Top Five Friday : Christmas Decorations

Happy Friday everyone!  Instead of having a regular Top Five post, I wanted to share a virtual house (and cube) tour of my Christmas decorations.  I have to admit that I don't have anything extravagant this year, but I'm happy with what we have.  I didn't buy any new decorations and just used up what we had in our old apartments!  I'm hoping to take advantage of post-Christmas sales to pick up some new decorations for next year.  I hope you enjoy!


First up is the office!  I kept things pretty simple and just hung up a hand-made ornament garland that I made a few years ago and a Merry Christmas sign.


We also have a cardboard deer (named Wilson) that hangs on our wall year-round and is decorated for the seasons.  I'm loving Christmas Wilson!


I kept the dining room table simple, with a tartan runner, a hand-painted tray, fake poinsettias in my fish vase, a white pinecone, and a snowman votive holder.  I love how everything looks together!


When I was growing up, my mom, sister and I always went Black Friday shopping together.  JC Penney's would give out free Mickey Mouse snow globes every year, and I kept them throughout the years.  I have these above the sink, and I love them!


In our basement, we have a decorative fireplace that I filled with empty wine bottles,  I wound some battery-powered fairy lights around the bottles and I think it's beautiful!


I put up a bunch of random stuff in our living room.  I made the paper chain garland and mini wreath, then adding some ornament accents to the garland on the mantle.  I have a fake succulent planter up year round, and just added a "Noel" sign to the front to make it more festive.


Do you go all out with decorations?
What's your favorite room to decorate?
Fake tree or real?  I always grew up with real trees, but I have a tiny fake one now.

linking up with Erika, Heather, and Friday Five

Comments

  1. UnknownDecember 16, 2016 at 3:27 AM

    I love the reindeer! The others are super creative, but the reindeer wins it for me. We have a fake tree--small apartment, not that religious, dog and cat... just easier. But you better believe that I'm lighting allll the spruce candles.

    ReplyDelete
  2. deborah @ Confessions of a mother runnerDecember 16, 2016 at 4:36 AM

    The micki globes are super cute! creative decorations happy holidays

    ReplyDelete
  3. Elle SeesDecember 16, 2016 at 4:57 AM

    I kept my decorations minimal this year but normally decorate everywhere! loved seeing yours!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Fairytales and FitnessDecember 16, 2016 at 5:03 AM

    I'm not into real deer on wall but I love cardboard Wilson!!! I would totally hang that!
    This reminds me I really should take some pics of my decor! Thanks for Linking up with us!

    ReplyDelete
  5. UnknownDecember 16, 2016 at 6:17 AM

    Awe, I love your style so much! Are you allowed to have a Merry Christmas sign at work? Or do you hide it when the boss walks by? I love the wine bottle fireplace. What a cool idea! If we did that here, Callum would get at them and smash them like a frat party.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gretchen BraunDecember 18, 2016 at 8:02 AM

      We don't really have rules for our cubes luckily! I haven't heard any backlash, but then again my group isn't really PC ;)

      Delete
  6. Jessie MDecember 16, 2016 at 6:30 AM

    Haha no tree this year, you heard about our debacle. But, I was lamenting living with the Grinch the other week & his mom gifted us a super nice fake Christmas wreath, a real poinsettia and a mini nutcracker. She wanted to keep going, but, I only have two hands! Haha. So, we're a little more festive now.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Confessions of a Northern BelleDecember 16, 2016 at 6:40 AM

    The wine bottles in the fireplace is a genius idea! I love it! Stopping over from the linkup. Hope you can hop by my blog as well. Happy Friday!
    http://www.confessionsofanorthernbelle.com/2016/12/friday-favorites-63/

    ReplyDelete
  8. DonnaDecember 16, 2016 at 7:06 AM

    I love your ornament garland in the cubicle, so cute! I am passionate about real trees!

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnaDecember 16, 2016 at 8:58 AM

    I love the red and green colors you used on your decorations!!

    We are not allowed to hand anything that says Merry Christmas, it has to be Happy Holidays... it's a big deal!

    I also love the garland (chain? ) you made! very festive!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gretchen BraunDecember 18, 2016 at 8:06 AM

      I'm glad that our company lets us hang up whatever we want! I haven't heard anything bad about my sign thankfully.

      Delete
  10. JenDecember 16, 2016 at 11:29 AM

    We have a collection of those globes too- my kids like to keep the globes from the year they were born in their rooms ;)

    Jen
    jpabstfitness.com

    ReplyDelete
  11. RachelDecember 16, 2016 at 4:39 PM

    I love your decorations. I need a Wilson in my life!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Heather @ Polyglot JotDecember 17, 2016 at 8:12 AM

    So cute--love all of the homemade touches! My favorite room to decorate is the living room with stockings, the tree, and a nativity scene. I also put Christmas cards around as decorations as we receive them.
    I grew up with a fake tree and have my own fake tree now because I'm allergic to pine!

    ReplyDelete
  13. SanDecember 17, 2016 at 5:42 PM

    I love Christmas decorations, however, I never really decorate at the office.

    I wish we had a real tree, but up until now, our space was very limited, so we opted for a smaller, fake tree (which, don't get me wrong, looks kinda nice and definitely serves the purpose!).

    ReplyDelete
  14. jacDecember 18, 2016 at 3:01 AM

    I love Wilson. Very cute.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Kristy Sayer-Jones @ Southern In LawDecember 19, 2016 at 11:18 AM

    How cute are your Christmas decorations?! Ours are a bit OTT but we LOVEEEEEEE Christmas!

    We have a fake tree but I have ALWAYS wanted a real one! We compromised with a real wreath though this year :P

    ReplyDelete

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