Southern Home Moments

I thought I'd share a few of my Christmas decorating ideas while I was in the middle of fixin' the house up.

*For my dining table, I used a solid dark green table cloth.  I placed a lighter shade of green cloth place mats on the table.  On top of them, I used green cloth napkins that I already had, wrapped them in some "candy cane striped" cloth ribbon I already had and tied that in a bow.  Then, I stuck a single candy cane through the center of each bow and it turned out so pretty.  I also placed a "candy caned striped" tall candle in the center of the table that brought it all together.  Simple & cheap because I already had these things anyway.  I like to mix & match all the time with what I already have on hand.

*I also always place my lighted Christmas village on our mantle.  I like to have a snow setting, so I use the jumbo cotton balls.  I always have these in the bathroom anyway.  Just unroll each cotton ball and then gently pull them around some to fluff them.  Lightly overlap them and have some pulled down a bit over the edge of the mantle.  It looks just like snow, and to me, prettier (and cheaper) than buying fake snow already done.

*I made my own jingle bell wreath that I hang on the door every Christmas season.  Just get a big wire hanger from your closet, unwrap it and form it into a circle leaving the "hanger" top still up top.  You'll twist that around when you're done to use as your hanger for it.  Buy a pack of medium sized jingle bells from any store that sells crafts or Christmas supplies and feed them through thickly around the wire hanger.  Once you can't fit any more on it, wrap the ends back together underneath the curved hanging part and you're done.  You can also garnish it any other way you'd like.  I made mine several years ago and we always hang it on our door.