The holidays are here! Christmas is by far one of my favorite holidays. Growing up in NYC I always looked forward to seeing the city glow with Christmas lights; a concrete jungle softened by the warmth of Christmas.
Popular customs such as decorating a Christmas tree, exchanging gifts, hot chocolate, candy canes, gingerbread houses, Christmas pajamas, and Christmas music are all nostalgic traditions that make Christmas a special time of the year. This year's Christmas cheer rings louder than ever. As we take this time to meditate on our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, we can also evoke Christmas charm within our homes by decorating the exterior and interior of our homes.
In this article, you’ll find tips on how to decorate your home for Christmas and informed historical facts about Christmas.
Outdoor Chrismas Decor
Create a warm welcome when entertaining family and friends and enjoyment for those passing by during the Christmas season with outdoor Christmas decorations.
Begin with a festive wreath on the front door. Add more Christmas foliage with decorative garland above the front door, on banisters, porch supports, and or window sills. Adorn the windows with Christmas candles. Deck the porch with Christmas accessories such as poinsettias, outdoor lanterns, a Christmas door mat, Christmas blankets, and pillows for your outdoor furniture, etc. Add a potted Christmas tree or a few potted Christmas trees, varying in height and size, around the entrance and front of your home. Fill them with twinkling fairy lights for a whimsical vibe. Light the pathway to the front door of your home with outdoor candlelights to elevate the Christmas scene.
Indoor Christmas Decor
On the interior, begin with the Christmas tree; place it in the most central place in your house. The living room typically meets the criteria. Once the Christmas tree is decorated, dress the fireplace mantel with your choice of faux foliage such as holly, spruce, and berry branches. Add stringed lights, ribbons, bows, stockings, and or pillar candles. The options are endless.
No fireplace? Hang stockings on a stocking holder and place Christmas decor and ornaments on coffee tables, bookcases, cabinet knobs, and stair rails.
Spark the Christmas charm in the living room by replacing throw pillows and blankets with Christmas pillows and thick throws in deep reds, greens, and creams. In bathrooms, add festive holiday bath towels and scented candles. Add adorable mini wreaths and ribbons to kitchen cabinets. In bedrooms, swap your everyday linens with a plaid quilt and Christmas-themed throw pillows; layer to add interest and dimension.
Fill your home with fragrances of the season with scented candles and Christmas diffuser blends. Aim for seasonal scents such as pine, cranberry, spruce, gingerbread, fir, and cinnamon. Young Living's essential oil blend Christmas Spirit has a cheerful aroma reminiscent of the holidays.
The History of the Christmas Tree
The Christmas tree is a Christmas custom, an important essential for the Christmas holiday. The use of a Christmas tree as a Christian tradition dates back to Germany in the 1500s. The story has it that a group of German Merchants called the Brotherhood of Blackheads, placed a tree outside of their headquarters to celebrate the birth of Jesus, which then became a popular tradition throughout the country.
Legend has it that Martin Luther, the protestant reformer, was the first to bring the Christmas tree indoors and add lights to it. The lights represented the stars he admired on a walk home, it reminded him of Jesus, who left His throne above the stars to come to earth. Before Martin Luther, the Christmas tree was decorated with apples, nuts, dates, pretzels, and paper flowers.
Christians have adopted the triangle-shaped Christmas tree as a symbol of the Trinity (God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit) and a metaphor for the death and resurrection of Jesus. The cutting down of the tree symbolizes the death of Jesus and when the tree is placed upward in our homes His resurrection.
How to Decorate a Christmas Tree
There’s much debate when it comes to real Christmas trees vs artificial Christmas trees. Whatever your preference, be sure to select a good quality tree, which will in return create a more beautiful design. Once you get your tree home spend some time fluffing out the branches, you want the tree to have a voluptuous and natural look.
Next, start decorating the tree by adding lights and garland first. I like to start adding the lights at the base of the tree and work my way to the top. Winding the lights on each branch, the entire length of the branch, working my way around the tree.
Select a theme and color scheme for Christmas ornaments based on your personal preference. Evenly place ornaments on the tree, filling all empty areas. Hang a matching set first then move to the next matching set and so forth. Place the larger ornaments on sturdier inside branches. Place sentimental ornaments higher up and deeper in the tree for extra protection.
Add extra embellishment to the tree with ribbons, tree picks, and floral sprays. Complete the look with a tree topper and a tree skirt.
As we snuggle around the fireplace and entertain family and friends for Christmas in our freshly decorated home, let's not forget the true meaning of this precious holiday, the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. God became flesh and made his dwelling among us. Not for His own pleasure but to lay down His life as the ultimate sacrifice to restore our relationship with Him. He took the chastisement for our peace. For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
Inspirational Gem: Isaiah 9: 6-7 ( NKJV) For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice. From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.