JOYFUL HOLIDAY HOME TOUR – 2016

Merry Christmas!!!
Okay, so I know we aren’t quite there yet, but I’m sure we are all gearing up for the holidays, and no doubt feeling the buzz and excitement that comes with the season. Christmas is my absolute favourite time of year for so many reasons. Watching fun Christmas movies while curled up on the couch with my husband… bundling up in scarves and boots and drinking hot apple cider while taking a walk in the cold winter air… getting to spend so much time with family and friends, while feeling joy in giving gifts and in sharing meals. It’s all so wonderful. I also feel fortunate to live in Canada, where the weather really lends itself to the season with all of the beautiful snow fall we receive. These are just a few of my favourite Christmas-y things.

I am so excited that today I get to show you all my Christmas home tour for this year. I have teamed up with a bunch of talented bloggers, and throughout the week we are sharing our spaces all decked out for the season for our blog hop: Joyful Holiday Home Tour 2016. If you are here from Kim Power Style, welcome! I hope you have been enjoying our string of home tours so far.

In previous years, I have always used red in my Christmas decor – here are Part 1 and Part 2 of last year’s home tour. So this year, I decided to change things up a bit. I used neutrals and whites, with touches of black, silver and gold. I decided to call it “rustic glam”, because I still have woodland creatures, antlers, and other rustic touches, but I have mixed them with a more modern look that includes black and white textures, while also integrating a bit of the classic Christmas silver, gold and bronze. In typing that out, it sounds a little complicated! However, in practice, I think it all flows together nicely.
All that being said, without further ado, here is my 2016 Christmas home tour.

I chose to keep the mantle super simple this year. I really, really wanted flocked garland (and a flocked tree, but that will have to wait until next year..hopefully), but I could not find any anywhere! I saw all of my friends in the U.S. Instagram stories of finds at WalMart and various places, and was a little jealous – I think the decor companies sometime forget about those of us up here in Canada. Anyways, since I couldn’t find any, I decided to make my own! I found a “snow spray” or flocking spray from Canadian Tire called Buffalo Snow (you can find similar here), and applied it on some basic faux spruce garland from Michaels. It was so easy to use, and I think turned out well! I love the look of greenery with that dusting of frost/snow.
I suppose I should have prefaced this by saying that if you don’t like a mess, then I would advise against this method. Think; white powder everywhere. However, to achieve the look I wanted I was willing to deal.

I found these white knit and faux fur stockings from Canadian Tire! I was excited, because they were just what I was looking for.

For my coffee table, I used a small black Ikea lantern, some old books, and a cloche with a mercury glass votive holder inside (here’s a link to a similar one). I also picked up this faux flocked foliage from Canadian Tire, and have it laying overtop. I thought of putting some ornaments throughout the tray, but I didn’t want to have it looking too busy (I’m a minimalist at heart).

I had fun wrapping all my present in these different combinations of black, white and neutral this year. Here are some sources for similar items to wrap with:

[ burlap garland // brown kraft paper // white kraft paper // silver bells // polka dot ribbon // black and white gingham ribbon // other ribbons not linked are from Michaels, and the polka dot wrapping paper is from Ikea! ]

I also loved using little touches of fresh cedar in places throughout my home. I found big bundles of it for $5 at Lowes, and just clipped branches off and placed them where I saw fit. You’ll see more of that by our entryway, and in the tour of our Christmas bedroom early next week!

I had to sneak in a pic of this cute little teddy with his Christmas ribbon on. (No… I don’t have children…)

It seems I have a theme of joy going on in our home this year. On top of our home tour series being “Joyful Holiday Home Tour”, I also have two different ‘Joy to the World’ signs; one being my mantle chalkboard, and the other being this slate sign I have hung at our entrance. I honestly didn’t even realize until I was photographing! How funny is that?! Some may say it’s overkill, but I’m going to see it as the Lord wanting me to focus on joy during this season, and that coming out through my creating.

Here is my industrial entryway table dressed up for the season. I tried to continue with my rustic-glam look by having an antler, sleigh, and vintage lantern, but also a Christmas tree with silver and gold ornaments.

It’s so lovely having more fresh cedar over here. I don’t think I could do Christmas without some kind of fresh greens around.

I also can’t wait to show you my Christmas tablescape next week! You can kind of see it peaking into the shot here.

I’ve had this ‘Noel’ sign for years – I had bought it at Canadian Tire. It’s been stowed away the past couple of years, but I thought the tones of it went so well with my decor theme this Christmas.

I love having this table to set up, it is such a unique piece and I really get to be creative.

I thought I would give you just a photo or two as a sneak peak of our bedroom…

That’s all! Did I hook you in? Haha. The full reveal of our cozy Christmas bedroom will be up on the blog next week.
Now we will go back over to the living room!

Oh, the Christmas tree.. my favourite part about Christmas decorating.
Even though I didn’t have a flocked tree this year, I decided to add a touch of a flocked look with these frosted cedar branches I found at Canadian Tire. I placed them in various places around the tree, and I think it adds a nice little touch of snow.

My faux fur pillow here is from Chapters/Indigo a couple years back.

This throw blanket I found this year is so super cozy, I am loving it! I picked it up at Home Sense.

I can’t get enough of these presents this year. I just think they add such a festive touch being all around the base of the tree. It’s always so fun knowing what’s inside a gift, and anticipating the reactions of those you give them to.

Well, this brings us to the end of my Joyful Holiday Home Tour. I hope that you enjoyed scrolling through, and that you maybe even found some inspiration for your own Christmas decorating this year. Also, stay tuned for my own Holiday Home Tour part two blog post, where I will be sharing our full bedroom set up for the holidays!
The next blog on our Joyful Holiday Home Tour is the incredible Lisa from Farmhouse On Boone. Lisa is so talented, everything she puts her hands to turns into absolute beauty, and her Christmas tour is no different. Her post will be up tomorrow morning, and you won’t want to miss it!

Amidst all of the busyness, and sometimes hectic days of this season, I pray that you are able to pause and reflect on what you are grateful for. For me, it is that we have been given an amazing gift in Christ, whose birth has brought us new life and abounding grace. In this season, I hope you are able to spend time with those you cherish, and be filled with joy in abundance.
Thanks so much for stopping by The Porch Light Cottage,

Joyful Holiday Home Tour 2016 Bloggers:

Marci from Lemons to Lovelys // Jordan from JorDecor // Natalie from My Vintage Porch // Kim from Kim Power Style // Rachel from The Porch Light Cottage // Lisa from Farmhouse On Boone // Laura from Meaningful Spaces // Jennifer from Delightfully Noted