If you follow me on Instagram, you’re well aware that HomeGoods is my absolute favorite place to shop for home décor! Luckily seasonal décor is just as easy to find there throughout each holiday. With a few shopping trips to HomeGoods and a few other places, I was able to quickly decorate my first tree at BLB and a Christmas tree for a wonderful San Antonio client.
In the three apartments and townhouse I’ve had in my adult lifetime, I’ve never decorated my place for Christmas. Nope…no tree, no lights, not even a stocking on the mantle. I just never had the desire to purchase a tree and take the time to decorate it only to pull it down three weeks later. Growing up, my family always had a faux tree that was pulled out of the attic each every Thanksgiving weekend, so when my mom finally purchased a pre-lit faux tree, it was like seeing a Tesla on the road for the first time! LOL Once my older sister married and began having children, they started picking out and bringing home real trees, a first for our family. Though I loved the smell, I still couldn’t get into it. Welp, after moving into my first “real house” aka BLB the weekend after Christmas last year, it only seemed right to not only purchase a tree, but decorate it in BLB colors!
During a casual stroll through HomeGoods one weeknight, I spotted this lovely gold and white pre-lit faux Christmas tree! I asked an associate if I could plug it in to check the lights. Once confirming they all worked, I disassembled and purchased the tree for the sweet price of $199.
I later returned to HomeGoods and found these beautiful peacock-themed ornaments and few others in gold, teal and turquoise. Knowing I wanted to add a skirt that matched my BLB theme, I purchased a soft teal throw with a chevron print to arrange around my tree stand. Sure I could’ve researched and perhaps found a teal or turquoise tree skirt online, but who has time for that!? LOL
Now that I had my supplies, it was time to decorate. Once spreading out the branches on each layer around the pre-lit tree, I wrapped it with sparkly turquoise garland found in Kirkland’s and positioned each of the peacock and glitter teal ornaments in the rows left in between. I then added some gold globes I purchased from Target last year on Clearance, which I’d been hoarding in my home office closet for 11 months.
To balance out the colors, I added some random ornaments to a few bare spots that were gifted to me this year: a pineapple from a client in San Antonio, a cross from a friend in NC and a Palmetto tree from my aunt in SC. Lastly, I topped my tree with a stunning angel found at Hobby Lobby for 40% off.
Here’s the final product of my tree at BLB!
In addition to my gold and turquoise tree, I found this beautiful peacock-themed wreath for my front door and holiday stockings from Kirkland’s that I hung on some hooks near the front door. I also found this turquoise Christmas tree rug from Target for $8.99 and white poinsettias from H-E-B to extend the colorful theme to my front porch.
I had a lot of fun decorating my first Christmas tree! Very thankful to have found it, my “skirt” and so many ornaments at HomeGoods in just one visit. Little did I know I’d be doing it all over again just a few days later….
About two weeks ago when returning from an out-of-town work trip, my client Julie sent me the following text:
Good morning! I just bought a slim 7.5-foot tree with pre-lit white lights and was wondering if you could do your magic on it sometime before the 20th? Basically farmhouse, woodsy and rustic sums it up. Love a few antlers of course. LOL Need some ornaments, a topper and a skirt for it as well. No budget. Just make it beautiful!
I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited about shopping for Christmas decorations! Julie is an awesome returning client that was so fun to work with the first time around, so I was very grateful to hear from her again. With less than two weeks to work, I headed straight to the best place I knew wouldn’t let me down: HomeGoods! There I spotted the perfect garland, skirt and an assortment of ornaments for Julie’s tree. At her recommendation, I also stopped by Cracker Barrel and Hobby Lobby to ensure I found some great country and outdoorsy accessories to add to the tree. I bagged up all my purchases and drove over to her place to decorate the following week. Depending on your temperament and interests, putting up a Christmas tree can seem like a chore, but here are some easy tips to making decorating your tree simple before Santa arrives:
Start with Symmetry
Every Christmas tree’s firm foundation begins with whatever’s wrapped around it. Whether it’s colorful or white lights, garland, ribbon or stringed popcorn, start decorating your tree by wrapping one of these items around it. This will give you a good idea of how much “white space” you have to fill with ornaments and other items. Weave the garland through your tree’s branches to give it a textured look and fill in any obvious holes your branches don’t fill. When perusing through HomeGoods on my first shopping trip, I was ecstatic to find these strings of white wooden garland for the tree. Though garland is traditionally hung horizontally or diagonally, I loved the idea of hanging these from the top of the tree to compliment it’s slender shape and give it some height in the apartment’s living room. I bought all seven in the store, but only ended up using four, dividing the tree in equal quadrants to decorate with ornaments. I decided to use one ornament, a white wooden snowflake spotted in Cracker Barrel, as the tree topper. Stars and angels are traditionally used as Christmas tree toppers, but I thought this material and uniqueness of the snowflake would add special character to the tree’s appearance.
Add Ornaments to Balance
I think it’s important to balance out the tree with an assortment of ornaments in different shapes, sizes and colors. I purchased a variety ornaments from HomeGoods, Hobby Lobby and Cracker Barrel in groups of twos and threes. Before hanging each ornament, I pulled out 12 silver antlers found at Cracker Barrel for 40% off ($7.99 per stick). Once distributed evenly in the front of the tree and a bit more sparingly along the back against the window, I added in the silver and red globes I found during a few HomeGoods trips. I discovered a few oversized red glass balls that I was obsessed with! At first I thought they’d stick out like sore thumbs, but they ended up working out well. The pinecone nests from Hobby Lobby and wooden hearts from Cracker Barrel also added to the woodsy-feel requested for the tree. No one likes a tree that’s too bare or overcrowded, so I like to leave enough “white space” on the tree to add new ornaments over the years. Of course you can always purchase a bigger tree, but for faux tree lovers like me, you want to get your money’s worth. :-)
Fill in the Gaps
Once you’ve got your standard ornaments up, it’s time to take a step back and look for any missing spots or visible holes in your branches. I filled a few with homemade and gifted ornaments Julie collected over the years from her children and family members. Adding such ornaments give the tree a personalized and sentimental touch whether in a new home or old. I also purchased several branches of red beaded faux florals from Hobby Lobby, which I tore apart and molded into shorter twigs resembling holly. After assembling about two or three-dozen twigs, I individually stuck them into every hole I found between the branches, fastening some to the tree by twisting the wire around the adjacent branch. Lastly, the grey faux fur tree skirt I found at HomeGoods adorned the base of the tree complimenting the silver ornaments and finishing off the farmhouse, woodsy and rustic look my client was looking for.
And finally.....Here’s the finished product!
Julie loved her new Christmas tree and was grateful for the “magic” I was able to do on her new tree. I was happy that she liked it on the first round of decorating as I was prepared to run back to HomeGoods to find more ornaments. The smile on her face said it all and made everything worth it. Another happy customer. :-)
What a wonderful year it’s been for BLB! Thanks so much for supporting Blessed Little Bungalow and following my business and blog! I have a lot to be grateful for this year personally and professionally, but the birth of BLB is at the top of the list. I appreciate your love and support from near and afar, and hope you’ll continue to follow BLB for years to come.
Merry Christmas! Ralph and I wish you and your family many blessings in 2017!
Be blessed,
ACG
Design Deets:
BLB TREE/HOME
Gold Christmas Tree – HomeGoods
Throw/Skirt – HomeGoods
Turquoise Garland – Kirkland’s
Angel – Hobby Lobby
“A” Ornament – Anthropologie
Peacock Wreath - Kirkland’s
Outdoor Rug – Target
Poinsettia – H-E-B
CLIENT TREE
Pre-Lit Tree – Lowe’s
Wooden Garland – HomeGoods
Snowflake Topper – Cracker Barrel
Antler Sticks – Cracker Barrel
Globe Ornaments – HomeGoods
Heart Ornaments – Cracker Barrel
Nest Ornaments – Hobby Lobby
Faux Fur Skirt – HomeGoods
