Whenever I buy Christmas decor, I always think to myself “Will I love this for the next 20+ years?” If the answer isn’t a resounding yes, back on the shelf it goes.
Growing up, Santa would gift each of us a Christmas ornament every year. Every year was magical. I loved watching my mom unwrap the ornaments she had since childhood. To me, Christmas decor is all about using and creating family heirlooms.
When I moved out of my parents home, my mom gave me a box of all the ornaments she had collected for me over the years. I had my very own starter kit. I had nowhere near enough ornaments to fill a 6-foot tree, so I purchased a large container of those shatterproof ornaments from Costco as fillers. I really wasn’t sure what I wanted my version of Christmas to look like.
When I moved in with Kimo it was a whole crazy world of combining our Christmas traditions. He was not a fan of colored lights and I had never had white lights. I had family heirlooms and he was used to themed trees.
We compromised. We got white lights and our first Christmas together, I started his ornament collection.
I’ve come to realize I love white, gold and silver decor all while incorporating natural tree bark & pine elements.
I think this will be our 4th Christmas together. I’m really too lazy to count. I’ve slowly been adding key pieces to our collection. We finally found a tree topper we both love. I can’t even begin to tell you how hard that was. Have you seen how ugly the tree angels are now?
Without further ado, here are my favorite places I’ve bought our decorations from.
No. 1…The BurlapBabe on Etsy for Stockings
Our parents still fill our childhood stockings every year so I had to find new ones for us at home. I stumbled upon BurlapBabe one day and fell in love with her simple cream & burlap stockings. I bought E for Kimo & D for myself. She even makes pet stockings!
No. 2…Balsam Hill for Tree Skirts & Tree Toppers
I didn’t realize how picky I was when it came to tree skirts & tree toppers until I started looking for my own. Everything I found at Target, TJ Maxxx & Macy’s was either cheap or not to my taste. This year I started looking before Halloween and discovered Balsam Hill. It was love at first sight.
I ordered the 60″ Lodge Faux Fur Tree Skirt in Ivory. I spent longer than I’d like to admit choosing between the ivory and smoke. I ripped into the box the minute it arrived and I was more than pleased. This is the most elegant, plush, luxurious tree skirt I have ever felt. I know it will last years to come.
Growing up, my dad would place the same Princess House angel on the top of our tree. I had it stuck in my mind that we had to have an angel. I couldn’t find a single one that Kimo and I liked. We are both very opinionated. When I was looking through the tree toppers on Balsam Hill, I found the Double-Sided Starburst Tree Topper. It was elegant & timeless. I sent it to Kimo and he liked it too! Whew! It really is gorgeous. I cannot wait to put up our tree this year.
No. 3… Target for Stocking Holders
What?! Did I just say Target??? So here’s the deal, I’m not a huge fan of the sets that spell things or have Santa & all of his reindeer. I was wandering around Target last year as a last resort (because everything was sold out in Hawaii or I hated it) when I found plain jane bronze stocking holders. One was an angel & one was a reindeer. I thought the color was pretty ugly. But as I like to spray paint everything, I had this novel idea to spray them gold. That way if we ever had to add another stocking holder, I’ll just pick one up wherever & spray paint it the same color gold. They turned out amazing. I think I spent $10 for 2 of them and $7 for a can of spray paint.
No. 4… Willow Tree for Nativity Displays
Susan Lordi, the artist, has several different Nativity displays. My favorite is “The Nativity“. It’s buildable & you can pick the specific pieces that you want, adding a little each year. If you’re looking for something smaller “The Holy Family” is perfect.
Where do you like to shop for Christmas decor?
XX, LOV
