Lauren B. Lentini

Confession: I’m a little bit ambivalent about Christmas. Only because it’s supposed to be a religious holiday, and I’m not religious. Celebrating it secularly, even though lots of people do, feels disrespectful. And yet, it’s hard to resist the magic of the holiday season. A yearly opportunity to remind your loved ones how much you care, whether you’re close to them or hundreds of miles away. An excuse to go shopping and eat all the unhealthy foods (let’s be real). And warm and bright decorations just as the weather is starting to get cold and depressing. I just love that part.

Now that I have a child, my mom insisted, I have to get serious about decorating for the holidays. The few festive baubles we’d collected over the years weren’t nearly enough. I put up a good front, but I was on board. A more-expensive-than-intended trip to HomeGoods later, and my house doesn’t know what hit it. Parts of it, anyway.

According to Pinterest, the aesthetic I’m going for is called “Rustic Glam.” Burlap and buffalo plaid, meet glitter and gold. (Or silver, depending on which room you’re in.) Very trendy. I’m not ready for cartoon characters to take over my life yet, so I went with some tasteful woodland creatures instead. I mixed in a bunch of stuff I had laying around from my crafts/sewing stash, and I’m really pleased with the results. And since you’re here, obviously you want to see, right?

Starting with the obligatory tree photo.

It’s an inauspicious beginning. Mostly White House Christmas ornaments and some generic blue-and-silver balls. A ribbon I have to fight with every year (OK, three years) because it’s not *quite* long enough. And a tree skirt that once had a stint as a skimpy human skirt for a production of Calendar Girls I costumed. I pleated and be-sequined it, then I undid everything after the show ended. Fun fact: Freezing it makes hot glue easier to remove from fabric.

Continuing around the living room, this is the only photo I got of the mantel before Jerald decided it was a fire hazard and he wanted his fireplace back. We’re negotiating where the stockings are supposed to hang if not by the chimney with care.

I’m still deciding whether I like the stocking in the middle, hence the tag on it. (Thoughts?)

More living room: piano. Just as fun to decorate as it is to play. (Jerald will tell you that I haven’t played in a while.)

The gold pinecones are a garland that I spent ages painstakingly untangling from the bar it was unceremoniously draped around in the store. Don’t ask me how I’m going to store it. The ribbon has been in my craft stash for years. I think the birds are supposed to be penguins, but they’re woodland penguins now. And the hedgehogs (???) give me life.

Just look at them! They’re glittery! I intended for them to have a deer companion, but I was in the process of painting him gold when the dog ate my paintbrush. (Lesson learned.) At some point, I’ll replace the paintbrush and finish the job. Maybe next year.

This secretary belonged to my grandmother, and it’s my second-favorite piece of furniture (after the piano). And now it’s simple but festive, including menorah.

This table is underneath the lighted-garland-wrapped stairs, but I couldn’t fit the banister in the frame. I’ve done the most fiddling with this setup–I just can’t get the “L” in the right spot. You can’t tell from the photo, but it’s bringing the glam to the rustic. I bought the ribbon to use, because each spool has five yards, but I found I couldn’t bear to cut it. And I look forward to Jordan naming the squirrel when he gets old enough. Fun fact: Buffalo snow is cheaper than regular stuffing, so much so that I bought some for a small sewing project and have a nearly full bag left over.

Speaking of buffalo snow and woodland creatures in need of names, this reindeer was the first thing in my HomeGoods cart. He was part of a very nice display that I ruined to claim him. #noregrets

My mom was in charge of the bathrooms, which I tried hard to photograph without getting my reflection or the toilet in the frame. She had the brilliant idea to use the bottom of a box as a candle stand and the top as a wall hanging, which will also help out when it comes time to store everything. We’re going to need a bigger box.

The only thing decorated upstairs is the bathroom, but that’s OK. I love that we have a dolphin Christmas towel for some reason, and that I put it in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy bathroom. “So long and thanks for all the fruitcake!”

And that’s just about it, except for the doormats and the wreaths and the candles in (some of) the windows. Now just a week before Christmas and I get to decide when to take it all down. So much effort for such a fleeting reward, although I have enjoyed looking at everything this month. Most of it is just wintery, not Christmassy, so maybe I’ll leave it up in January? We’ll see how much holiday fatigue I have after hosting this year, and whether it’s of the “I can’t do another thing!” variety or the “I can’t look at another decoration!” one.

Make my day with a comment: If you could rearrange anything pictured here, what would you change? I’m taking down suggestions for next year!