How to Create a Winter Wonderland in Your Home

(Photos courtesy of Jennifer Adams.)

Bored with the usual heavy green and red holiday decorations for this year? Keep the standard decorations boxed up and think snow!

A wintry theme is a fresh way to decoratewithout being holiday specific. Imagine a snowy hillside, all white...and blue! Think of the palest blues to deeper blues to accent sparkly whites and silver. Use just clear, cool blues rather than turquoise or violet tones.

Here are some tips to create a fresh winter wonderland inside your home for the holidays.

1. Collect new or vintage tree ornaments in silver, white, and pale blue. I suggest displaying on a white tablecloth or filling a large clear glass vase, bowl, or glass tray with them. Mix shiny ornaments with satin or glitter finishes and mix up the sizes!

2. White and silver trees and branches create a woodsy feel. Choose an artificial holiday tree in white or silver like the vintage ones from the 1950s and ‘60s. Decorate with only blue, white, or silver shapes. Add strings of shiny silver beads, along with white and blue lights.

If you don’t have room for a traditional sized tree, paint garlands or bare branches white or silver. While the paint is still wet, sprinkle silver glitter on the branches, but only if you don’t mind a little glitter on the table. Display in a large, sturdy vase on the floor or a table, or as a centerpiece. Decorate with ornaments and even battery powered LED lights.

3. Transform your furniture into snowdrifts. Change out your throw pillows, blankets, and area rugs for fluffy white ones. Add silver or white ribbon, garlands, strings of beads, or crystal icicles to door frames, stair railings and chandeliers. Be careful not to create an electrical hazard however...don’t add metal ornaments to any electric light fixtures!

And use a white and silver tree skirt.

4. Remember how to make snowflakes out of paper? Well, it’s still fun! Enlist the kids, and make a lot of them in different sizes out of white, blue, and silver wrapping paper or felt, and spread out on white bedspreads and tablecloths, or directly onto furniture. No need to attach them permanently!

You can also tape these snowflakes to your windows.

5. Use lots and lots of white and blue holiday lights, indoors and out. The new LED lights use so little energy and stay cool to the touch.  The tiny lights that twinkle are really pretty and a favorite of mine for adding a festive flair for any home, no matter the size. For a dynamic look on your indoor tree, use just a few tiny twinklers along with bigger lights, up to C5 bulbs. Use larger C7 or C9 bulbs outdoors. Along the eaves of your house use just one size but you can mix up the sizes on bushes and trees.

And remember, use blue lights with white. You may not be able to see the blue as well, but it will add depth and beauty to an otherwise all-white light scheme. All blue lights on a white tree look beautiful during the daytime. But at night, particularly outdoors, the blue lights are hard to see and can look strange.

6. Wrap all the gifts in white, silver, and blue, and then stack randomly like snowdrifts. Wrap a few large empty boxes for decorative effect, but let your kids know so they won’t be disappointed!

7. If you don’t have special holiday dishes, white, blue, and silver is a great start to a holiday table. Use your everyday white dishes and flatware, and bring in more silver and blue in the tablecloth, napkins, candles, and decorations.

8. Lastly, keeping it warm and inviting with candles and appetizing scents of comforting vanilla and spice. Electric candles are safer and less messy than traditional candles. Add a bright fire in the fireplace and warm beverages like cider, cocoa, or mulled wine for a festive atmosphere.

Holiday cheer and spending time with loved ones go well with any color scheme this time of year. Be creative, and don’t be afraid of mixing up the traditional colors a little!