Day 1: 12 Days of Christmas Tour of Homes

Hello!

I’m so excited to be kicking off this year’s 12 Days of Christmas Tour of Homes!  It’s sure to be packed with all sorts of great ideas and inspiration to get you in the holiday spirit. 

I’m also linking up to:

I have been painting most of my main level doing a lot of sprucing up around here to get ready, as I tend to go off the deep end and bite off big projects I could have tackled earlier in the year.  Let’s see, painted my cabinets back in November 2011, finally finished the stone fireplace in December 2013… But, I’m the kind of girl who works best under pressure!

So, I’ll keep my words to a minimum – let’s get rolling!

I bought a porch pot from a local nursery and placed it in this basket I had on hand for a pretty pop of holiday greenery.

You might recognize this bench – I got a wild hair and decided to spray it again in a lovely black/gray color and prop it out on the front porch for the holidays.  It’s a perfect fit, and may just have found a new home.

I’m all about high impact/low budget holiday decor, and I had this pretty, free printable from Nest of Posies blown up as an engineering print for less than $8.  Add a couple of dowel rods and some ribbon, hang it up with a festive drawer pull from Hobby Lobby, and you’re done.  What’s not to love?

I gave you a preview of my reclaimed mantel creation last week, and decided to keep it simple rather than overdoing it.  I added a bit more garland and our stockings and that’s it.  I swapped out the blue ottoman with the one from downstairs to keep everything on the neutral side.  Same goes for the red chair – it always comes in handy for the holidays. 🙂

And yes, that’s a new color on my walls, thus the holiday project insanity that I subject myself to every year.  But, I’m loving the color.  We went with Revere Pewter, and it’s truly a fantastic color.

You’ll notice another engineering print on the wall – that’s from last year.  I bought a bundle of chalkboard prints at Caravan Shoppe last year, and had two of them printed off as engineering prints.  They’re fantastic, and I always get compliments on them, and you can’t beat the price.  You get a collection to choose from for only $10.

 

The framed “joy” print is another freebie from Chronicles of Home that I had printed on high quality paper at Staples for $.67.  Isn’t it great?

I added small touches to our kitchen, a couple of wreaths hanging on the cabinet doors.  (And yes, I painted the kitchen too, thanks for noticing). 😉

Heading downstairs, this is where much of our holiday entertaining takes place.  I’m gearing up for my annual cookie exchange, as well as a party for some of my husband’s clients, both of which take place the same week.  The blue ottoman from upstairs fits in great down here for the holidays.

And yes, you’re seeing more free printables hanging up in the background.  I can’t get enough of them, and have also been using more of my fair share of 3M Command Hooks.  Those things are so perfect for the holidays (and no, this isn’t a sponsored post, I just love them).  I got this cute (free!) printable at Nest of Posies.

Is that car with the tree on top not the cutest?  Thank you Craftberry Bush for offering it up for free last month.

It’s even prettier with the Christmas lights reflecting on it.

I also have an addiction to Christmas trees, and added my own DIY version to the grouping this year.  The green one is my handiwork.  With a glue gun, a styrofoam tree form and green glass pebbles, I’m unstoppable.

My daughter was eager to jump on the Christmas decorating bandwagon, so we decked her room out in some classic red and green.  With the green walls already in place, her room was an easy transformation.

The drapes are actually tablecloths that I attached to drapery clips and hung to give her room a festive swagger.  The European shams are actually from my son’s room (and are blue and white striped on the “normal” side), just flipped over to the reverse side to reveal a bright red burst of color, with buttons that resemble Santa’s belly. 🙂

Originally, I had this wreath hanging up, but it didn’t look substantial enough.  

So, I doubled it up with a boxwood wreath to give it a little extra umph.

I also have a bit of a wreath addiction, in case you hadn’t already noticed.  I added a fun pom pom wreath I made that I hung on her bedroom door.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and don’t forget to check out tomorrow’s tour at Amanda Carol Interiors!

If you can’t get enough, check out last year’s tours here.  More inspiration on the 12 Days of Christmas Pinterest Board.  Follow me on Instagram here.

Linking up:
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia – Inspire Me Monday