Tips for Decorating Warm, Inviting and Friendly Home for Christmas

Most people like to make their homes special for the Christmas season. Some families have a tradition of doing all their Christmas decorating on Thanksgiving. Others wait until Christmas Eve. Here are some ways to make your home cozy and inviting, both for your family and for guests.

Pick a day before your decorating day to give your home a thorough cleaning - especially areas that you are going to be placing Christmas decorations on, such as windows or your fireplace mantle. Once you're done doing your Christmas decorating, you're not going to want to shift things around to do things like wash windows! Re-arrange furniture to make room for your tree or other large decorations. When this is done, bring out all of your boxes of Christmas decorations and put them in a central location.

Decide where you want things to go, and how they must be layered. For example, you'll need greenery, such as garland, before lights. Bring boxes or individual items to the areas you're going to work on, so you can tackle one area at a time and none of your special Christmas decorations get left out. Inspect all of our light strands for damage and test to see if bulbs need to be replaced. There's nothing worse than than a half-lit tree!

When you're ready to start decorating for Christmas, put on some cheery Christmas carols and make some hot chocolate. For an extra-special treat, use candy canes as stir-sticks... yum! If you have a baby, you might want to do your Christmas decorating at nap-time. Young children, however, can help with many tasks - just be very careful with your most precious, breakable Christmas decorations. If you do have young children, be extra careful about things like power cords, toxic plants, and breakable items. If you're using old-fashioned lights (non-LED), be aware of how much they heat up and take care that your placement of them is safe. Plan safety in your decorating!

Start with your fireplace mantle - as the place to hang Christmas stockings, this area deserves special attention. If you're going to hang stockings using a hanger, that may need to be installed before you put down any fabric or greenery. Lights go on next. A lovely mantle can be made by surrounding a large candle with greenery or arranging medium-sized poinsettias along the top. If you have Christmas decorations such as a miniature village or train, the mantle is a great place for them. You can also fill large glass vases with ornaments and place them among the greenery. Don't neglect whatever hangs above your fireplace - if you have a large picture or mirror there, a swag of greenery draped along the top is beautiful. In fact, doing this for every large picture or mirror will make your home seem extra Christmasy! If you don't have a fireplace or mantle, get creative! Have your children draw one and hang it up in a blank space on your wall, or utilize a windowsill instead.

Next, move down to the fireplace itself. If you use it regularly, make sure you don't put any decorations in front of it that will be difficult to move during use. If it's not used, however, you can still make it extra-special. Put a few birch logs and a bit of greenery - perhaps with a few brightly-colored ornaments on top. Or put a large candelabra in front of the fireplace. You can also fill the hearth area with bright red poinsettias - if you can find some that have been glittered, they will reflect the light and you can have "fire" without the heat!

Tablescapes are an important part of Christmas decorating. This is not your dining table centerpiece (we'll get to that in a moment) - this is something you can do to any flat surface in your home such as small tables, nightstands, bookshelves, even the toilet tank! Cover the table with a pretty cloth. If it's a shelf, you could add lace or ribbon edging instead. Add a candle and a small nativity scene, Santa, or sprig of greenery. If you have a large ceramic Christmas tree, lighthouse, or North Pole, a tablescape is a great way to display it! Some tables can even have Christmas lights added - look for "tiny" lights or battery-powered units. You might add some fake snow or glitter to complete the look!

Your dining table centerpiece is one of your most important Christmas decorating opportunities. It's also a place where you can get very creative. Of course, you're going to have Christmas dinner for yourself... but will you also be having guests? If your dining table will get frequent use during the Christmas season, you might wish to place your tablecloth underneath a clear plastic cover, or even have glass cut to fit the tabletop. Your tablecloth might be red or green, of course - or even gold or silver metallic fabric. If you have vintage lace, this is a perfect opportunity to put it to good use. If you choose not to use a tablecloth, frame your centerpiece with a table runner or large doily. For the centerpiece itself, you might choose flowers such as amyrillis or paperwhites, a large ceramic piece, a vase filled with ornaments or seasonal fruits (pomegranates and oranges make a lovely combination), or even a miniature Christmas tree! Include at least two unscented candles. While scented candles are lovely, especially at this time of year, you don't want their scent overpowering the delicious aroma of food you're going to serve! Be sure that your decorations are not so tall that they prevent conversation.

While you're in your kitchen and dining area, what can you do to make these spaces warm and inviting? Simmering potpourri on the stove, twigs of greenery or artificial flowers, special Christmas plates, and a teakettle on the stove are all special touches. Swap out your usual coffee cups for special ones, and get out the china to use during the season. Even the refrigerator can be decorated with tiny wreaths on magnets!

Last but certainly not least for your indoor decorations - set up your Christmas tree. If you have a live tree, be sure to cut off a small amount on the bottom so the tree will absorb water. If you have an artificial tree, consider investing in some spray air freshener that smells like pine. Lights and garland go on first, of course - then your tree topper. Then layer on the base ornaments (such as plain balls and pinecones), followed by your family's special ornaments. Last is icicles or tinsel (be sure to use something safe if you have pets or very young children that might eat it!).

Now... light your candles, turn on your lights, and sit back and relax for a few minutes! Make more hot chocolate. Depending on your stamina, you can either forge on ahead or decorate outside another day. (Or, if you like, have your spouse do outdoors while you do indoors!)

To decorate outdoors, first examine your house from the road and from your driveway. What touches does it need to be inviting and beautiful? How many lights do you want (Just a few? Enough to be seen from outer space?) What greenery do you want? What lawn decorations are needed to complete the look, and where should they go? If you're doing a large area with many decorations, it may help to make a quick pencil sketch of your property and what goes where. Include locations of outdoor outlets and where drop cords need to run.

First, place any large outdoor Christmas decorations where they will go. It helps to have two people for this, so perspective from the road can be given on placement. Next, put up garland and lights on your porch rails, eaves, around windows, and any other areas you wish to decorate. Be SURE that you have enough lights to go all the way across - a light strand that only spans part of your rooftop looks ridiculous! Lastly, put a gorgeous wreath on your front door.

Have some wassail - you're done!