Thursday's Top Ten: Christmas Decoration

Christmas is quickly approaching and, with being the person in charge of decorating our house, I've decided to update my family's decorations to be a little more traditionally modern.


Number 10: Mixed Garland
I'm doing a sort of modern twist (literally) this year and twisting together strands of gold and green garland to go up the staircase in the foyer. I'm really excited to see how the contrast looks between the green and the gold.

http://www.casualliving.com/blog/Outside_Views/41636-Decorating_Outdoor_Spaces.php

Number 9: Red Bows
These have always been some of my favorite Christmas decorations for some reason. I love how simple but festive a big red bow can be. I use them up the stairs and they're on all the wreaths that hang in our windows.

http://www.largegiftbows.com/redstructuralbows.html

Number 8: Wreaths
Another classic holiday item, I love decorating the outside of the house with them because it gives it a classic look without going overboard with a big blow up Santa or too many lights. Also, I love how there are so many different types of wreaths that can be fit to a person's decorating style.

http://www.christmasdecorationcrafts.com/Wreaths.html

Number 7: Snowflakes
When I say that I love decorating with snowflakes, I'm not talking about just the homemade paper kind (although I do think that it's adorable if you have younger siblings to make those with them). I love putting up big sparkly snowflakes, in fact I have an entire Christmas tree decorated with just snowflakes and Barbie ornaments. I think that snowflakes offer a playful take on decorating for the holidays, and I love how sparkly they can be.

http://factorydirectcraft.com/catalog/products/1258_1835_1867-8436-11_white_glitter_snowflakes_pkg_of_3.html

Number 6: Nutcrackers
I come from a city in North Carolina that is huge in the arts, so every year the North Carolina School of the Arts puts on a big production of the Nutcracker downtown. I used to be fascinated by the production as a little girl, and I still love to see the costumes and sets that the students at the school make. Because of this, I've always loved putting out nutcrackers around Christmas because they really symbolize the holiday spirit to me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutcracker

Number 5: Moravian Stars
My ancestors were some of the original Moravians to settle the area that live in, so we always decorate with Moravian stars. I love to see how many people display them at Christmas time around our community, because we were originally settled by the Moravians. My favorite start though is the one that hangs in my church during the advent season, it's huge and completely handmade.

http://www.oldsalem.com/category/moravian_stars

Number 4: Candles
Maybe my love for candles around the holidays goes back to my Moravian roots and the fact that we use them at lovefeasts, but I love seeing holiday candles because they seem so warm and inviting to me for some reason. Also, I love the way that they can change the scent of a whole room and create such a pleasant atmosphere.

http://www.christmashungama.com/holiday-candles-wallpapers/

Number 3: A Nativity Scene
In my opinion, a nativity scene should be a part of everybody's Christmas decorations. They are great reminders towards the true meaning of the holiday. We display ours in the living room and I remember every year when I was growing up my mom and I would act out the Christmas story as we put up the nativity scene.

http://www.clowns4kids.com/christmas-Animals-for-Nativity-Scenes.php

Number 2: Christmas Lights
Christmas lights have always been some of my favorite decorations. I love how sparkly and bright they are, plus it's always fun to see how different people display them. It amazes me to see how many different things people can do with Christmas lights.

http://midlifebloggers.com/2010/12/06/immortality-and-christmas-lights/

Number 1: A Christmas Tree
This is of course probably the most traditional Christmas decoration of all time, but it's also an essential in my book. In my house we put up at least two trees every year, this year we might even put up three. While we have a fake tree, because our cat always knocked over our real one, I will always remember going to pick out a tree with my family and then decorating it. They are probably some of the most customizable decorations out there, and it's always fun to see how other families decorate theirs.

http://highcountryrealtors.org/category/lifestyle/