Christmas Home Tour 2011...Front Door To The Back

Welcome to my Christmas home tour for 2011. Grab a cup of hot chocolate or iced tea for my southern hemisphere friends and enjoy the pictures...oh by the way, there are over 130 of them. Sorry, couldn't help it!!

Before I begin, I want to share with you that 99% of all the things you see in these pictures were either hand made, bought in thrift stores, hand me downs or purchased during after Christmas sales. The only thing we paid full price for is the 12 foot Christmas tree in our family room. All the parts of the old 12 foot tree, that had seen better days, are used as greenery throughout the whole house.  I have been collecting Christmas decorations for over 25 years and save just about everything. I re-use things each year in different ways, so it seems new in a new way. 

Let's begin the tour at the front door...here's my snowman wreath I made last year from 3 artificial wreaths. Click HERE to go back to the original post for the tutorial.

2 old hats attached together for a larger look.

an icicle ornament painted orange for the nose and suspended with fishing line in the center of the wreath.

sticks for arms with little mittens added.

Another idea for front porch decor is my childhood sled with greenery and a big bow.

The entry way greets you with the true reason for the season.

In the kitchen, the baking center has lots of artificial berries that I keep collecting at every clearance sale. You can never go wrong with berries. They work any where.

This little wreath is made from the plastic gasket ring from a glass candle top and the greenery is from the old tree. Click HERE for that project.

More old tree wreaths to label my canister jars. Click HERE for that.

A berry wreath hung from a kitchen cupboard.

Use a 3M hook on one side of the 2 doors.

so that you can still open the doors.

Just a little aside for the cupboard. They had stain glass panels that didn't match and I can't change.

Quick solution is to cover cardboard with fabric and Velcro onto the glass.

Staircase always has the same green garland.

I bought these artificial sugared fruit years ago to add to the finial at the bottom. I made these bows a long time ago and neatly pack them away to re-use each year.

One tip to keep things looking new, especially delicate things like these fruits...don't keep them in the attic. The change in temperatures cracks the plastics and the sugared coating. Everything else I keep in the attic.

These fruits came with an ornament hanger on them already, so I just hooked them onto the evergreen. You could always just wire them on if you had to.

The family room is my quiet neutral zone...greens, burlap white lights and just the colors from all the ornaments on the tree.

The rest of the house is screaming with color, I need one quiet room. lol !!

This is the 12 foot tree just brimming with all our family ornaments. All the ones the girls made in school when they were little, the gifts we received, the ornaments we buy each year for the girls etc...

This cutie I just received from Tina and her daughter Julia this weekend at my ladies dessert party. Thanks Tina...I love it. You can visit Tina at her blog Seaside Stitches by clicking HERE!! ps...she's having a give away.

The tree skirt is just a piece of cheap burlap. Burlap is about $2.00 a yard in some fabric store and is so versatile.

Two branches from the old Christmas tree are wired together to create a swag for each window. Then each is wried to a small nail in the window sill. The bow is made from burlap strapping that you weave for a chair's seat support.

Add a wreath to a picture you already have hanging up to give the wreath more umph !! I used a 3M hook on the glass.

Old garland is wrapped around wire that I shaped like letters. You can spell anything!!

The holiday entertaining has begun, so I put together a wine and beverage area. The bottom of that hutch is from my niece, but I added the top hutch from something else and painted it black to match.

Place all your wine glasses in there and serve the wine on the buffet.

For the party I had this weekend, I punched out card stock circles for each glass.

Each guest writes their name on the circle and it fits on the stem. That way everyone can keep track of their drink.

This big galvanized bucket holds my fabric in my sewing room, but for parties it chills beer and wine!! Bottle openers and a jar to collect the corks!

I love this area...wish a drank beer or wine, but I just can't acquire a taste for it.

This is my mom's old pot wrack from her kitchen. Place plate chargers on each shelf and it's great to serve appetizers or will hold more glasses.

This bureau has made the rounds within my family, but I think this is it's last stop. Painted black, restained the top darker and now it serves as a buffet for parties.

wired a wreath to the front.

Punch bowls were for punch and egg nog, but were placed inside wreaths for a little greenery around the bowls.

I took down the mantel on this fireplace, so it's a big wreath this year. A new mantel is in the works (in my head) so it's a good project for this winter.

I wired 3 old ornaments together and then twisted each bunch on the wreath. Added my ever popular berries and a "Believe" sign.

My Santa tree! Click HERE to revisit that post with instructions for the Santa ornament.

The hutch in my dining room holds my Dickens Village that I started 25 years ago.

The bottom of the hutch is an old tool box filled with old tree greens to hide the wires from the village!

Scraps of thin cotton batting left over from quilts I made is used under the houses. Just cut a scalloped edge for a more decorative look.

I am a wire nut...never like to show them. Each shelf has 4-5 houses wired together and then plugged into their own extension cord. Each extension cord is then brought down to the bottom shelf.

I drilled a hole in the corner of the last shelf and then the cords are plugged into a serge bar.

Cover the cords with the batting and you'll never see it.

This is the Dr Seuss tree in the den.

Lime green flower balls that I bought in the floral section in Walmart add to the topper.

The red glitter sprays add dimension to the tree sticking out like that. They were in the clearance section last year at Walmart for 25 cents.

Clearance section for the rest of the ornaments on this tree too. The trick is to get there the day after Christmas to get the best stuff!

These large glass candies were only 10 cents I think.

The base is Courtney's storage box from here college supplies. Added some cotton batting to look like snow. I put the tree in the box, because the trunk of this tree was a tall metal stick and looked to thin for me. I hid it in the storage container!

Glass ball in a vase is super easy!

Found this in a thrift store off season for 25 cents and the sign too. You could make this easily by wiring jingle bells together in the shape of a candy cane.

Can't forget the dog and the cat! Fish and bone stockings.

or the guest bathroom. Just a little bow on the soap is all you need.

Here's the tree in my husband's office. I decorate it like the tree he had as a boy...big colored lights, tinsel, silver garland and big colored ornaments.

Our bathroom just has a few touches.

Here is another project that I did. Took a mirror off an old bureau from the 90's and painted it black. Mounted to this vanity and now it really add to the piece.

I filled canisters from the kitchen with all white things for a winter look...soap, make-up sponges and Q-tips.

This wreath was round, but I wanted it oval so I squeezed it into shape!

another 3M hook, so I don't make nail holes every where.

Our bedroom is simple with just our original tree when we were married...it's over 24 years old and still holding on...I just can't throw it out.

It's filled with my mom's collection of German ornaments that she just loved.

I've had these candle clips for years and really want to find more.

They clip onto a branch...

and they hold a candle for the look like they had in the olden days with candles for lights on the tree.

Here is the tree skirt I made for $2.50 out of a fleece blanket. Click HERE for that project.

Charlie Brown's sad little tree was a gift from my mother-in-law and I just love it to pieces...so cute!!

Top of the stairs has a spot for a tree.

Kelsie's old quilt and teddy bear for a tree skirt.

and the bow is a ribbon that I saved from a gift a long time ago.

More branches from our old tree.

Kelsie's newly painted bedroom. She hasn't seen it yet, because she's still at school. Big difference from purple to tan!

Metal signs wired for decorations.

off white bisque ornaments and the rest are all homemade by Kelsie from old Christmas cards or from paper towel tubes. Click HERE for that project.

I learned to make these ornaments from my grandmother, but you can find the tutorial any where on the web. Not sure of the name though.

These curly things are in the Christmas section of Walmart. They add great dimension to the tree.

Add ornaments in the smallest places...like hanging from a lamp.

The feather bed at the end is just a Christmas decoration.

Wrapped it in snowflake fabric.

Courtney's room is the next to be painted. She wants gray, but the hot pink will have to do for a little while longer.

Her tree is always silver...

but this year I wired a big silver "C" that was hanging on her wall.

Lots of silver, but in different textures makes the difference...glitter, quilted, matte finish and shiny.

and tree number 9 is in my sewing room...click HERE for a link to that post with instruction for little spool ornaments.

Now out the back door. You know the old saying..."Back door guests are welcomed best!"

I used this area for a hot chocolate bar during the dessert party. Even Annie wanted to be part of the fun.

Fire pit to cut the chill in the air...

blankets to keep you warm...

and the hot chocolate bar!

Make your hot chocolate ahead of time and keep it in a crock pot on low to keep it hot. Have a selection of goodies to add and you're all set. I had chocolate bars, chocolate kisses, marshmallows, graham crackers to dip and whipped cream for the topping.

An old tree with pine cones, birds and nests to add to the outdoor theme.

From the front door to the back door and from my family to yours...I hope you have a magical Christmas!!

~Karen~
ps...I know some of you will ask...this takes me 2 weeks straight. I start the Friday after Thanksgiving and go to bed very late each night!! lol  It would be less time, but I had to fit going to work in there.