easy and fun decorating ideas for the holidays

I love this time of year so much! Like, really a lot. We have bins and bins of old Christmas decorations, and I can’t bear to part with any of them because they hold memories of past Christmases. And yet each year we seem to buy more lights, more garland. In sum: I’ve tried lots of different decorations for Christmas, and I’ve found a few special things that make our house feel cozy, warm, and filled with love. Here’s a quick list of the fun, easy ideas I’m using this year.

displaying cards on the staircase

I love receiving cards from old friends–it’s so fun to see how much their kids look like them and how much their kids have grown over the past year! But until now I didn’t have a great way to display them.

A few weeks ago I bought a garland at Target and attached it to our staircase bannister using some simple jute twine. Then I ran a long piece of twine down the bannister, under the garland, and used clothespins to hang the cards. So far I’m loving this solution because we can easily see the cards, they’re not in the way, and we can still hold onto the bannister when needed.

battery-operated candles and strings of lights are fantastic

I ordered a big pack of battery-operated candles from Amazon, and I love them! They come with a little remote control that you can use to quickly turn the candles off or on, and you can set the candles to burn constantly or flicker like a real flame. Plus, they can be used indoors or outdoors. I can’t say enough positive things about them!

I also bought battery-operated lights strings from Amazon to decorate our mantel. Same remote control works to turn them off and on, too, plus there’s no danger if I accidentally leave them on overnight.

displaying old cards on the coffee table

I love looking at holiday cards from years past almost as much as I like the ones from this year! And some of the pictures on those cards are too dear to throw away. At the end of the season, I punch holes in each card and thread them onto a circular clip I found on Amazon (links below). It’s fun to display these bundles on our coffee table, where we can easily pick them up and see pictures of people we love.

amazon affiliate links below

However you decide to decorate, I hope you enjoy it! Happy holidays to everyone!