Last week we shared a Christmas tour of Bryarton Cottage in Georgia. Today we are going to show you what Bryarton Farm here in Kansas looks like all dressed up for Christmas. I’m afraid it’s not a very extensive tour because I only decked out the two most finished rooms in the farmhouse: the living room and the dining room. I hope it will be enough to get you in the Christmas decorating mood and inspire you to create some unique vignettes in honor of the Savior’s birthday. So put on your warm Christmas jammies, grab a cup of hot coca, and enjoy the tour!
Even though Mommy does most of the decorating around here, Christmas is the perfect time to get the rest of the family involved, too. So we blared Christmas music and all joined in the party. Cami Grace had so much fun helping us hang the “sparky balls” (as she calls them) on the tree.
She was a very good helper throughout most of the decorating process. Till she discovered that banging my plastic dollar store bulbs together made a great sound and a cloud of glitter. Hopefully the bald spots all over my ornaments don’t show too much.
As you may notice, I used the same budget-friendly Christmas decorating techniques showcased in my previous home, Bryarton Cottage GA. Instead of store-bought decor, I opted to incorporate evergreenery, dried flowers, dried berries, pine cones, and branches from nature. The few things that were not found in my own back yard are hand-made, from the dollar store, or from Goodwill.
For instance, these rustic stockings fit my vintage farmhouse style and are a family project that cost $0 (learn how to make your own—read Farmhouse Style Stocking Tutorial). When you ask yourself, “What can I use that I already have?” you can come up with some creative ways to push your own ingenuity.
Rather than buying a cute trendy holiday pillow, Michael and I collaboratively hand-painted “Merry Christmas” on a scrap of old painters drop cloth. Then I simply tacked it to the front of a pillow I already had. This way I can easily snip the large stitches and return the pillow to its original state after Christmas.
In the dining room, trimmings from the tree give the chandelier an evergreen halo. The farmhouse table is not complete without its hand-painted drop cloth runner, candle sticks adorned with dollar store berry wreaths, and ironstone bowl of dried flowers and berries for a centerpiece. My beloved Willow Tree Nativity set is nestled beneath another low-budget project. I used chalkboard paint to cover an ugly picture in a great frame that I picked up at Goodwill, and I scribbled an excerpt from my favorite hymn on it.
The painting on the buffet and the one above the rear entryway bench are my original works. By next Christmas, I plan to offer personalized hand-painted versions of the bird family and the Noel painting in my Etsy shop. Thank you for stopping by to see our little fixer upper farm.
If you want to see how far the living room and dining room have come in the last six months, you can view its original state by clicking here: Farm Tour
I will not be posting for the remainder of December in order to devote my attention to my family and to the reason for the season: the birth of Jesus Christ. Did you enjoy the tour? We really had a lot of fun creating it.
Enjoyed your Christmas Tour….wishing you a very Merry Christmas from the Speaks family
So glad you enjoyed it and a Merry Christmas to you and your family as well. I know your home is beautifully decorated for the season too! Wish I could see your Christmas tour.