Festive decorations are so fun! They make the holiday you are celebrating magical. But as you know children are DESTRUCTIVE! My Toddlersarous Rex is into everything, it comes with the age.
So here are a few tips for decorating your home for holidays when you have little ones around.
1. GET INSPIRED. Make a Pinterest board for the holidays, organize it by each individual holiday. I literally use this tactic for everything because I am such a visual person and because it works!! It’s important before you start shopping for decorations to have in mind what look you want to achieve. It’s so easy to get overwhelmed with all the options. Have a game plan, your wallet will thank you later.
Pinterest Festive Board
2. Decorate a specific area for the kids. My daughter has a kitchenette we put decor on. We used to decorate the playroom at our old house before we got the kitchenette. She loved actually holding the pieces and investigating them. The added bonus to this is self exploration and your child will feel involved in the decorating. The drawback though is that these peices will get moved or maybe even accidentally broken. Pick things that are not breakable. Plush, wooden and plastic pieces work best. Rugs and dish towels are a fun way to add some cheer too. Also included in their specific decorated area I like to keep a basket with holiday related books. They serve a double purpose of looking cute and being functional.
3. Get pieces you’re not in love with. One day, we’ll have grown babies and Home magazine houses. But right now, it looks like a Midwest tornado struck our living rooms on a daily basis. Now this doesn’t mean our homes can’t look cute! They still can but don’t plan on these decorations lasting forever. I have some staple stores that I always am able to get affordable but still cute pieces from.
4. Staple store: TARGET Bullseye’s Playground. Target’s Dollar section is notorious for having holiday decor from Mother’s Day, to Christmas, to Easter to Fourth of July and more. They are awesome about putting it out ahead of time too. It allows planning time if you want time to think on which decorations pieces you want. They have kid oriented decoration and crafts too!
5. Staple store: Dollar General and Dollar Store. These two stores are absolute GEMS. You can find so many different pieces here. Decorative dish towels, rugs, fairy light, and pillows! They’re the perfect touch for your decorations. They add that “I want cute pieces but not spend a fortune” pizzazz.
6. Keep the goods out of reach. We all have our favorite decorations. Ones we do not want touched or ruined. Ones we prefer to remain in one piece unscathed by boogers or sticky fingers. Keep them at a place of being able to visually enjoy but out of reach. You can teach your children to not touch certain pieces such as a nativity set but once in a blue moon life happens and a ball goes flying (RIP glass nativity set).
7. Mix mediums. If you want the look of your decorations to feel put together use different textures, sizes and heights. I used to work weddings and it would make such a HUGE difference to have decorations at different heights, such as some raised (example the plant on the plat form). Different textures help complete a look too. Here I have (dollar store & I re-use them) flower petals with a soft fabric texture mixed with the mailbox tin and ceramic coffee mugs.
8. Take a picture. I find this helps, I am such a 2D analyzer. If I take a picture of how I have something decorated I can better visual how to make the idea in my head come alive. You can also compare back and forth from one picture to the next if you like a piece here or there.
9. Enjoy it. At the end of the day if you decorate a little or a lot or you buy dollar store VS Peir One all your kid is going to remember is the love they felt that holiday. Make memories and don’t sweat the small stuff.
You got this mama, happy decorating!
Follow me on Pinterest or Instagram to get inspired!
Jess Edmisten 