16 Ideas for Celebrating Christmas and the Holiday season

Welcome to the 515th Metamorphosis Monday!

How was your weekend? Did you attend any holiday home tours? We had one here but it was just too rainy and cold, so I stayed in and wrapped presents. I got a lot done, but still have so many more to wrap. It’s really been an enjoyable task since I’ve been watching documentaries on the life of Jane Austen on my iPad while wrapping. I should be watching Christmas movies, shouldn’t I? lol

For this week’s Metamorphosis Monday, I’ve rounded up 16 previous posts that I hope you’ll find helpful as you entertain and celebrate this holiday season.

Click on the BLUE title below to access each post.

Christmas Tree Napkin Fold

 

Pottery Barn Inspired Garland Tutorial

I was obsessed with this picture when I first saw it in a Pottery Barn catalog. Since the cost of the garland was outside my holiday decorating budget, I found an easy, inexpensive way to make it for my own front porch.

Make-This-Pottery-Barn-Inspired-Garland

 

Here’s how the garland looked on my front porch.

Christmas Porch with Snowflake Wreath and Lit Garland

 

Cranberry Trifle for Christmas Dessert 

This trifle is sooo good and very easy to make. Your guests will never guess how easy this impressive looking dessert was to make! 

Cranberry Trifle, Great for a Christmas Dessert_wm

 

15 Minute Holiday Centerpiece

Such a fast and easy way to dress an entry table. Works great as a table centerpiece, too!

Easy Christmas Centerpiece You Can Make in 15 Minutes Using Greenery from Your Yard 2a

 

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Soup is such a great way to warm up on a cold, cold winter day. This one is always a big hit when I make it! Having a dinner party? Make this recipe 2-3 days in advance and it will be one more thing checked off your to-do list.

 

An Insanely Awesome Champagne Punch: Great for Parties or a Christmas or New Years Brunch

I always make several batches because this Champagne punch is a big hit and goes really fast!

Insanely Awesome Champagne Punch 2

 

Set Up A Hot Cocoa Bar To Enjoy All Winter Long

This Hot Cocoa Bar would be great for a holiday gathering or just to have up all winter for you and your family to enjoy. Set it up anywhere in your home that’s convenient, doesn’t have to be on a porch as I had mine the year I shared this.

Hot Cocoa Bar for the Porch

 

Make This DIY Sign for Your for Your Hot Cocoa Bar

This is a detailed tutorial sharing exactly how I made the sign to go above my Hot Cocoa Bar.

diy-this-hot-cocoa-bar-sign

 

How to Repair Those Dead Christmas Tree Lights

Sometimes the fix is an easy one, but you just have to know where to look! 🙂

Easy Repair for Dead Christmas Tree Lights

 

Decorate Your Door With Triple Wreaths: Grandinroad Knockoff

Took me a while to figure how to make this “triple wreath” design work for my front door. It’s an over-the-top look that’s a lot of fun to create!

Front Porch Decorated for Christmas with Triple Wreaths on Door and Pottery Barn Knock-off Garland

 

Decorate Your Car for Christmas!

I love to add a little garland to the top of my SUV for the Christmas season, especially the years I go on our local Christmas home tour. Would you dare to be seen with me in this car? lol

Decorate Your Car for Christmas Home Tour

 

21 Drinks Great for Holiday Parties

I would love to make every one of these recipes!

21 Holiday Party Drinks

 

Wine Chiller

Make a Cranberry Ice Chiller to chill your wine or water for a holiday gathering.

 

Decorate a Lantern, Mailbox or Pergola for Christmas

This is seriously the easiest arrangement you could ever make for a gate, post, lantern, pergola or mailbox. If you don’t have a magnolia tree in your yard, use holly or another long-lasting evergreen. There’s a lot of faux greenery available out there that would work well for this, too.

Lantern Decorated for Christmas

 

Decorate a Porch for Christmas

Decorate your porch and enjoy it all through the holiday season, even if it’s only by viewing it from inside your home, snuggled up by a warm fire.

Between Naps on the Porch Christmas Porch

 

Snowman Spice Cake Dessert and Centerpiece

Bake this adorable Snowman Spice Cake for a festive holiday dessert! He’ll make a great centerpiece for your holiday table, as well!

Snowman Spice Cake Image

 

Bonus Fun for the Christmas Season

Don’t forget to take some time for yourself this holiday season. Sipping on a glass of hot cider or mulled wine would be so nice while watching your favorite Christmas movie.

In the past, I’ve shared tours of the homes featured in my favorite Christmas movies. You’ll find those all gathered together here: Home Tours from Your Favorite Christmas Movies. Click on any link at that page to tour your fave Christmas movie house including Home Alone, Christmas Vacation, The Holiday and A Christmas Story. You’ll also find links to the actual tour I took of The Christmas Story house in Cleveland, Ohio a few years back.

(Images below aren’t clickable, you’ll find all these movie house tours at the link above.)

Tour Your Favorite Christmas Movie House

 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you!

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Looking forward to all the fabulous Before and Afters linked for this week’s Metamorphosis Monday!

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Comments

  1. Thank you Susan, I can’t believe it’s only 2 weeks until Christmas!! Thanks for the holiday help today!

  2. Thanks for the holiday round-up. I remember the posts, and have done a few over the years–all successes.

    • That’s good to hear! 🙂 Thanks, Mia!
      XXX
      P.S. Just remembered I haven’t opened the Advent calendar in a few days, I’m way behind. Need to check that out now!

  3. Regality (aka The Quing) says

    FYI, Susan, everything seems to be opening normally for me in this post.

    • That’s good! For some reason, it’s just the widget I was using in Saturday’s post that somehow isn’t working on your computer. I heard one other person who is also unable to see the links. Wish I knew what was causing it.

  4. Thanks so much for hosting each week!!
    Hugs,
    Debbie

  5. Thanks for sharing so many Christmas ideas. I love your blog and it’s always my first to open. I want to thank you for allowing everyone to post. Some blogs only want other bloggers to post so they get better comments and advertisers. You are the best and set a good example for other bloggers.

  6. It’s getting closer…..eeeek….franki

  7. Cyndi Raines says

    Thanks for these good tips. That desert looks SO good! Had fun decorating my mailbox and the extended arm with the rod iron basket on it which is filled with faux greens and 2 medium red and gold plastic Christmas ball ornaments and pinecones. A big red bow is on the cross piece. LOVE it, had fun decorating it. Susan, for Christmas dinner, I plan on making your squash casserole with the cracker topping. We really enjoyed this dish, it is so good. Thanks for sharing the recipe. Hugs!

  8. Cyndi Raines says

    It is coming fast! Great post! I enjoyed decorating my mailbox. Was pleased with how it turned out. Susan I want you to know, I plan on making your delicious squash casserole with the cracker topping. We really enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing the recipe. Hugs!

  9. Always love your holiday ideas Susan. I need to wash my SUV then I may put some garland at the top. I was just going to do a wreath but we are possibly traveling to Ga for Christmas and the garland would be so much fun.

  10. I enjoyed seeing your beautiful posts again!
    Thanks for hosting!
    Merry Christmas!
    Katherine

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