I confess I enjoy decorating my whole house for Christmas.  Nothing elaborate, just a small woodland touch here and there.

 

A Woodland Touch :: 12 Days of Christmas :: AnExtraordinaryDay.net

 

Do you decorate your whole house for Christmas?

For quite a few years I hosted a Longaberger open house the first Saturday of December.  Because I was a crazy lady and because I wanted customers to see my baskets and pottery in use around the house, I decorated every room of my home.  I will confess…it was fun.   And a lot of work.  In addition to that we used to host either a dinner or an open house or both for volunteers from church as well.

Our guests enjoyed the decor and they also enjoyed staying and chatting.  On more than one occasion, someone told me that my home was so peaceful, they looked forward to the yearly invitation.  Was that not the best compliment?  It’s better than hearing they liked my tree, or my meatballs, or my decor.

 

A Woodland Touch :: Natural Evergreens & Pine Cones & Winterberry Christmas arrangement ::AnExtraordinaryDay.net

 

I’m not suggesting you decorate your whole house.  But, I have discovered that if you can add a simple woodland touch to a shelf, a picture, or some horizontal surface, it brings life to a room in the bleakness of winter.

It only takes a few minutes to add small touches.  Judiciously, cut some branches from your landscape or a nearby field, or use the trimmings from your tree for this.  Stop by Lowe’s or Home Depot for some free trimmings.  If you aren’t near either of those places, often a farm market, or Christmas tree market will sell small bundles of greens for $5.  It’s amazing how far a small bundle can go, too.

 

A Woodland Touch :: Natural Greens & Birch :: 12 Days of Christmas :: AnExtraordinaryDay.net

 

Here, I emptied a shelf in my bedroom, shopped the leftover Christmas decor from the basement, sawed off a few lengths of collected birch logs, and collected some evergreens.  I still have some winterberry left from my trip to the marsh.  Notice my lovely silver bowl?  It was a $1 garage sale find in late October which badly needs a polish, but you can’t tell.  For interest I placed it on a birch ‘stump’ and then added my greens and winterberry and pine cones for a lovely woodland touch.

Let me encourage you to have a plastic bag tucked in your pocket when you go for walks, you never know when you’ll come across  fun things like pine cones or lichen to put in your decor stash for that extra woodland touch.

I love how this shelf arrangement makes my room feel so fresh.  I also love that I won’t feel like I need to take everything down the minute Christmas is over.  As long as the needles don’t drop, I can enjoy that woodland touch for a little bit longer.  It might even be worth refreshing.

What kinds of extra little touches do you do around your home that bring you joy and exude peace?

 

Did you know that when you add a woodland touch to your Christmas decor, it can be very symbolic?

Without thinking a lot about it, it just may be why I enjoy adding natural elements to my home at Christmas as I did here and here.

Here is some of the symbolism:

  • Many believe that evergreens are a symbol of the everlasting life we find in Christ.
  • The red berries remind us of the blood Jesus shed at the hands of his abusers, to pay the price for our sins.
  • The white birch reminds us that when we receive the forgiveness Jesus offers us we are cleansed of our sin and made “white as snow.”
  • And even the pine cones remind us that Jesus was hung on a tree, died, and came to life again.   When there is a forest fire, the pine cones are heated and their seeds explode to the ground only to emerge with new life and a new seedling.

We don’t put our hope in the evergreens, berries, or pine cones.  But, they are very special ways to remember that our hope is in Christ and why we celebrate Jesus’ birth and Christmas.

So if you needed an excuse to do a little more decorating….enjoy adding a woodland touch a few more places.  I have more to share with you regarding decorating with a woodland touch in an upcoming post.  See you then!

Remembering the reason for the season,

Diane

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Comments

  1. Gail says

    I didn’t know about the white birch symbolism.
    I always chuckle to my self when people say they don’t “do” religious Christmas (is that an oxymoron?) yet hang ever greens and candy canes.
    My husband had a stroke last week while out of town on business. He is home safely, now. So I have my “present” already
    Keep up the lovely, informative, peace-filled blog.

    • Diane says

      Oh Gail….how scary to have your husband away and have illness strike. I’m so glad he is now home with you…and trust he is making a rapid recovery. May God’s grace be yours in abundance. [hugs]

  2. Gwen says

    What a delightful touch in your corner of the world! And doing it, plus thinking of Jesus too. As a child, my little sisters and I sang in church Jesus Bids Us Shine. It goes on to say In this world of darkness We must shine, You in your small corner, and I in mine. My little cousin Paul a year older than I told his Mom we sang about standing in the corner and he’d have to stand in his !!
    But your story and photo made me think of that hymn and how Jesus bids us shine and our corner may be small but what happens to light in the darkness? Even if its in a small corner? It spreads and illumines someone’s path. That I believe is what God is teaching us in our own new paths. We can still shine for Him in our small corners…and illumine a path of Jesus’ light to others.
    Praise and glory to God.

    • Diane says

      Thanks for your thoughtful remarks Gwen. 🙂 You are a wonderful encourager and I know for sure that you shine like the brightest of stars!! [hugs]

  3. Mel says

    *sending prayers and healing thoughts to Gail and hubby*

    I’m wondering where (aside from the nseighbors backyard) I can find some white birch. LOL. I know where
    /how I could creatively end up with some pieces….I’m just thinking I would be needing a chainsaw. :-/

    I do agree, carry a baggie. LOL Or get used to sticky, ucky pockets. I love adventures. I never come home empty handed. But I never set them to a seasonal display. I’ll try to do that. …but I guarantee it won’t look as cute as yours..

    • Diane says

      Haha…I don’t think the neighbors would be very pleased. 😉 We got our after the windstorm. Thank you Mother Nature!! 😉
      And I bet yours will cute. 😉

  4. What a cute arrangement! Thanks for linking to our MM party tonight! Pinning

  5. Beautiful!

    • Diane says

      Thank you Stacey!!! It’s still looking good.
      Hope your week is extraordinary!

  6. Wow, I wish you could fluff my house for Christmas next year!

Trackbacks

  1. […] There is something really special about using these natural elements for Christmas decorating.  I shared some of the symbolism of woodland elements for Christmas here. […]

  2. […] This winter we’ve been having fun decorating with birch branches.  You may have seen some of it here and here and here. […]

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