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…
*********************
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.
*********************
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.
- U.S. Addresses only please.
- You can comment on all 12 days (once per person) up until midnight Pacific time, Sunday, December 16. Start with Day One here.
- Share the giveaway with your friends and followers. You can use the share buttons below or repost and share on Instagram (my fave) and tag me @karenehman.
- One daily winner will be chosen from each day’s comments.
- To enter to win the Grand Prize (below), comment on all 12 posts and share on social media.
- All winners (including Grand Prize) will be announced here on the blog on Tuesday, December 18, and contacted via email. Please allow 4-6 weeks to receive your prizes.
- If you’re not already subscribed, click HERE and you’ll receive an email notification each day of our series.
Everything looks gorgeous! I like to keep my decorations simple and toddler friendly lol we like to have lights in the walls, and green garland around. Ever year we make a red and green papergarland for the ceiling!
Super simple but I love to have festive kitchen towels and placemats in my kitchen/eating area. It is a small way to make my very small home feel welcoming and pretty.
I love these ideas! Thank you for sharing!
For a simple idea I put a garland of greenery up in a bigger sized doorway and hang lights on it then as Christmas cards arrive I attach them with red yarn . It’s easy, inexpensive and a great reminder of all those who love us.
I have been wanting to get Nicki Koziarz book. Thank you for these awesome giveaways.
Our tree is 20 years old this year. We bought it our first Christmas as a married couple and decorate it with ornaments we have received as gifts or gifted to each other. I choose each year to enjoy what we have received as gifts previous years and what our children have made. We will never make an interior design show but we are all delighted every year as we see our favorites.
I enjoy making garlands. I had also found a Pinterest idea and read on a post that garlands were like necklaces for the home and since then , I have taken to them. They are pretty easy to make out of felt, any fabric, card stock, pine cones, what ever you can get your hands on. You could even add essential oils to the pine cones to make it even more festive. I also decorate my home with a Poinsettia and window clings, love the window clings.
We like simple kids friendly decorations so things aren’t too fancy and don’t worry as much about things getting broke.
I feel like everything I do comes out looking “not festive” no matter what I do. Just having the tree up with ornaments and lights on and then putting a wreath on the door and on the inside of the front door I cover it with wrapping paper and hang the Christmas cards on it that we receive. The advent wreath on the table with the manager scene as well as the outside lights with the large manager scene.
My ideas for decorating involve candles and lights. We keep it pretty simple. No pinterest for me!
Glad to see someone else is like me. I am not pinterest creative.
I finally put ribbons in my tree for years I tried and could not, I had great difficulties but thank goodness to Pinterest lead me straight to a youtube video and now I have ribbon in my tree
I use about the same decorations every year because they were my mother’s. I still try to change it somewhat with different candles on the table and around the house. I make my own wreath which has worked out well. My friend owns a farm and great greenery from her trees and every year we go to her barn and create great things.
Hey Nicki, good to hear about you again! Thank you for sharing your ideas and for your honesty.
Yes, you have the reason about the comparison. When we let the comparison take up us we can’t be us and always we will feel like we don’t know to do anything or we can see us more little than other, means we are not happy in ourselves. We have to value each other and be confident and happy with everything we have and can do. Blessings!
Merry Christmas!
I shared this post on Facebook.
G-d Bless
I am not one who goes all out with lots and lots of decorations, but I still love to make it look festive. I have these chair covers that look like Santa hats that we put over the kitchen chairs. They are simple and festive.
Great notes. I am actually taking a few ideas off of these 12 days and trying to incorporate a few into our families traditions. Will it look like the writers ideas.? Maybe. I am excited to try!
I love to decorate with all the crafts and Christmas projects my children have made growning up! They are full of good memories and are so cute!!
The older we get and the less company we have the less I decorate.
I too looked around my hone and used what I had to create my kind of beautiful.
I am always forgetting to use what I have when I decorate! These fun ideas helped me to see what I have with new eyes! I also appreciate the books on comparison -one of my ongoing battles.
I love decorating with nature! I also love remodeling and have been working on the home place myself! It is frustrating, to say the least, but when I ask the Lord to show me how to do something, seems I can do the task with ease….as it is said “I can do all things through Christ”….Thank you!
I have all my Christmas things and my roommate has all her things. Together it’s like a Christmas explosion. I like things simple, but with just our special things out, it’s still too much but that’s what it is!
My favorite part of Chris is adding candy canes to the tree and the kids get to enjoy some a couple of times before Christmas Day! So fun and our favorite tradition.
I have my white tree decorated with my Marine son’s Marine ornaments and my EMT son’s EMT ornaments. With red white and blue lights.
Your table is Beautiful! Thank you for giving me some Awesome ideas!!! Merry Christmas!!