Ashley's Nest: December 2011

Hosting New Year's Eve

Happy New Year's!

Today I would like to share my ideas on hosting a great New Year's Eve party without spending a lot of money. Almost everything I used is from the dollar store, Party City, or borrowed from another part of my home.

The glassware, silver trays, and short candles are all from the dollar store. I purchased the favors from Party City, but they were all under $1.00. To add height to the table, I borrowed the tall, glass candle holder from my guest bedroom. To hold the noisemakers, I used one of my apothecary jars. When decorating for a party, look around your house to see if you can use any of your existing decorations. This is a great time and money saver. With an exception of the drinks, everything I used was under $1.00.

There are many ways you can decorate for New Year's. This year I chose to keep to black, gold, and silver. To create the look of this runner, I purchased a black tablecloth at the dollar store. Rather than completely unfolding the tablecloth, keep it folded to create a runner instead.

Add a fun, personal touch to your party. I did this by adding these fun, cheetah print napkins. Don't forget to stick to your colors!

These trays are a great way to divide up your decorations on your table. I chose to keep them silver, but you can always prime and paint the trays to match the look you want.

As you can see, you don't have to spend a lot of money to have quality time with friends and family.

Have a safe and happy New Year!

Thanks Everyone!

I want to thank everyone for following my Twelve Days of Christmas! It has meant so much to see the followers and read everyones emails. If you have any questions or need any advice on anything, just email me and I will be happy to get back with you.

Happy Holidays!

Twelve Days of Christmas Day 12: Let it Snow Tree

Welcome to Day 12 of the Twelve Days of Christmas! I saved my favorite part of my Christmas decorating until the last day...my Christmas tree! There is nothing better at Christmas then watching Christmas movies and wrapping presents by the tree.

The theme for this tree is Let it Snow.

All of my decorations for this tree are white and touches of the outdoors (pinecones, snowy branches, birds nests and of course snowflakes).

For Day 12, I am going to share with you the order of how I decorate my tree. I think every person decorates their tree a different way, so I will just share mine with you. The first thing I do is wrap my lights around the entire tree from bottom to top. Then, I wrap my ribbon around the same way. For this tree, I have two different types of ribbons; I wrap each ribbon one at a time. The next thing that I put on my tree are my picks. When I put these on the tree, I take one grouping of picks at a time and spread them evenly around the entire tree (not just the front). After all of my picks are up, I decorate with the smaller picks and ornaments. Lastly, I fill in the empty spaces with my bulbs. This last step really completes the tree.

For more help with tree decorating, take a look at the Twelve Days of Christmas Day 11.

Happy Holidays!

Twelve Days of Christmas Day 11: Peppermint and Gingerbread Tree

Days 11 and 12 are all about my Christmas trees! I have our main tree in our living room and I also have a tree in our bedroom. The tree I am showing you today is the tree in our bedroom. This tree is new to our house this year so it will need more trimmings over the next couple of years but I love it for now.

I think it is really important to have a theme for your tree. This way, when you are out shopping for decorations you will know what you are looking for and if it will match your theme. For this tree, my theme is all peppermint and gingerbread. Also by having a theme, you can pick things up from year to year and those decorations will always fit in with your tree.

This is the first year I have ever had anything but a green tree, but I am really enjoying the white tree with my decorations. I don't think it would have looked as nice on a green tree. When shopping for this tree, I was looking for anything red, white, peppermint, or gingerbread. I didn't want to mix in any other colors. It's important to remember to shop at multiple stores when decorating too. If you do, you will have more variety to choose from and when sticking to a theme you know it will all match even if it is not in the same grouping. Plus, doing this is a huge money saver!

One thing to keep in mind when looking for decorations is to get ornaments/picks of all different sizes. This will really give your tree some interest. Also, don't feel like you need to get multiples of every ornament. Sometimes, it's more interesting to just have the one. To me, bulbs are fillers. I always use them, but they never take up my entire tree. I enjoy the unique ornaments and picks more.

I hope you enjoyed my tree as much as I do! The most important thing to remember is to have fun with your tree decorating. If it's not fun, it's not worth it.

Twelve Days of Christmas Day 10: Outside

Today I would like to share my front entrance with you. This year I decided to keep it simple. I wanted the wreath that I created to be the main focus.

I purchased the garland and trees from Lowes and the doormat from Target. To frame the door with garland, I used two Command strips. If you have never used these before, they are great. They are inexpensive and they even work great outside. I decided to pull out two of my pots from this past summer so I could give the trees a little more height. Because of all of the greenery, I wanted to add a touch of color to my doormat. I loved the simplicity of the red and white with this one.

If you have some garland pieces that are hanging to low, tie them back with green floral wire.

Take a look back at Day 1 to see how I created this wreath.

I hope you enjoyed the simplicity of my outside this year!

Twelve Days of Christmas Day 9: Table Settings

Welcome to my dining room for Christmas dinner. To me there is no right or wrong way to set a table. As long as it is comfortable for eating, that is all that matters. One thing that I highly recommend to anyone hosting Christmas dinner is to set your table the day before. This way it is one less thing that you are worrying about the day of.

If you ever decide to purchase holiday dishes, try to keep your choice generic. If you do this, it will make it easier to add to your set at a later time.

When dinner is ready for serving, I recommend moving your centerpiece off of the table unless it is at a low height. You want your dinner guests to be able to see and speak with everyone at the table.

Chargers are a great replacement for placemats. I love the look of them, but more importantly they protect your table from the heat of the meal. The only problem is that sometimes they can get a little pricey. I purchased my chargers at Target and spray painted them oil-rubbed bronze to get the color finish that I wanted. By choosing to spray paint them, you can go as flashy or as simple as you want. If you have white dishes, you may want to choose a more decorative finish. Some options include: red, green, silver, gold, and metallics. If you really want to add some sparkle, spray your charger then while it is wet sprinkle glitter of the same color onto the charger for a more festive look. Here was the before...

The dishes you use, depends on what you are serving for dinner. Here are two different options for place settings that I have used in the past.

Dinner can be a lot of work, so try and remember to get as much done the day before your dinner as possible. This will make hosting a lot easier and much more enjoyable for you.

Twelve Days of Christmas Day 8: Apothecary Jars

If you are looking for an inexpensive decoration that you can use for multiple holidays, decorate with apothecary jars. Once you purchase your jars, the costs are minimal and the options are endless for the fillers. Here are the materials that I used for my apothecary jars this Christmas, but you can use any size jars and any fillers that match your style.

I purchased all of these apothecary jars at HomeGoods and the fillers are from Michaels and Target.

This jar sits in my living room next to my television. I tied a few strands of twine around the jar for a thicker look and then attached two jingle bells from the same pack that I used to create my Christmas pillow.

For this look, I stuffed the berry strands loosely into the jar and sprinkled the snow on top letting it fall naturally. This apothecary jar serves as another inexpensive decoration to my guest room.

To create this, I filled the jar about half full with snow and then gently set the silver snowflakes into the loose snow.

Decorating with apothecary jars is such an easy and quick project that can be used in many ways so have fun with it!

Twelve Days of Christmas Day 7: Welcoming Visitors

For everyone having people over this Christmas, this will be a great Twelve Days for you. It is very important if you are having guests to make them feel like they are at home. One great way to make your guests feel welcome is to decorate the room they are staying in . Also, make sure to give them plenty of storage for their belongings, so they don't have to live out of a suitcase for the holiday. Another extra you shoud have available are blankets.

A great way to provide your guests with welcoming items is to place them on a tray. It not only looks great, but it is easy to move. Some things that you can place on the tray are magazines, books, and a candle.

If you really want to welcome your guests, provide a warm, plush robe and slippers for them. You can hang the robe on the closet door with a decorative hanger and have the slippers sitting underneath.

Aside from the decorating, you should also invite your guests to help with one of your own holiday traditions. One way of doing this is to bake some holiday goodies together. Before inviting them to do this, make sure you have all of your supplies ready. Don't make your guests feel like they need to purchase the ingredients.

Another great tradition that your guests can help with is from The Yellow Cape Cod . This is a great way to get your guests involved from the moment they walk in the door.

Twelve Days of Christmas Day 6: Candles

A great thing to have out during the holidays are candles. Candles are such an easy way to make a house feel welcoming. The warmth and smell they give is an instant comfort to guests. If you want to have multiple candles lit in your home, make sure to stick to one fragrance. You don’t have to spend a lot of money on this. For the decorative candles all around your home, choose inexpensive, unscented candles that are strictly for burning. Then when choosing a candle with a smell, it doesn’t have to be decorative because it will not be on display.

Twelve Days of Christmas Day 5: Small Touches

There is much more to decorating for Christmas then your tree, outside, and dining room table. I like to add small touches of Christmas throughout my entire house for a more welcoming feel.

Once you have walked into my home, this is the first thing that you see. Rather then hanging two of the same snowflakes, I chose two different ones at two different heights. However, they still tie into each other because of the same twine ribbon and that they are both snowflakes. I think it is important to have something at your front entrance so that guests know it is time for Christmas when they walk in.

I love that when I grab my cozy, warm blanket that I am greeted with this little gold reindeer.

This garland turned an every day candleholder into a Christmas decoration in an instant. You don’t have to pack away all of your regular decorations when it comes time to decorate. Try to add a Christmas touch to your every day decorations to lessen the cost.