As we hurtle through the Summer months and Autumn quickly approaches, the festive season draws ever nearer. While it may seem far too early to start thinking about Christmas preparations, being ready ahead of time is always advantageous.
Decorating your living space can be an exhausting task. From stringing up fairy lights to dressing the tree, transforming your home into a festive wonderland can take up a lot of time and energy. However, the results are always gratifying. Here are some simple, affordable ways to convert your home into the holiday grotto of your dreams.
Use Candles And Fairy Lights
One of the best ways to make your home feel cosy and inviting during the festive season is to use lighting as a tool to create the perfect atmosphere. Due to their soft, delicate glow, candles and fairy lights evoke feelings of warmth and comfort, particularly as the nights grow longer and the temperature plummets. Additionally, candles have long been used as part of Christmas and winter solstice celebrations for centuries, while fairy lights have become a modern yet beloved addition to holiday decor.
Get Crafty
If you want to save a bit of cash this year, consider embracing your creative side and creating your own decorations from scratch. This is a particularly excellent idea if you have kids, as they will love expressing themselves through art by making beautiful seasonal trinkets and knick-knacks for your home. You can find countless DIY tutorials online suitable for any age or skill level, such as salt dough tree ornaments, pom-pom reindeer, origami stars and popsicle stick snowflakes.
Host A Wreath-Making Gathering
No home is truly ready for the festive season without a stunning wreath hung on the front door. However, wreaths can be pricey, so consider making your own as a cost-effective alternative. Furthermore, a homemade wreath can be a wonderfully unique addition to your home. For the best results, get together with a group of family or friends and have a wreath-making party, where you can all pool resources, help one another out, and each come away with a stunning one-of-a-kind decoration.
Adjust Your Fragrances
Smell is a remarkably powerful sense. This is due to its connection to the brain’s limbic system, which is closely associated with emotions and memories; hence, a familiar smell can often evoke a potent sense of nostalgia. You can embrace this direct pathway to the brain by adjusting your home fragrances to elicit treasured festive memories from years past. Fill your home with the welcoming scents of peppermint, gingerbread, and citrus by lighting scented candles and mulling wine with cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and nutmeg on cold, dark evenings.
Have A Tree-Decorating Evening
The tradition of decorating Christmas trees began in 16th-century Germany as a vibrant reminder of the spring to come. However, these days, decorating the tree can be a stressful process. However, with all hands on deck, this important task should be a breeze. Once you’ve decided on either a real or synthetic tree, gather your family together, or even a small group of friends, and have a decorating party, complete with delicious nibbles, festive tunes and maybe a Christmas movie or two.
Wrap Your Gifts Early
There are few sights more exciting than a healthy pile of beautifully-wrapped presents sitting under the Christmas tree. As such, getting a head start with the gift-wrapping can be an excellent way to make your living room feel more festive. A great way to make your presents more aesthetically pleasing is to pick a theme for your wrapping paper, such as red and gold. Additionally, consider using gift boxes for a classic, elegant appearance worthy of any scenic Christmas card.
Dress The Dining Table
We all look forward to the annual grant feast on Christmas Day. Regardless of your family traditions and the culinary delights you plan to present, a beautifully set table is essential. However, don’t be tempted to leave everything until the last minute. You can make your home look and feel more festive by swapping out your regular dining table accessories for seasonal alternatives. For example, you could add a stunning yule log centrepiece featuring candles and holly leaves.
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