Great post from last year — super tips on decorating for the holidays so it doesn’t look like Santa threw up in your house. Hope these help, as the holiday season begins!

In our family, the day after Thanksgiving is when we start the holiday decorating. Following my tips, I packed away all the normal stuff into a closet when I got home from the family dinner, so I had a clean slate. Then, I did a deep cleaning. Last night was the day to “do up” the downstairs. The tree will go in next weekend where the library table is.

But without further ado, hope these six tips for your holiday decorating help:

Pick and choose – I have a lot of Christmas decorations, but each year I decide on a theme — this year’s is an “Contemporary Christmas,” so it’s going to be cool colors, lots of modern touches and minimal Santas. Last year was an “Old Fashioned Christmas,” and I hauled out all the Santas, the garlands, and the red and green decor items. Other years (click the links to see), it was “an elegant Christmas” with a lot of silver or even a “retro Christmas” with what I called a Nancy Sinatra Go-Go Tree. But rather than put everything out, I pick and choose. Pick a theme and color choice. You don’t want it to look as if Santa threw up in your home.

More than anything, Happy Holidays and may I be the first to say, “Merry Christmas.”

An all visual post today — see how those Prohomemaker tips come into play.

Note how simple the ornaments in the vase add so much.

See how much the fresh evergreen adds to the bough over the fireplace!

The tree unlighted. The wire ribbon is a great idea. It fills in and adds that extra “zip.” Our neighbor came by tonight, and that was the first thing he commented on. (Oh and this was the $39 tree! And note that it’s on the box.)

The courtyard entrance to the house. I went with “old-fashioned” this year, with snowmen, etc.

Thanks for visiting Prohomemaker’s home. Happy holidays!

Want the smell of fresh pine tree in your home but don’t want to spend any money? It’s easy!

Just stop by any place selling fresh Christmas trees — Home Depot, Lowes, or even a lot in your neighborhood — and go to where they trim and wrap the trees. You’ll find tons of clippings, and if it’s slow, the workers will be happy for you to take some off their hands.

I’ve used this strategy for years because A) I’m cheap and B) Most of the decorations in and outside the house are of the false variety.

One of my favorite tricks is to intersperse fresh pine tree clippings into the (fake) garland that graces the fireplace. It adds another shade of green — and is real. You can do the same with the artificial wreaths on your front door, and when the real stuff fades, just throw it out.

I love the idea, too, depicted in the photo. Just group boughs with twine, and then decorate with a bow. Place it in an entry hall or outside, and they will think Martha Stewart stopped by. (By the way, this company charges $24.95 for the same look!)

Hope you like this idea … this will be my holiday decorating task for tomorrow. (Got the tree decorated tonight! Photos later this week!)

I’ve been using this trick for years, and thought I would pass it along. I set up the new 6.5-foot tree from Lowes this afternoon. Looks great, but our ceilings are 8-feet tall in the living room (and I didn’t want to cough up the extra money for a larger tree).

So, I called on the trick I’ve been using for years … I put the 6.5 tree on a 1.5-foot plastic box turned upside down. Voila, I now have an 8-foot tree! Just cover the box with inexpensive cotton batting and then place the tree skirt over the entire ensemble (I use a tablecloth with gold stars). Looks great!

But here is the extra-added TV bonus! By raising the tree, I have room to put the presents underneath, without spreading 2 feet into the room.

I’ll posts photos next week (after we decorate the tree Saturday) but wanted to ensure I passed on this tip. It works great!

I love this idea! If you’re like me, you keep old Christmas cards ’cause they are just too pretty or for sentimental purposes. Here is a way to see them again (after all, I doubt you’re gonna pull ‘em all out and read them again), and enjoy them once more. I read it somewhere, and it’s great — and easy!

Just take your regular photo frames you may have out, and sub in old Christmas cards you may have about.

This is a great idea if you don’t have a lot of holiday decorations, or if you just wish to add a bit of Christmas punch in a small area (here, I did in the powder room).

Just wanted to make sure I passed it along!

Phew! Got all the outside decorating done for the holidays (lights, etc.), pulled out all the decor for the inside, and did the big clean downstairs before putting everything out (the tree goes up next weekend, thank goodness). I am so glad I stockpiled a dinner from 4+ weeks ago, as I recommended in this post. It’s still not too late to use the same holiday planning strategy, and this is a prime example when you will be happy you did.

Today brought to mind six tips for your holiday decorating — hope they help:

Pick and choose – I have a lot of Christmas decorations, but each year I decide on a theme — this year’s is an “Old-fashioned Christmas,” so out came the Santas, the garlands, and the red and green decor items. Other years (click the links to see), it was “an elegant Christmas” with a lot of silver or even a “retro Christmas” with what I called a Nancy Sinatra Go-Go Tree. But rather than put everything out, I pick and choose. Pick a theme and color choice. You don’t want it to look as if Santa threw up in your home.

More than anything, Happy Holidays and may I be the first to say, “Merry Christmas.”