It may be swelteringly hot outside, but it’s cool and crisp in my home. It’s that time of year when neighbors can see through my living room window and are elated to see the twinkling lights of the holiday. They catch a glimpse of a Christmas tree, garland, or a wreath hanging on my door. Why is my home decked to the halls? Because it’s Christmas in July! HSN’s annual Christmas event, and the second year in a row we have Skype Broadcasted the event to 100 million homes nationwide from my iPhone!
Setting up for the event can take a couple of days, but it’s not as complicated and you might think. The steps I take are methodical but easy to follow. I call them the Bakers Dozen (13):
- Start with a blank room. A clean slate. Clean it all! from ceiling to floor, baseboards, walls, furniture, windows in and out. Treat your clean room like a clean primed face prior to makeup application. A clean slate.
2. Select the type and or style of tree you would like to work with. Your tree is the star of the show. The main event. For many years, my preference was a real tree. Since representing so many pre-lit trees on HSN, I have fallen in love with the ease of assembly and ease of care with a high-quality faux tree. Try American Tree & Wreaths from HSN.
3. Be creative with tree skirts. You can purchase, DIY, use a metal hammered tree collar, or simply lay a piece of fabric at the base of the tree. This year, I used an oversized round table cloth as my tree skirt. It was quite large and I folded it in half and manually wrapped it fairly snug around the base covering the metal four-post base. A few years ago, I created a DIY tree skirt in the shape of a package, like a gift.
4. The tree decor options are limitless. I find loads of people are quite creative. Browse your favorite blogs, stores, etc. to find what inspires you!
5. Oversized! A HUGE trend for this year! Pardon the pun. Look for oversized decor in all styles. Oversized nutcrackers to guard your doors and flank your mantle. Oversized ornaments for your oversized 9-foot tree. oversized figurines for your tablescapes and more.
6. Incorporate nostalgiac and vintage items. No matter how much you may like bling and glitz, white and crystal, as I do, it’s always nice to add some nostalgic or vintage pieces for warmth. Another big 2021 trend.
7. Speaking of bling…give me loads! I love anything that sparkles and glitters. Layer it in. I know you love it! The holidays should sparkle, twinkle, glitter, and glow.
8. Light up my world, your world with an abundance of lit items as part of your decor. Go ahead and stock up on batteries and extension cords. You’ll need them!
9. Select your color scheme for the season. I have done red and white for Christmas in July 2021. I have done silver and gold, gold and green, navy and silver. I have lots of silver and green out now. What excites you this year? I noticed that candy cane striping was popular for 2021 and thus, the red and white colors emerged. Go with whatever moves you. Pink and black, black and white, etc. Use ribbon, remnant material, new decor to incorporate the colors.
10. Select your motif for the season. Once again, the motif can organically emerge. As HSN buyers and vendors forwarded decor item samples to my home to share and present on-air for the Christmas in July shows, I noticed many items had poinsettias. I decided to make poinsettias the motif for 2021. In the past, I have chosen trees, snowflakes, Santa, nativity, snowman, and my beloved stag. Which motif will you select this year?
11. Less is more. Unless you want more. Have you ever seen the house that was decorated within an inch of itself? You used the powder room and noticed that even the toilet paper was Christmas-themed? It is your choice! Ad a few items and keep things simple or go all out! it’s all up to you!
12. Decorate floor to ceiling. Decorate up high, midlevel like a tabletop, and on the floor.
13. Have fun and enjoy! A huge tip? Think about your Holidays now, in the summer, so you can actually shop and bake and wrap and cook and party with friends and family! Oh, if you do not like to wrap, be sure to grab a few sets of these bags!
Love and Seasons Greetings! from your Holiday HomeBFF!