It’s Christmas Week on the Blog!
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas: the tree is up, we’ve started the advent calendar countdown, a wreath welcomes visitors at the door and the house is filled with music from two of my favourite Christmas music albums (Michael W Smith Christmastime and Christmas, The Special Edition (2011) by Michael Bublé).
The festive season is a time for creating magical memories for children, and I believe they carry these memories well into adulthood. What a beautiful investment! To help kick start the Christmas season in my home this year, I had help from the lovely DIY and Decorating Expert, Tara Dennis.
Tara provided me with useful insights into Christmas decorating with the handy 3M Command Clear Hooks range. These hooks are awesome, especially around this time of year. Get some, and go crazy! Or, you can enter the giveaway at the end of this post for a chance to win a prize pack. Trust me, you’ll love them, and because they can be removed with no damage to walls, you can put up all those seasonal things that make the house pretty and festive, and then just take them down — easy — after Christmas.
Christmas Decorating Interview with Tara Dennis
What are your three favourite things about Christmas?
Summer, lazy days and family.
Do you believe festive decorations in the home at Christmas time play an important part in creating lasting memories for both children and adults?
Absolutely! Over the years, my mum went to so much trouble to create Christmas magic and it always felt incredibly special and exciting. I have carried that with me and always make the effort for my family to create beautiful memories for them too.
Tara, how do you decorate your home at Christmas time?
A tree is non negotiable. No matter where we are we have to have one. We went skiing in Europe one year and even made one out of a twig. I always love a wreath on the front door, it’s a nice and friendly welcome. We love lights, the more the merrier and each year we have a new colour theme to mix it up.
The Command TM Clear Hooks from 3M are perfect for Christmas decorating. What are 3 ways to use the hooks around the home in the lead up to Christmas?
Gosh, only three ways, I can think of hundreds. Hang your kitchen utensils to get them within easy reach for Christmas baking, try creating a bauble or light tree for a change, hang a wreath, along with strings of Christmas cards.
Kelly: This is a small Bauble Christmas Tree I made with the 3M Clear Decorating Clips. You can put it directly on a wall (like Tara’s gorgeous red bauble tree at the beginning of this post) but I wanted to use mine outside with the kids too, so I put the baubles on a canvas. See the tutorial here: Bauble Christmas Tree.
Kelly: I used divine twine between two 3M Decorating Clips across the window to hang our Christmas Cards.
Christmas Tree: real or fake?
I like both. There are some incredibly good looking fake trees now but I do like the smell of a real one. I’m also a little partial to alternatives to suit the space and have been known to create bauble trees and ones made entirely of lights across a wall where space is at a premium.
How can you mix up the colour theme at Christmas, so each year has its own personality (without the need to buy everything new again)?
Have a stash like I do of classic colours as a base to build from such as gold, silver and white. You can then throw in a new colour each year with a few affordable baubles and mix it up. Try gold and pink for a twist on tradition, next year you could do silver and pink or maybe just plain metallics in gold and silver. As years go on you can keep adding other shades for new looks and for that my budget tip is to buy for next year in the January sales when they’re half price!
Is it better to start with a centre feature for the Christmas table as inspiration and work around that, or decide on colours/theme first and then look for items that fit?
I like to work to a theme and use it to dictate how I decorate the table. Keep it simple, work with limited colours and add layers of colour easily with runners, napkins, crackers and festive centrepieces.
What are some ways to use nature into the house at Christmas time?
I love vases of fresh, plain greenery from the garden. A palm on its own can make such a statement as can a bunch of magnolia or camelia leaves with their glossy green foliage. Gum or eucalyptus leaves are so Australian and look as good as they smell. And don’t forget rosemary in the kitchen, try a jug filled with long fragrant stems along with some olive leaves if you have them.
Kelly: I love using nature in the home and this week, I put fresh rosemary in a tinted jar next to the kitchen sink. Sometimes, it’s these simple things that bring bursts of happiness to the day.
3M Command Clear Hooks Range Giveaway
- Mini Hook
- Small Hook
- Medium hooks
- Utensil Clips
- Decorating Clip
To enter
To enter, leave a comment below with a favourite way to decorate the house at Christmastime.
Terms and Conditions
1. Giveaway open to Australian residents only 2. One entry per person. 3. Employees or family of the Promoter are not eligible to enter 4. Giveaway open from Sunday, 2 December 2012, 12:00 am (AEST) and closes Thursday 6 December, 2012 10 pm (AEST) 5. Winners will be selected on the creativity of their answer and all decisions are final. 6. Winners will be notified via email by Friday 7 December 2012, and first names will be updated on this post in red font.
Disclosure
I was not paid for this post. I love, and use the 3M Command Clear hooks in my home.
61 Comments
Susan Stephenson
December 3, 2012 at 5:41 amWe have just re-painted the house, so damage-free is a strong attraction!
Truthfully, my favourite way to decorate the house at Christmas time is with things kids make. Long after the baubles and streamers have gone, that special papier-mâché angel with green and purple wings will still make me smile, and remember.
Liz
December 3, 2012 at 5:54 amOur “Christmas tree” is a few fallen branches (no leaves) spray painted silver. I arrange them in a big pot, and hang our baubles etc. We have a star we hang from the ceiling on fishing line so it hangs suspended over. It looks fantastic! And each year is different.
Bianca Moore
December 3, 2012 at 7:49 amWe do exactly what Tara Dennis recommends when it comes to the baubles on our tree. Over the last couple of years we have bought red, green (lime), gold, silver, black, pink and blue baubles. every year we put a different combination of those colours on the tree. One year we did blue, pink, green and silver. This year we did traditional red, green and gold. Next year we are being really bold and doing black, gold and silver. We have a VERY limited budget but our tree always looks fantastic!
Jane Wardle
December 3, 2012 at 8:06 amI have to tell you I could be the world’s worst home decorator. So when it comes to Christmas, I am happy if I manage to put something together that doesn’t look as though the Tasmanian Devil has been let lose in the room.
I honestly need all the help I can get and 3M looks like it might be my new best friend!
cherie sinclair
December 3, 2012 at 8:24 ami try to keep it simple for example i dont do tinsle as it begins to make thing look cluttered but hey each to there own but i can say over the years i have probley used the entire range of 3m and have been happy all the way the only thing i cant find on the market ( hint hint ) is magnets with little bulldog style clips on them would be perfect to put up lights ect around my bulk heads as the metal bead on the corner is perfect to hange stuff on 🙂
Mel Jones
December 3, 2012 at 9:19 amI love to make my own paper lanterns and hang them around the house.
Janet
December 3, 2012 at 10:24 amI normally like to decorate our tree in the traditional red and gold … this year Miss 16 had other ideas, it’s turquoise and silver, with purple as well! The first two colours were inspired by our own home decor – not sure about the purple though it’s a nice accent!
Janet
December 3, 2012 at 10:25 amPS Kelly if you get a chance, would love you to come & check out my new blog http://www.redlandcityliving.com!
Kay
December 3, 2012 at 11:42 amIf we’re talking exterior, three words:
Clark Griswold Style.
Symone
December 3, 2012 at 12:21 pmI love to put out our version of a Christmas wreath on the front door. One year we strung all our gold and purple baubles together for on the tree with fishing line. The next year when they came out of the bag they were all tangled up in a lovely grape like bunch, we have never been able to untangle it but it looks lovely on our front door.
Dee
December 3, 2012 at 1:57 pmI keep it simple with a few elegant decorations, so the house doesn’t look over done, cluttered or plain trashy.
Narelle Rock
December 3, 2012 at 3:51 pmI love to have all the things the kids have made and school and Kindy over the past 10yrs on display, brings back so many wonderful memories, and will another one starting kindy…there are plenty more to come, I can’t wait!
Cheryl
December 3, 2012 at 4:25 pmI let the kids decorate their own rooms (which is always quite interesting) but they love making signs to put on their door etc. The tree is totally overloaded with various ornaments that the kids have made over the years as well as ones we have collected on travels. Not a designer tree but we love it!
Jasmine1485
December 3, 2012 at 7:39 pmI love to curl tinsel around things – the TV cabinet, bookshelves, the balcony rail, anything that stays still long enough. Watch out cat!
Rach
December 3, 2012 at 7:43 pmI like a clean, elegant look, so I don’t go overboard with decorating the whole house. I have little children too, so keeping decorations simple is the key to not spending every night returning everything to its right spot after being moved! A favourite decorating tip of mine is to put lots of pretty baubles in clear glass vases, bowls and jars – to use as table or benchtop centrepieces.
Amanda Sabatino
December 4, 2012 at 10:06 amMy girls and I decorate the house together. This year we’ve filled a large glass vase with baubles in red, green and gold for the dining table, placed some beautiful angel ornaments around the house, and my three year old has been busy making paper Christmas trees.
Tracy H.
December 4, 2012 at 10:08 amIt’s hard to do a ton of decorating since we have a toddler but we do have a Christmas tree and stockings!
Heather G
December 4, 2012 at 10:10 amI love to hang lots of tinsel and fairy lights above all the doorways to brighten the house up. I also hang small baubles from the ends of the tinsel to ‘fancy’ the ends up.
Georgie Taylor
December 4, 2012 at 10:10 amI am a confirmed Christmas-aholic….I love having a tree with all the trimmings, hanging my nativity tapestry wall hanging near the front door, having any Christmas cards on display…we have wall hangings, a Santa “how many sleeps until Christmas” wooden craft hanging and evergreen swags to add colour to the walls as well as our Nativity scene on display for the kids to play with….I love to have some fun, beautiful reminders of the season in every public room in the house…my latest project has been creating beautiful paper snowflakes which can be hung anywhere or even decorate the tree…. 🙂 Christmas is my happiest time!!! Merry Christmas everyone!!!
julesz
December 4, 2012 at 10:17 ami love to have my hall table as my centrepiece with my table decos on it, then in the loungeroom theres the chrissy tree, and not far from that is my 9 yo daughters silver tree that she decorates.
i also like to hang my scrapbooking layout of the family santa photo shoot- so it all looks lovely n festive at our place.
we put our decos up around late november, just to admire that lil bit longer!
ho ho ho and merry chrissy to all
Sharon Fawcett
December 4, 2012 at 10:19 amI let the kids have a free rein on decorating the house at Christmas time. So the house ends up being a wonderful busy mass of colour and Christmas cheers. But the thing I love most is when they make their own decorations and put them around the house, along with numerous notes to Santa and his elves.
Camilla Wanders
December 4, 2012 at 10:23 amI used black cardboard to create a display of all of our Santa photos together – it’s great to see how much the kids change from year-to-year (and also how much I have changed, in the years when the kids were too scared to face Santa alone!)
Leia Knibb
December 4, 2012 at 10:27 amAhhh christmas! 🙂 Love decorating at christmas time, both indoors and outdoors. We especially love decorating the outside with christmas lights for our young son, and others in the Neighbourhood to enjoy. He’s 3.5 years now and loving the christmas lights even more this year. its a ritual going outside to look at our lights at least once every night. 🙂 We also like to use command hooks as strips for inside and outside decorating! Very handy indeed! But, we always seem to run out and can always do with some more! I use them for normal home decorating also throughout the entire year! Would love to try out making a christmas tree on the wall as in your blog! What a fabulous idea! Now…only to find a blank wall!!! Could be a problem! ;p
Kat M
December 4, 2012 at 10:30 amWe have the kids handmade ornaments on the tree and Christmas pictures stuck all over the house. Each year the kids receive a new ornament from their lovely aunty to hang on the tree and they get so excited to open her parcel to see what she has sent them!
Bev
December 4, 2012 at 10:38 amWall stickers from Aldi this year are whats made our house look like Christmas, the kids loved putting them up. never even thought of the 3m hooks for other decorations
jaelene
December 4, 2012 at 10:42 amour house looks like the spirit of christmas had a huge sneeze. with four kids decorating each year gets bigger. They make make make the maost amazing creations that we keep and put out again each year. We also take the kids to the local art market each year to choose an orament and we put their name on the back so when they leave home they will have their own decorations to take to their new home. we all love christmas and anything that stands still has been given the christmas treatment.
Christianne S
December 4, 2012 at 10:45 amWe are renting so a damaged house is not a good thing. I’ve always loved Christmas but dreaded decorating for fear of wrecking the house. I’ve been getting into it more and more since my son was born and encouraged him to put home made decorations up. This year we have no car to get to the shops so I have been using sticky tape on everything (homemade advent calendar, stringed Christmas pasta etc). I’m starting to panic for when I have to take it down, these hooks would be a great, stress free way to help celebrate the Christmas cheer 🙂
Kym
December 4, 2012 at 10:59 amI love using natural materials – driftwood, raffia – to create a natural feel to our Christmas decorations. Throw in a few Aussie shell mobiles and some decorations made by the kids.
Deb Jays (@Deb3Jays)
December 4, 2012 at 11:16 amI just love making every room look as Christmasy as possible including the kids bedrooms, hanging tinsel from there window sills etc, I may go a bit overboard my husband tell me, but it is worth it, especially love displaying what the kids have made at school or kindy, it is really special. Never thought about using the 3m hooks for decoration you learn something new everyday…lol 🙂
Dorothy @ Singular Insanity
December 4, 2012 at 11:24 amI love hanging tinsel garlands all over the house. Around door and window frames, pictures and draped around furniture. We also have lots of Christmas lights inside the house, including in the boys’ bedrooms.
Anne
December 4, 2012 at 11:33 amLove Christmas… I try and keep it simple, since I do most of the decorating. This year decided not to put a tree up (Have twin girls at the terrible two stage and it will be trashed). My favarite tradition I have started with them is their santa stocking above the fire place and my homemade advent calander. My favarite outdoor decoration is my cows pulling santas sled, (we run a dairy farm so that will explain the cows). Also have started doing crafty things with the girls for their grandparent (they love hand printing).
del
December 4, 2012 at 11:37 amMy favourite Christmas decoration is also my least favourite decoration, you see it is an almost life-sized reindeer. It looks awesome in the lounge, by the Christmas tree, surrounded by presents during December. The rest of the year it is in the study taking up way too much space. I should have known that when I couldn’t fit it into the boot of the car properly that there would be no where to store it in the ‘off season’ so it is left in the study only to be used as a cat climbing object or as part of a fort for nerf wars.
Melanie
December 4, 2012 at 11:37 amI am loving the decals at the moment so the walls look great and not too much clutter. I always keep some 3M hooks handy just to be able to change the decor with simple hanging art. A change is as good as a holiday they say…….
Helen Wilkinson
December 4, 2012 at 11:38 amI love to bring out all my decorations passed on from when I was little and hang them on the tree along with all my kids homemade decs they make at school! That’s what Christmas is all about! It’s just magical!
Wendy D
December 4, 2012 at 11:48 amI hang my daughters xmas ornaments that she made at childcare and her picture with santa in the middle.
Clara Bush
December 4, 2012 at 11:54 amI love fairy lights, I like to put them all over the house. The kids think it is magical (although hubby doesn’t always enjoy the job). I also get the kids to do some art on canvas each year and hang them up too.
Kellie
December 4, 2012 at 12:27 pmOur decorating is a mix of shop bought and handmade from the kids. It goes wherever it fits and lands! The stockings go out (the cat even has one of his own), and there is always me singing a Christmas carol or two or three… It can be messy, noisy and sometimes chaotic but the results are always beautiful.
vicki
December 4, 2012 at 12:44 pmWe are currently homeless (been living with in-laws for over a year!) but this year I have decorated the house with Mr 3.5’s own advent calendar- each day he gets a story and an activity in a bag and each bag is numbered and we’ve strung them up around the house- so a useable Christmas decoration!!! Plus many of the activities are Christmas decorations we have hung up around the house to add to the Christmas cheer:)
Ellie
December 4, 2012 at 12:50 pmWe decorate the tree with lots of glittery gold and red decorations to the non-classic CD 24 non-stop Christmas Carols – It was my favourite as a kid and when I had kids my brother somehow found a copy for me, so now my kids also get breathless with me singing along – Tree-trimming night is such a happy, happy time. Other than that I love tealight candles and fairy lights, our stockings hung in a row and a big bowl of stone fruit and mangoes!!
Jane McIntosh
December 4, 2012 at 1:05 pmbecause I have a little one, I put the christmas tree inside the playpen. Then its double the fun because we get to decorate the play pen too!!
crazy muma
December 4, 2012 at 1:32 pmWe make sure the Christmas music is pumping and that there is lots of singing and dancing going on while we decorate in a very eclectic style of kinder made, shop bought and decorations given as gifts are displayed all around the house.
Mindo
December 4, 2012 at 2:04 pmWe have 3 yo daughter who loves doing crafty things. So we have lots of hand made christmas decoration by her. ….. 🙂
BekahBel
December 4, 2012 at 2:06 pmI love to make things with the kids, and use nature, but we do summer style decorations rather than traditional Christmas ones… We currently have paper sunflowers, paper vines, paper fairy and butterfly chains, paper suns and bees, and vases full of real bottlebrush and dandelions, clear glass bowls full of rose petals, bottlebrush flowers and leaves, dried orange peel. We’ve got various bits and pieces like feathers and red, orange and yellow crystals everywhere. And soon I’ll be putting around bowls of fresh summer fruits as well for decoration… I’m hoping next year to have an actual fruit tree sapling to use as the Tree…
Leila
December 4, 2012 at 2:46 pmI love to decorate all the rooms of my house, the children don’t have a lot of bench space that isn’t taken up by nicknaks and toys so being able to hang a few decorations in each of their room above their personalised christmas trees is a great way to help them celebrate when they are in their own space.
Louise Irvine
December 4, 2012 at 6:47 pmOur son loves putting up the Christmas tree and decorating it. He loves making his own Christmas decorations. We have some outdoor lights too.
Melissa Meyer
December 4, 2012 at 7:38 pmWell besides the obvious tree, I like to decorate the top of our bookcase in the dvd stand. Christmas pictures, advent calendar, tinsel, garlands, stockings – whatever comes to mind at the time. This year I also made a felt christmas tree for my toddler to decorate and redecorate with through out the month – it is currently hung using command velcro tab things 🙂
Liz
December 4, 2012 at 8:16 pmTo be honest, I’m pretty lazy with house decorations – we just do some fairy lights and tinsel in the corridors. The last time I put a Christmas tree up, it didn’t get packed up for six months so I don’t think I”ll be doing it again anytime soon.
My little girl’s favourite way though to decorate the house would be to draw on the walls with a red texta (as she’s done several times already)
Kim m
December 4, 2012 at 10:44 pmWe use the 3m hooks to hang icicle lights from the lounge room ceiling, near the Christmas tree, it looks great.
AmberB
December 4, 2012 at 11:26 pmI go all out at christmas with decorating. 3m hooks keep my walls from being tortured 🙂
Nikki
December 5, 2012 at 12:12 amThis year I got 75′ of pine garland from the farm where we get our Christmas tree. I’m planning to drape it, along with white lights, around our sunroom. I couldn’t figure out how to do it last night – command hooks!