Holiday Inspiration & Last Minute Homemade Gifts

Happy Friday my sweets! I can hardly believe that next weekend is Christmas, can you? I don’t like to decorate too early, so this is going to be the big weekend for us – visiting the tree farm on Saturday to cut our tree, listening to Christmas music and trimming the tree in the evening, putting up lights inside and out – oh yes, it is beginning to feel festive around here! Today I am heading out to Ikea with Bixby in tow (wish me luck!) to pick up a few last gifts and things, but before I leave I have a lot of goodness to share with you.

1. Driftwood “tree” with paper stars, photo by Ellen Silverman on Sweet Paul | 2. Candles and winter bulbs in your tea set – why not! From Johanna Flyckt interior stylist | 3. A forest chandelier from Basic Label Sweden | 4. Painted wood blocks, found on the Norske Interior Blog.

First up is this little taste of the aesthetic I love for winter holidays: simple and natural in white and green, with twinkle lights and candles all around. Pulling in foraged items from nature, including branches, pine cones, moss, seed pods, and driftwood are all free and beautiful ways to decorate a winter home. I much prefer this to tons of store bought decor! That’s not to say I don’t also love a bit of holiday kitsch, pink plastic trees, colorful vintage glass ornaments, and glittery tinsel-y fun – I do! Just in moderation. ;)

1. The Little Deer’s gold leaf embellished dishes | 2. Design Mom’s monogram mugs | 3. DIY snow globes from Under the Sycamore | 4. Martha’s Christmas Songbook | 5. Granola gifts from Design Sponge | 6. Springerle cookies from Country Living

And now for the presents! If you are like me, you enjoy the idea of making handmade gifts, but lack the motivation to tackle anything that seems too complicated or smacks to much of, lets be honest here, skill. Each of the gifts shown above shouldn’t take more than a few hours to create, and actually look like a lot of fun, too! I love the stamped cookies, DIY snow globes in vintage jars, and fabric labels for homemade granola. Those monogram mugs would be great to make in multiples, and I want to print a set of Martha’s songbooks to hand out at our holiday party.

And speaking of fetes, my latest Houzz column is up now, with 20 ideas for throwing your own cozy holiday party. I had a lot of fun putting this one together, I think you will really like it! Above is a little peek, but you will have to click through to see the rest. : )

Okay, so that wraps up this week, my friends! I wish you a cozy, wonderful weekend filled with everything good! xoxo Laura

(images: see post for individual sources)

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