Sunday, November 26, 2006

Creating a Lavish Rustic Lodge Christmas Decor


We have many of these for sale facing in two different directions

Winchuck River Store




This lovely pillow is from Wooded River. We have it in stock!
Winchuck River Store




Creating a Lavish Rustic Lodge Christmas Decor




This guide is to help with decorating for the Holidays using rustic as the keyword in coming up with the look we want. Many of us like to use rustic as a basis for our Christmas decorating because it takes us back to times long ago when Christmas was much less commercial. It gives us opportunities to come up with venues that don't require trips to the store, buying more items to store away after the holidays. Rustic can use things we have, things we have kept because they have meaning to us and bring our feelings into the mesh of the Holiday activities. If you want your decorating to reflect the warmth and coziness of the past, read more.



Intertwine artificial wreaths with actual natural elements. Visit your yard or a nearby wooded area to gather fallen birch branches, bay leaves, red berries, and pinecones. You can either twist them into the artificial greenery with wire or use a hot glue gun.


To get that lavish rustic Christmas, you can use tapestry, velvets to mingle with the woolen blankets. The rustic decor loves layering. You can use velvet, wools, leathers and tapestry to create just the look we are trying to get. We have pictured a pillow that has the combination of two woolen pieces with pewter and lots of rich fringe. You can be inspired by items like this. I have included a picture of this pillow at the beginning of this blog.

You can also take a long artificial garland, double it and then twist it to make it much fuller to give an oppulent affect. You can also add your gathered natural elements to this garland for a more realistic look. Don't forget those lights that can be placed within the garland.

I have taken 15 x 20 inch samples of luxuriant washable wool fabrics from Wooded River to create a layered rich display on my buffet. I use these samples to send potential buyers. They are finished off with a casual cabin lodge look of the blanket stitch. You can do the same by finding woolen scarves at a local thrift store for little money. The fringe on the scarves would add just another interesting element to the design. Add some greenery, pinecones and other Christmas pieces that make it your own. Drape the edge of each piece at an angle and repeat this across the surface that you are covering until you have just the right amount of layering. It could also be done with an old cut up blanket. Pull the edges until you have the fringe you like or sew your own fringe onto pieces of fabric. I could even see mingling of different fabrics like wool, velvet, tapestry and then put in 3 to 5 old crochet placemats. I happen to have a few of those!

How many of us have an old ski or two or more?? I have 4 out in my shed. I am taking 2 of them as the main focal point of a porch display. I saw on HGTV where they actually added ribbon to the skiis. I am now dissapointed that I sold the German ribbon I had in my closet for years! Darn! I found an old pair of black ice skates at a garage sale for $1.00 that will just add a strong accent. You could add glitter to the skates, stuff them with packages or greenery. Keep adding more greenery and natural elements until you have a layers of Holiday cheer. I am going to have warmth, love and welcome at my front door! I think I will add my old red wagon planted with cyclamen and/or poinsettas. Some of you might have a left over sled from your children. A few white lights twisted in and through this display will make an evening entry to my home very festive.

Remember to use natural colors in your displays to reach the truly rustic lodge look. You can use burlap, muslim, woolen blankets, old woolen scarves and grandma's old lace tablecloth for your base. Add, river rock, birch branches and other pieces of nature that you gather. Just in case you didn't see it, on TV on the home channel, they sprayed tips of their tree with copper paint and used amber lights to give added warmth to the tree.

I am taking a lace runner, folding it over and over putting white lights throughout the folds ...might be really fabulous in my for a guest room. Also hanging small lights behind sheer window treatments can make the room magical. Remember that Lavish Rustic doesn't mean it can't be magical.

I have two old woolen blankets that I found at an estate sale. I will use these to make my guest room have an atmosphere of welcome and warmth. Use your old quilts layered on your couch. It is time to bring out all your precious pieces of comfort that sometimes find themselves in the closet, folded in your cabinet or stuffed into a basket. Look at the combination of plaids with woolen prints. It is the look we are going for!

Use your family treasures or pieces from your favorite outdoor activities such as fishing or hunting as part of the decor. I have several signs that will make fine additions to the rustic Christmas look. You can do the whole tree with a theme of outdoors. Gather your collection of birdhouses and perch them in the branches. String the cranberries and popcorn to use in your home and then after Christmas, put that tree out in the yard with the garland for the birds to enjoy. We did this when I was a child. It is a kind and thoughtful tradition to pass on.

I have a large collection of fake fruit. Most of them came from the dollar store. I will spray them with adhesive and toss in a bag with glitter. I might decide to just spray on the top area. You can use your own decision on how much glitter you want. These will be used in my greenery and woolen pieces for my dining area buffet top. These inexpensive pieces of fruit could also be used outdoors wired securely to a garland or wreath with amber lights.

Use some of your own pieces that are perfect for a Lavish Rustic Lodge Christmas. I have a large goose listed in my store Winchuck River Store that would be perfect with a big red bow around her neck! What a Christmas Goose!


Have you thought about other uses for Christmas stockings like tying them to the backs of your dining chairs stuffed with greenery for a fabulous scent and spreading Christmas to every possible corner of your home?

Candles and twinkling lights always add to the Holidays. We even have some made from Aspen logs that the light flickers like a candle! I'm putting those in the windows. We made an arrangement on top of our TV cabinet with one of our lanterns listed for sale at Winchuck River Store. . If I simply layered greenery with the amber lights, I would have just the right look for the Lavish Rustic Lodge Decor for the Holidays.

Stockings could be mounted on your doors so that every entry to a room would bring a smile and more great Christmas smells around your house.

The Christmas Stockings could also have a special gift for your Holiday guest placed at the head of the bed like a pillow or tied to the bed post. I'm afraid that my Christmas guest may never leave after I treat them so well!

Make some gingerbread figures from that great applesauce and ginger recipe to place around the house and hang from the tree. Watch your pets! One year, one of our labs ate some off the tree and ended up covered with hives! We had a polka dot dog. Poor baby was sick to her tummy and needed antihestimines. It takes lots of cinnamon and applesauce and that is about all! I found several internet sites that list variations to this recipe. Just type in Applesauce Cinnamon Christmas Decorations and you will come up with them.

I will add to this list as I start to create my own Rustic Christmas Decor for my home and I'll be providing pictures of some of my successes in getting the look that I can see in my mind's eye.

Remember Christmas is JOY. So, enjoy the process. If it doesn't bring that warm and fuzzy feeling, don't do it. Christmas is the accumulation of years of Christmas cheer. It isn't a chore. It is an act of love and tradition to pass on to our families.

4 comments:

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Anonymous said...

Hello. And Bye.

Susan Graham said...

Ah mate thanks a lot. I’ve been looking for a lot of jQuery tutorials regarding charts and i stumbled upon this.Just wanted to thank you for the help

rustic dining furniture said...

Beautifully done! Thanks for sharing how you did it. So lovely I'm sure your guest will love it. My personal favorite is the addition of the ornaments. Thanks for posting.



Susan Graham

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We blog about our rural area in the Pacific Northwest . This blog is all about my life and the places where my mind wonders from day to day. Have fun reading and looking at pictures. We welcome comments.

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Be sure to check out the separate blog to find out about our electric kayak, Kingfisher 10! You can find the blog at http://electrickayakkingfisher-10.blogspot.com . You can also read the features list on this kayak and purchase building plans and building kits at www.winchuckriverstore.com .

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We moved to our current home on the Wild River Coast of Southern Oregon from San Jose, CA. Our family consist of Jim and Karen, two dogs and two cats. Karen's passion is gardening. Jim's obsession is building electric powered fishing kayaks and fishing.