Christmas Decorating: Chandelier, Staircase, All Around!

Christmas is a sort of over-the-top time, an extreme. Here are some ideas for decorating your house for Christmas.

Christmas On the Chandelier

If you have a chandelier with bulbs that go up on curved stands, like the one in the picture, you're missing a bet if you don't decorate it for Christmas. You can buy a garland, either real or fake, and loop it around the arms that hold the lights, to make a horizontal wreath. Make sure it's kept way from the lights themselves, though. Heat rises, so as long as the greenery is well below the bulbs, there shouldn't be a problem. If you're nervous, stick to fake greenery.

Then, if you wish, you can hang ornaments from some of the arms, or from the center loop, if there is one. You can loop beads over the greenery, if you feel in an elaborate mood. Or tie red velvet bows around the candle bases.

Christmas On the Staircase

If you have a staircase, you have a staging point for Christmas decor. Mine is totally enclosed, with walls on both sides, but I can still put a baskets on the steps, to hold stuffed toys, greenery, or whatnot. If you have an open banister, you can wrap garland around it, or tie garland onto it. You can set teddy bears, perhaps dressed for Christmas, to peek out through the balusters. You can tie ornaments to the banister, to hang between the balusters, if they are spaced far enough apart.

One Christmas, I had bought an inexpensive cotton sari, and I used tension rods to hang it over the whole length of the enclosed staircase. (Fourteen steps, and I had to fold a lot of fabric underneath. Saris are long!) Like everything, it was more trouble than I expected. I had to use three tension rods, and do a bit of basting, to keep the fabric in place. But it looked very nice, with the embroidered end hanging down, facing you as you walked downstairs. In fact, I left it up for a year or two, and when I took it down, the family complained. (But did they compliment it when it was up? Noooo....)

Christmas On the Table

Of course there are all sorts of beautiful decorations out there. We often have a lovely centerpiece given to us by a neighbor, but you don't need a generous neighbor. How about a bowl of ornaments? Just those round ones, all different colors and sizes, piled up like fruit? You arrange them so the fastener loops don't show, and they look festive and cheery. Polish a silver bowl for them, or use any bowl or basket you have.

A bowl of real fruit is a traditional decoration that can hardly be beat. Or a bowl of pinecones. Of course, you can go for candlesticks - silver, brass, glass - whatever you have, in whatever quantities, massed for effect. Or candles ringed with Christmas ornaments.

Christmas At the Fireplace

Mantels are the traditional place for Christmas decor, and I usually go for the traditional silver candlesticks and garland. I stick ordinary round glass ornaments among them (you can tell I'm fond of those). Beside the fireplace is a big basket of pine cones, spiked with fake greenery and red bows. In the fireplace are candles, or a string of tiny white lights, draped over and through various clear glass vases. One year, I managed to attach thin fabric inside the fireplace screen, and the lights looked beautiful through it. (I think I used tape; my screen is one of those like a draw drape, and it was a huge nuisance doing it. If you have a flat screen, it would be easier.)

A friend of mine went for a toy theme on her mantel. Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls, with other toys, and greenery, made a, "Remember-that?" display that was very effective.

Christmas All Around

Christmas is the time to put out some of those things you've got that you don't know what to do with. Russian nesting dolls. Colombian ceramic buses. A pottery church. A rack of fancy spoons. Your mom's old Howdy Doody doll. Your son's stuffed bunny.

You might not want this stuff up all year round, but at Christmas, you can enjoy it all, knowing the house will be back to normal sometime in January. Let yourself go over the top!

P.S. No , I haven't forgotten the crèche, or nativity scene. In our house, that goes up first. There's nothing like hearing your child exclaim, with delight and surprise, "It's the baby Jesus!"

Christmas is great.