Humble & Homemade

Hey guys!

I am SO glad to be writing this post, it has been much too long. We’ve had a busy last few weeks but that seems to kind of be the norm for us lately, especially in the midst of the holiday season. Anyone else feel that way?

This Thanksgiving was one of firsts for us – our first as a married couple, our first in the new house, and our first time hosting! It was such a beautiful day spent with both of our families, friends and of course, lots of good food. It came and went by so quickly, I can’t believe Christmas is just weeks away!

Speaking of Christmas- since Nik and I have been so busy lately, we were excited to take this weekend to relax a little and get into the holiday spirit. Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year. I love the decorations and lights, the spirit of giving, and the magic. And, as you know, I’ve been dying to decorate this house for Christmas since we moved in! It’s just such a perfect decorating house. So, since I’ve been so excited for this Christmas, I couldn’t resist sharing! I’m also going to show you an easy DIY Christmas decoration you can put together for your own house or even the front porch.

I’m loving the red holly berries this year so I used those as my inspiration for a lot of my decorating. I just got some festive picks from Hobby Lobby for the mailbox and tied them on with a white ribbon. I went with the door hanger instead of a wreath for the door this year, as well.

One of my favorite things about Christmas is the tree. I wish we could leave it up all year! Growing up, my family would exchange ornaments every year. My parents would give us an ornament that represented something that happened in that year. The year I went to college, my ornament was a dorm room door with my name on it. Last year when Nik and I got engaged, my ornament was a ring box. So for me, the Christmas tree is like a scrapbook of my life. It’s always fun to open up the box and remember all the Christmases through those ornaments.

The mantle was the part of our house I was most excited to decorate. I continued with the red inspiration from the holly berries here with the cone trees. I paired the red with golds and tans on the star and the other decorative trees. Then I added the garland, some green burlap, twinkle lights and white, cable knit stockings to bring it all together. Of course, Nik wanted to add his touch with the Charlie Brown Christmas tree, as well 🙂

Ok, now I’m going to show you guys how to put together this adorable DIY Christmas lantern! I have mine on the hearth next to the fireplace since that spot was really bare but it would also look cute on the front porch or as an outside decoration. Here’s how I did it:

So you’ll need a few simple supplies – an empty lantern that has some kind of opening, burlap or ribbon, and some plastic Christmas ornaments. I got the lantern and the ornaments on sale at Hobby Lobby (aka the most amazing store ever) and the burlap at the craft store. First, I just placed the ornaments inside the lantern, I didn’t fill mine all the way up but you could if you wanted to! Then I cut my piece of burlap and tied it around the top of the lantern, arranging the ends. And that’s it, super simple!

This would work with a bigger lantern and large ornaments too if you wanted to fill a large space. It would also look nice with some battery operated light strands inside along with the ornaments. Mine is simple, but you could make it as fancy as you want – the possibilities are endless!

You can get the lantern I used here or a bigger one here.

I hope you all have a very merry Christmas and a wonderful holiday season! I hope my decorations inspire you to spread some of your own holiday cheer. Love you all!

xo, Kortney.