Easy Decorations Here for Christmas at the Farm

Last week, I had to make our farmhouse feel festive for the first Open House here at Leyden Glen Farm. I must be honest with you all -- we don't entertain a lot during the holidays. I mostly decorate for us to make the short winter days seem more bearable. We only have a few more days of shortening days and then they will get longer - hooray. 

So last week before the Open House, I did some quick holiday decorating. I never have a lot of time and don't go over the top. I prefer a natural look with little bits of our Christmas traditions added in. And I love little lights. I leave them up some places all year long. I think in the UK they call them fairy lights. I usually buy extras when they are at a deep discount after the holidays because for some reason, when i pull out the old ones, they never seem to work. Quality? 

My favorite part of decorating is to take my pruning shears and go out into the woods and clip lots of pine boughs, spruce, hemlock and whatever other green-ish stuff I can find. I throw it into the back of the truck and lug it indoors. Then I fill vases with greens and it just makes the house seem more alive and ready for the holidays. Nothing fancy and very reasonably priced - free. 

Mom brought me some pine roping at Thanksgiving and my brother-in-law Pat helped me hang it on the house. I love pine roping - it lasts a long time and it just says Christmas to me. Sometimes I make roping but I didn't have a lot of time this year. My family and I made some wreaths after Thanksgiving on our craft day. I ripped some silk scraps I had to make really pretty ribbons. Even the lamb shack and chicken coop get some roping and wreaths. 

I pulled out some of the little antique sheep I have collected over the years and grouped them on a desk with my Staffordshire statues.

The pom pom garland has been a staple this year at our house. You can watch my YouTube video and make your own. 

And because we are into pom poms, I dressed up some other sheep things I have around with pom poms. 

Out came the birch houses and my glittered sheep and pig. I have quite a collection that I have made over the years. I lined them up on the mantle in the dining room and added some votives. The candlelight makes the glitter sparkle. Here is a birch house tutorial. 

Here is the total scene - The oil painting above the mantle is done by a friend's husband who passed away. She gave it to me because it was a farm scene. He painted for years and years and never had a show nor sold any paintings. He just painted for the joy of painting. I like to have it as a reminder of what is important in art. 

I started a bunch of paperwhites just before Thanksgiving. They are blooming now. I was hoping they would be open for the Open House but they weren't. Just having the greenery though makes the house feel warmer. I ordered a bunch of them from Van Engelen so I keep potting them up all winter long. Nice quality and a reasonable way to keep up some cheer and life all winter. 

Here are some on the windowsill. The thing in front of them is Kate's dog crate in the kitchen. It is such a big ugly thing but she likes it and feels safe in it so it stays. On top is my sunflower fabric design which you can get on Spoonflower here. There was a lot of interest in it at the Open House. 

I also brought out the glittery ornaments I made out of cardboard when Julia was little. I love these things. More sparkle and really easy to make and cheap. All you need is recycled cardboard, glitter, scissors, Elmer's glue, and a paintbrush. 

So that is pretty much it here for decorations until we get our tree next weekend. I hope you all are enjoying the festive season. 

And if you missed it - my Etsy Pottery Shop re-opened on Friday. There is still a good selection of my colorful pottery left. Check it out here.