Styling a Tealight Village for Fall & Christmas
In a recent post I asked readers if anyone was decorating their homes for Christmas yet? A reader from Canada wrote that she was full-on decorating for Christmas now that the Canadian Thanksgiving was over.
Of all the holidays, Christmas is the most “hands on”. For most of us the Christmas season starts right after Thanksgiving and that is when most of us begin to decorate.
This year, the American Thanksgiving is late, making the wait to go full-on Christmas in my house a little longer.
Even though I am excited to bring out the Christmas decor, I want to give Thanksgiving its due because it is my favorite holiday.
My mind is always on the lookout for ideas all year long for new decorating ideas or using what I already own, color combinations to use, pretty ribbons and creative ideas for decorating turkeys, trees, wreaths and more.
This year I found one way I can get a start on Christmas without bypassing Thanksgiving. It is using my collection of white ceramic light-up houses. Last year I displayed the houses on my kitchen shelves.
This year I am using the houses on the sideboard in the living room.
The decor I add to the top of the sideboard has to be on the short side since there is a wall mounted, swinging TV above it. Last year I made a Christmas card holder for the top.
Using colorful fall leaves in a long wood dough bowl with my small collection of houses reminds me of one line in the Christmas poem, The Night Before Christmas … As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly.
So in my mind knowing this allows me to mix fallen leaves with what is normally considered Christmas decor. :-)
How to Display a Christmas Village in a Dough Bowl
My light-up houses are not very large. To make them level with the top of my 30″ long x 8″ wide dough bowl, I placed two long pieces of scrap wood into the bowl as a riser.
Then I added colorful leaves I found outside to fill the dough bowl and hide the scrap wood riser. Faux fall leaves would work just as well.
At night the line up of houses becomes a village that looks so cozy and perfect for celebrating Thanksgiving at home.
My collection is a mix of houses. I bought the smaller ones at HomeGoods. They are battery operated with an on/off switch on the bottom.
The larger houses I bought at Kohls this year. They require a real or battery-operated tealight candle to be inserted inside each house. Links to all at the end of the post.
When Thanksgiving is Over
On the day after Thanksgiving, presto – chango…
…I can change out the fall leaves with real or faux Christmas greenery.
Simple and classic for the Christmas season.
You can even add some faux snow or glitter to the display. When I do make this change, I may even add a red velvet bow in front of the dough bowl.
Do you have a collection of light-up houses or a Christmas village you put out on display every year? If so, how do you display them in your house?
Where to Buy Ceramic Light Up Houses
Dough Bowls
More Holiday Decorating Ideas
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