It is time to start adding to it! :) Enjoy the holidays lady! :)
Maggie your home looks A-MAZING! I love the themed clusters, especially the pinecones/greenery/cork.
You asked about favorite memories/moments during holidays. My favorite memory is whole family gathering at my MomMom’s house on Christmas Eve when I was a kid. It was the one time every year I got to play with all of my cousins (we’re spread out). I loved the night of eating/gussying/playing and the tradition of getting a new pair of pajamas to wear for when Santa came!
Hope you’re having a great holiday season. Merry Christmas!
THANK YOU kasey! xoxo
I laughed when I saw Bauer’s first Christmas ornament – I have the EXACT same one from my daughter Caroline’s first Christmas last year!
haha, yes, Bauer is really a little boy dressed up like a dog.
i love you decorations! we’re going to get a tree tomorrow (our first as a little family) and I couldn’t be more excited!
hope you’re staying warm- every christmas (except this one) we travel to MN to spend the holidays with my husbands family (about 3 hrs. northwest of the cities). it’s always so cold! :)
LOVE your Christmas Decorations!! So pretty!!! =D
I love all these sweet holiday touches in your home, Maggie! Those trees on the mantel are so cute. :)
Hubby & I are celebrating our first Christmas together, and I had SO much fun decorating! I need to take pictures {should have done it already} so I can share! We went pretty simple, but I think it’s lovely. ;)
such an awesome first Christmas to be celebrating :)
Your home looks great, love your nativity.
You house is so freaking cute! I wish mine was as cute!! We are working on redecorating right now or I would post pictures of our Christmas decorations.
Yay, I have been meaning to link up and then just saw this was the last one for the year! Next year I will be more on it!
I love your quirky little trees from Target and the beads on your sewing machine! Everything looks great and your home is so adorable!
Very festive! Love the Willow Tree nativity set!
Your house is so sweet! Such fun seeing all of your clever touches. I love all the jars filled with holiday goodies. Merry Christmas!
Love the little touches of Christmas in your home! Simple, but great!
I love my Willow Tree Nativity too. I dont have the wisemen yet but Ive got all the other pieces. Its such a serene set…not gaudy at all. My mom actually got the camel & shepherds sets for me one year at a gift shop the day after Christmas for 1/2 off! Now thats a deal:)
Im curious to know if you’ve discovered anyone else with “our” fireplace:) Im still amazed that yours is the only other one Ive ever seen in blogland. Its one of my favorite things about our old house so Im always on the lookout for others. Weird maybe but its got so much character.
Merry Christmas!
Love, love, love your decor. You’re home looks so inviting! Thanks for sharing and for allowing us to link up :)
such a beautiful home and decorations {i love the wire bird cage}! we didn’t decorate because we’re moving in 10 days but from now on, i’m going to shut my eyes and pretend i’m surrounded by your lovely decor. thank you for sharing!
as far as favorite family moments ~ one of them is that we love to watch “Elf” together!
seriously, your space is soo beautiful!! i hope to one day decorate our house that nicely for xmas!!!
LOVE your decorations. Such fun touches everywhere. Your house is so pretty!
i love all your decorations! they tell such a great story, which is my favorite party of christmas! getting to know people is the best part about blogging!
Gah, I love these photos. They really set an interesting mood. I love it! I actually just did something similar with a super easy, modern DIY Christmas decoration piece that mimics a Christmas tree but was super cheap.
Thanks for the photos. Super inspiring :)
-Carly @ Createlive
Your decorations look great. I live in an older home too, it was built in 1890, I see a lot of your home in mine. Merry Christmas!
You have such a beautiful home. And I love your nativity. It is so pretty.
The photo 61. above belongs to my site, http://www.citrusandorange.blogspot.com.
Pam and Nikki, some ideas you can have your students do with these cards:* Students can spell words with matengic letters* Students can spell words with pipe cleaners* Students can rainbow write words (always a favorite in my class)* Students can cut letters out of a magazine to spell words* Students can stamp words* Students can use bingo dabbers to spell words* Students can form letters with play dough to spell words (or cut them out of play dough with letter cookie cutters)If you have students that can put these words into sentences that would be wonderful. They can even use the words to write a story! It all depends on their level :)Caitlin