It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

I love the holiday mantels that Arren Williams styled for HomeSense, and plan to try some of the affordable decor ideas he’s suggested, such as making “bunting” out of Christmas cards cut into triangles and glued to a pearl trim (seen in the icy blue and silver-themed mantel at left). But since I’m a traditionalist (sort of), I’m truly, madly, deeply drawn to his modern romantic theme (lower  pic) — I love the mix of gleaming copper and gold.

 

The ever-clever Janette Ewen  offers an online demonstration of how to make an easy, elegant centrepiece. While I don’t have Janette’s eye, I recently created a centrepiece simply by piling strings of inexpensive gold beads in a crystal bowl and then nestling gold ornaments in among them. This was a great way to use those older bulbs that have lost their lustre — they look almost like mercury glass.

One bit of advice — don’t feel compelled to use ALL your Christmas ornaments every year. Do a bit of judicious editing to avoid a jumbled look. And keep in mind that even if you don’t celebrate Christmas — this is also a great time of year to ready your home for winter entertaining. Why not, for example, finally hang all those family photos that have been sitting around forever? Click here to go to the website for Hang and Level (a great gadget  for DIY-challenged homeowners), which has good tips for hanging art.