Christmas at the Pretty Blue Cottage

Hello hello! Remember me? I know it’s been awhile since I have posted but life has gotten a bit crazy. We saw many new changes this year for my family. We had some work done on the house that has kept us busy. My husband started a new job, which brought new challenges. And we are now looking into transferring my daughter over to a private school. We are also in the talks of moving out of New York State. The hard part is lining everything up and getting all of our ducks in a row.

Last year I was in a total funk with everything going on. I didn’t feel like decorating and went very minimal. This year I found my Christmas spirit and wanted to return to a more traditional vibe. As you can see, I went for it! Hello plaid, hello reindeers and hello Christmas Joy!

Let’s Talk Pillow Covers

I found these pillow covers on Amazon for a great price. I actually am impressed with the quality too! The red and green plaid covers come in a set of two, I purchased the 20×20 size. The best tip I can give when purchasing pillow covers is to go a little bigger (especially when using down filled pillows). The most frustrating thing for me is trying to squeeze a pillow into a small pillow cover. The nice thing about down filled pillows is that you can fluff them out and they never loose their shape. Another Tip – get a plain pillow cover to use as layer one of the pillow cover. This will help the feathers not to poke out and jab you when you use them. Also, if the pillow cover is a bit thin, you won’t be able to see the feathers.

The green and blue pillow cover is in a size 12×20 and also comes in a two pack. A great tip when buying covers/pillow is to get different sizes. This creates visual interest and is a great way to add texture. Remember, plaid doesn’t have to be matchy-matchy. It’s fun to mix and match the color and plaid sizing.

Finally, I’m linking the Reindeer Pillow Cover. I only purchased one of these. I found the cover to be a bit thin so that tip about purchasing a another pillow cover to go under this one is a must. Otherwise, you’ll see right through it. I’ll link plain pillow covers to use as a base below. Hit the link buttons to view on Amazon.

My Christmas Tree

Are you a theme person? I love doing a good theme for a tree. This year I actually did four trees, each with a different theme. If I have time I’ll try to get the others up. My theme for my living room was red and gold. I always try to work gold into my decorations because I use a lot of gold accents already, like my picture frames above my couch.

Most of my tree decorations came from the dollar store. I found these gold leaf accents that I used to decorate with the tree. They add sparkle and great texture. I was also able to find them on Amazon, which I will link below. I found a small gold glitter ribbon at the dollar store too, which I layered over my larger buffalo plaid ribbon. Remember, your plaid doesn’t have to be matchy-matchy.

The dollar store had these great oversized ball ornaments. I bought about 6 of them in red and gold. The same reason I love mixing my sizes for pillows is the same reason I do it for my tree. I used almost four different sizes in Christmas ornaments which create visual pops. The dollar store has great small balled ornaments that can be used as filler.

The biggest tip I can give for decorating your tree is to make it look full! I always buy Ornaments balls that are plain (red, gold, silver) and use them as filler. I also purchase Christmas flocked berry branches to fill out my tree. I want my tree to look as full and real as possible. Joann has great filler pieces at reasonable prices (linked below). You don’t have to throw everything at your tree. Pick a color combination, or something that is sentimental for you and decide on your ornament theme. I love using stars as my base ornaments.

Getting Festive

Sticking with my theme I incorporated reindeers and my reds and golds. The most important element for a warm and cozy Christmas is finding joy and doing what makes you happy. Go to my Pinterest page to see a video capturing my tree and decorations in more details. I hope that you and your family have a wonderful Christmas this year.