Day 11 of 12 Days of Christmas Giveaways (with Nicki Koziarz)
Winners announced here! Congratulations!
*Give Away has Ended*
It’s Day 11 of 12 Days of Christmas Giveaways!
If you’re just joining in, start at Day One here.
My guest is my friend and Proverbs 31 ministry partner Nicki Koziarz. She is an author, speaker, and fixer-upper farm dweller. She is giving us a clever holiday and winter-time decorating idea I think you are going to love. Here’s Nicki…
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Pinterest. The breeding ground of all Christmas comparisons.
From tree decorations, to the perfect wrapping ideas for gift, it’s easy to look at all this perfection on Pinterest and suddenly feel like we don’t measure up in some kind of Christmas way.
But, I want to show you that just because you can’t make a Pinterest picture transfer to real life, you can still create something beautiful.
You can let the Pinterest’s success of others encourage, not discourage you.
Recently, I was searching on Pinterest for ways to decorate my table for Christmas. This was my inspiration picture (from Tuesday Morning).
I knew I could either look at this picture and become discouraged or I could give this my best shot and see what I COULD do. Here’s three things that helped:
1. Get honest about what you do have.
Comparison loves to convince us to see everything we don’t have. And we begin to write that “if only …” dialogue in our minds. So, I looked at that inspiration picture and realized I had almost NOTHING in it. But, I took a look around my house and realized I didn’t have everything that inspiration picture had, but I had plenty of beautiful things that still fit the vibe the inspiration picture had. So I grabbed this and I grabbed that, and before I knew it, my table was full.
2. See things as enough.
Comparison loves to make us miss what’s right in front of us.
I knew those plain white candles didn’t look as lovely as the ones in the inspirational picture, but I thought about what I could do instead of what I couldn’t. And then it came to me. I went out to my yard, cut a few rosemary stems and tied them around the candle. The simplicity was beautiful to me and I saw it as more than enough. Sometimes we just need to look right in front of us, beauty is there.
3. Perfection is overrated.
Comparison also loves to convince us that if it can’t be perfect, why even try?
Well, if you look closely you’ll see that in the inspirational picture the table runner has no wrinkles. In mine? Well, there’s a few! (smile) And I’m okay with it. Because someone once said, “Finished is better than perfect.” I agree. And hey, I’m sure my guests this Christmas won’t even notice the wrinkles.
What ideas do you have for decorating for the holidays? What are some simple items you put out to make your place festive? Let us know in the comment thread.
Happy decorating,
Nicki
Day 11 Giveaway
To help you keep you filled up with confidence this Christmas season and not let comparison compromise you, Nicki is giving away a copy of her newest book, Why Her?, her Rachel & Leah Bible study book, and a special signed copy of The Fixer Upper Farm Co. Journal! A combined $50 value.
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Nicki Koziarz is a wife, mom, two-time best selling author and speaker. She and her husband own a farm they affectionately call, “The Fixer Upper Farm”. They are first generation farmers, which is just a fancy way of saying they have no idea what they are really doing. Nicki has been featured on Life Today and contributes to the First 5 writing team at Proverbs 31 Ministries.
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Hey Nicki. I think your table looks amazing! My table still has a Thanksgiving candle on it. But, you have inspired me to use what I have to decorate. Thanks for the encouragement.
We do a Christmas tree and some form of wreath on the front door and that’s about it.
Love the quote from what Nicki wrote…”Sometimes we just need to look right in front of us, beauty is there.” Remebering this and passing it on to my kids is what I am working on. Keeping my eyes open for what is around me.
We always have an advent “wreath” made of metal that we decorate and put four candles on. Lighting a new candle each Sunday.
Garland! We love garland! Up our stair rails, on top of the fireplace, on top of the entertainment center-it’s kind of everywhere. It makes our house looks so warm and festive (and it’s EASY!) I’m not the most creative person in the world, so this is perfect for me!
I love how your took things from nature and used them as simple and yet free decor because I do that too. My favorite decor piece is the lovely pinecone. I go pick up pinecones from after they have fallen and use them alot because they are so versatile. I also store them to use the next year. They can be beautiful left alone in the natural, glittered, spray painted, displayed in a bowl, around candles on a tray, or hung as ornaments depending on the Christmas decor. I just love the festive look of them no matter how they are displayed!
I’ve found that small votive candle holders fit into the top of a mason jar. I fill the mason jar with anything festive, from fresh cranberries to Christmas candies, then set the votive holder on top with colored candle. A ribbon or holiday adornment creates a simple gift or decoration.
For Christmas decor, I use fake garland with lights and then tuck bits of real pine branches in to give it pizazz. My daughter and I decorate using things we have accumulated over the years and throw in some Christmas colored books stacked in 2’s or 3’s.
Good words today from Nikki! I think it is also important to remember that when it comes to decorating for the holidays, there is no right or wrong way to do it! Do what makes you happy and what you enjoy – not what anyone else thinks is the “perfect” way to do it. Here in the condo we rent for the winter months in Texas there is a really ugly dining table! A $4.00 vinyl table cloth with my favorite – a Christmas tree print – is enough to make it festive but still practical. The table gets used for a lot since there is only 18″ of counter space otherwise!
We put out our nativity. Usually we put lights around it, but we didn’t have working lights this year. Instead we used some battery-operated candles. Simple.
I love decorating with candles in my windows. You know the battery operated ones, lol. There’s just something so simple and yet with candles.
I put twinkle lights and garland everywhere!!
xoxo,
Melissa
I love your idea! And your table is beautiful! I enjoy looking around my home for decorating ideas. Putting Christmas books in a big basket and tying a bow with some Christmas ribbon on the handle adds a touch of color. I adore throws and pillows. I have several for the season and I place them on chairs, sofas and beds. If you get a chill just grab a throw and snuggle. One other thing I like to do is frame my favorite Christmas cards. The dollar store has a nice selection of frames. I change out from year to year the cards in the frames. But a few special ones I keep. They are cute on easels or use Command Strips and hang them on your wall. Thanks for your idea and the reminder that it’s ok not to be perfect. Merry Christmas
Great words of encouragement! Thank you! Nicki! I like to use some of the decorations inherited from grandmothers and my mom. Nostalgia mixed with my current decorations which are mostly nativities that I have collected through the years and from various countries while on mission trips brings together past & current memories
We are very minimal with our decorating this year because my husband is deployed and we didn’t want him to miss out on all the beauty of it. But normally we make our own wreaths from our live tree, make popcorn and cranberry garland , and each year we make a homemade set of ornaments! Shared days 1-11 on fb or IG. :)
Last year it was my first time moving out of my parent’s into my own apartment. I loved the idea of decorating for a Christmas, but couldn’t afford to go “all out” like I wanted! Instead of heading to Hobby Lobby and going crazy, I simply added some festivity to what I already had. I bought 1 strand of garland and used it to wrap around a basket I had, I filled my coffee table tray with pulled-apart cotton balls (to make it look like snow). I also filled a little lantern I had with bulbs that my mom gave me, along with putting up a Christmas tree she gave me. I didn’t let all these had me downs upset me, it turned out beautiful! And I didn’t go broke!
We do not do a lot of decorating. We try to keep it down at the house so our December child knows her birthday is important too.
I totally love what you said about we see things we can’t do and then you decided to turn it around and find what you have to make it work for you. That’s awesome! We are a crafty kind of family so we think of ways that are cheap to do like going to the dollar store and they have cute things you can make cheap. So we got little canvases and painted a holiday scene on them. Merry Christmas. God bless you
I put greenery and decorations on my table runner in the dining room this year, trying to be creative, and it turned out really pretty. However, my family thinks it is “stuff in the way” when we are eating dinner. LOL In their defense, it kind of is in the way. I can’t tell whether I decorated too much or we just eat too much. Haha
I would LOVE this!!
We put out our nativity
I usually do a different theme every year. This year I wanted a simple plan. So I had a vision and a plan well the plan didn’t pan out… so I did glass snowflakes ornaments and white lights. Simple and beautiful .
I’ve done different themes every year and this year I just wanted a simple tree so I had a plan and vision which didn’t pan out! So I went very simple and did glass snowflakes and white lights! Simple and beautiful! (In my opinion ?)
Most of my Christmas decorations are things that I have collected over the years even from my youth :) I like your nature decorating ideas. I collected some acorns this fall that I put in a mason jar to add to a nature décor area too.
A lot of kid style decorations here! I love it though :)
I put on some Christmas music while my kids and I decorate our home and we have a lot of fun!
I am so traditional. With my Granny or parents not here with me anymore it brings out the traditions in me. I love snowmen and old ornaments from years gone by. Our stockings go back to when my oldest daughter was around 10. It is still her favorite.
I love lights and decorations and hot chocolate on a cold day.