3 Things for Christmas

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas" seems to be an understatement at the Hesington household this year.

We've broken out the Christmas Decorations, put up the Christmas Tree and all that was left were some quick & easy finishing touches.  It wouldn't surprise Scott if I came home every day with something else to add to our decor, but I've stopped myself here.  Hopefully, you can use these 3 Things to help motivate your Christmas decorating:

1.   Mistletoe Kiss Potpourri.

If you happened to catch my Fall Decor or 3 Things for Fall post, you know I'm a stickler for holiday scents.  I'm not the traditional potpourri lover, and instead go for the seasonal bags that look AND smell equally appealing.

I got this Mistletoe Kiss Potpourri from The Fresh Market for $4.99.  The large glass bowl holding them was a wedding gift from Crate&Barrel, which turned out to be the perfect addition to the coffee table.

2. Christmas Scented Candles.

Whether you have a live tree or not, Christmas Scented candles can bring the holidays to your home in one quick flick of a light. Pictured is Yankee Candle's Balsam & Cedar.

Scott picked this one and a few others up on Black Friday from the Yankee store for Buy One Get One 50% off.  Gold Star!

3.  Ornament Garland.

Scott gets another gold star for this one because he did this all by himself.  I mean...I do all of the decorating while Scott does things like work out and grill steaks...

We picked these strands of colorful Ornament Garland from Target last year in their After Christmas Sale.  You can find versions of it this year as well as the colorful garland from our Christmas tree in stores or online.  Big, bright and colorful ornaments go perfectly with our tree:

More Whoville, go figure.

*TIP: It doesn't have to take an entire weekend and a team of elves to bring the Holidays home to you.  Start with 3 Things, and keep adding to it little by little, day by day!

O Christmas Tree

It's tradition in my family to decorate the Christmas Tree on Black Friday, and this year Scott and I were inspired to keep it going.  Although I had to work all day, I was excited to come home, put up  our Christmas decorations and start on the tree.

Scott and I have decided to use an artificial tree until we move into a house.  Since we live on the 8th floor of a condo (thank God for elevators!) it's a bit of a hassle getting a live tree in and out.  That, and we don't have the luxury of sweeping all of the fallen needles out into the backyard.  They could be swept onto and over our balcony, so I think we're doing our downstairs neighbors a favor.

An artificial tree it was, and believe it or not we got this one two Christmas's ago at K-Mart.  We waited until the day after Christmas when everything was 75% off and got this pre-lighted beauty for around $50!  On top of that, this was the year we got our ornaments, garland, and lights from Target also at a huge discount. 

 *TIP: If you're wanting to get a completely new look and/or a new tree, the day after Christmas sales are totally worth the wait.

We set a similar type of tree up last year, but this year is the start of a new tradition where we are only putting new ornaments up that we've purchased together. 

Without any more babbling, I present to you our very first Hesington Family Christmas Tree:

Just like our other decorations, we kept the fun & funky colors and prints theme going.  I told Scott it everything together looked a little like Whoville, but it's finally grown on me and this year I love it.

Let's start the tree breakdown with my favorite part: the live animal decor.

I don't care if you're a cat person or not...that's stinking adorable.

Next, the lights.  Our Christmas tree came pre-lit, but Scott had a great idea of adding more.  We have the pre-lit multi-colored strands, but then added 3 colored to white dimming sets.  I like how it changes and gives the tree movement.

After the lights, came the garland, again purchased from Target.

More COLORS!

After garland comes ornaments and we stuck to the basics.  Part of our After-Christmas purchasing was a small medium and large ornament set.  All three came in bright colors, funky patterns, and a variety of shiny, matte and sparkles from Target:

To offset the brightness we added a few matte white ornaments:

From there, we are now only allowing ourselves to add ornaments we purchase together.  This ballerina is from our trip to ICE at Gaylord Palms two years ago:

We have also started a tradition of giving each other Christmas ornaments on our dating anniversary, which is New Years Day.  The rule is you have to get it after Christmas on sale, and last year Scott got me this adorable fish ornament from Pier 1 Imports:

And last, but certainly not least another highlight is our Christmas Pickle.  It's been a tradition in my family for years to play "find the pickle ornament" on the tree every Christmas Eve. 

 Whoever finds it first (after it's re-hidden...of course) gets to open a present on Christmas Eve.  It's a great game for a family of all ages, even one like ours that just constists of me, Scott, the cats and this guy:

Roadie's great at games, when he's not distracted by Christmas Tree toys...

(which by the way, has already been destroyed).

Let's finish off our Christmas Tree Breakdown with my favorite part of decorating: the star.

We had it lit up last year, but the base of it that carried the light disappeared over the year.  Somehow, Scott rigged it to stay up so at least we have something up there.

I really want to find a better tree-topper, or even make one of my own.  I have some ideas for a DIY project, but don't want to give too much away just yet.

So that's our first official Hesington Christmas Tree. 

I hope you like it! :)

Off to try to figure the topper out and get more ideas inspired by Pinterest...

Questions:

• Have you started decorating or gotten your tree yet?
• Do any of you play the "find the pickle ornament" game?

Christmas Decorations Time

I've been hearing Christmas music since the end of September, preparing for The Singing Christmas Trees and am excited that the rest of the world is finally on my page of decking the halls and going on sleigh rides.

As much as I love Halloween and Thanksgiving, nothing beats the tradition of decorating at home for the Holidays.  This year we decided to keep it simple, but fun.

You may have picked up on the fact that Scott and I have a decorating sense that you wouldn't necessarily find in a Martha Stewart Magazine.  We like fun & funky colors and prints and share a love for a contemporary dream home made up of unique furniture and pieces.

With that said, I get little approval for anything in the country chic category, so I welcome you to a fun and contemporary Hesington Christmas Decorating Party...

Mini Christmas Trees:

We got the set of teal and mint green mini trees from Urban Outfitters in the After Christmas Sale in 2009.  Last year we decorated them with the mini ornaments, also from UO, but this year we added the mini strands of lights which Scott picked up from Michaels. I LOVE these little guys.

HB&SH Stockings:

We got everything you see in this picture a few years ago from Target.  My favorite part about them is the HB & SH initials, which are really crystal lettered broach pins:

I love the funky JOY & NOEL stocking hangers, also from Target:

Oh, yeah...by the time I got finished taking photos around the house Scott added some white Christmas lights to the fixture.  I thought it turned out pretty cool:

Candy Cane Trees:

Now, this "believe" sign might have been pushing it for Scott's taste, but I fought for it (and won).  I found the sign and the red and white tree cones at Stein Mart last Christmas.  The cones actually came in a set of 3, but I'm still debating on where to set them up.

For now, they're on top of the aquarium.

Kitchen Stuff:

It doesn't take much to add a little holiday touch to your kitchen.  Just like my Fall Decor, I headed to Home Goods to find this set of hand towels for $5.99.

There's nothing more pleasing when you're washing your hands than to smell a seasonal scent.  This Wish Peppermint hand soap was only $4.99 from Home Goods.  It is surprisingly strong, which makes it refreshing...and addictive...believe me! :)

We always display colorful or seasonal napkins in our contemporary napkin holder from Ikea.  They have tons of bright and fun napkins there, but for the holidays I found a the "Plenty for All" Raindeer napkins, again from Home Goods.

We also put our "H" napkins on top, which was a present we saved from Christmas last year.

Lights:

Every time I turn around Scott finds more Christmas lights to put up.  Here you can see our curious kitties scoping out what's going on out on the balcony...

And, of course more lights:

 

Creative...yes...but I'm still not sure about that one.  I love the candle holder though, which was an engagement gift from Pier 1 Imports.

That's the majority of our Christmas Decor, but keep an eye out for even more coming soon!  I'll leave you with a sneak peak at our first Hesington Family Christmas Tree:

Questions:

• Do you prefer a contemporary or more country decorating theme?
• When do you normally start decorating for the Holidays?

Fallin' on a Budget

Being a native Floridian, I don't get to watch the seasons change as much as I'd like to.  I've only been in snow 2 times in my life and if you ask me, (at least majority of the years) the only way you can tell the seasons are changing here are by the seasonal flavors at Starbucks like Pumpkin Spice, or Ginger Bread Lattes.

This is about the time of year I wish we had more leaves changing in Orlando.  I absolutely love the smell of backyard bonfires, pine cones, pumpkins & anything with a Fall scent.  I love the warm fall tones like reds, oranges, and yellows and if I had my way I would decorate the whole house with these colors during the Autumn months. 

There's only 1 little problem with that idea...I can't justify spending extra money on seasonal decor, just to take it back down a few months later.  Decorating your home with pumpkins, autumn leaves, pine cones and straw is super fun and homey if you ask me &  kudos to anyone out there who can pull off a whole house transformation this time of year.

As for me, I like to keep things on a budget and limit myself to purchasing 5 things per season.

*TIP: Avoid going to department stores for seasonal purchases.  Discount decor stores like Michaels, TJ Maxx, Stein Mart, Home Goods, and even Target are a great way to decorate on a budget and have a variety of cute, affordable styles to choose from.  There are tons of ideas out there on how to decorate for the seasons on a budget.

Here are my top 5:

1.  Autumn Leaves Wreath

I don't know what it is about them, but I've always loved hanging wreaths on front doors, even when I was growing up.  This is a great way to set the seasonal tone for your home, even before you go inside.  This was my most expensive purchase, I got this one at Home Goods for right under $25. 

2. Fall Scented Candles

As much as I would like to buy out the entire Bath & Body Works fall collection, I didn't.  I actually found this Pumpkin Spice candle at Home Depot, last year after the Holiday Season for $6.

*TIP: We like to shop after the holidays are over to get 50% or higher OFF of seasonal products.  Halloween costumes, candles, serving plates, and towels are great examples of things you can stock up on post Holiday Season.

3. Fall Inspired Accent Towels

I found the red pumpkin towel at Home Goods for $3.99.  It came with a red and orange dish towel, but I got home and saw that it matched the towels we already had up perfectly.  The green & orange towel set came from Crate & Barrell and was a wedding gift to us.  I LOVE those colors!

4. Autumn Potpourri

I'm not embarrassed to say I've been that person sitting in the isles smelling different bags of potpurri until I find the perfect one.  It wasn't even the cute little pumpkin packaging that drew me to this one.  This combination smells SOOOOOOOOO good! Pinecones, roses & pumpkins is the best way to describe it, and my husband surprisingly loved the wire pumpkin it came in.

Once again, this purchase was part of my Home Goods trip & originally I wanted to take the potpurri out of the container and put it on our coffee table in a glass bowel.  I found out the wiring doesn't separate, so we're now enjoying the pumpkin accessory & potpourri on top of our fish tank for $12.

5. Fall Scented Hand Soaps

Just like scented candles, my favorite scented hand soap is Bath & Body Works.  I plan to stock up on B&BW soaps when they have their Black Friday Sale, but until then my handy dandy Spiced Pumpkin hand soap from Home Goods will do for $4.  Putting seasonal soaps throughout your home is an easy way to spread holiday cheer, starting with pumpkins or autumn leaves.

And there you have it...

5 easy ways to decorate your home for Fall!

*BONUS TIP: Are you a fan of B&BW Wallflowers?  We are for sure.  We have at least 6-8 going in our home at any time and take advantage of the semi-annual and seasonal sales they have.  We purchase most of the wallflower re-fills online, and if you time it right you can purchase for free shipping and 20%OFF coupon savings.

Pictured above is Spiced Cider for the holidays, but you can find all of the fun fall starters and smell good scents in stores and online: B&BW Wallflower Collection.

How do you decorate for Fall?  Feel free to share tips and comments below and stay tuned for more Fall Inspired posts as we get into October and closer to the Holidays.

Happy Decorating!