A few simple decor ideas can dress up your home for the holidays, turning your every day surroundings into a winter wonderland that glows with candlelight. It’s easy to make a table feel festive with items you use year after year—like white china and some holiday houses that you can print out or collect, filled battery-operated candles—along with a few items you bake or make for the holiday.
If you’re celebrating the holidays at home, start with a simple color palette of snowy white with gold accents. Then, add a glow with a few golden touches—elegant DIY decor whipped up using affordable gold paper straws. Bring in some stars and snowflakes, sprinkle the table with confetti, and add a few cozy houses, and you’ll see, there’s nothing as cozy as celebrating the holidays at home.
Let It “Snow”
The weather outside may be frightful, but when you’re cozy at home, “snow” is so delightful! Celebrate the season with snowflake-inspired details.
Serve Up Some Snowflakes
Several delicious dessert items already look like snow: coconut cupcakes resemble snowballs. Top them with pizzelle cookies, which already have a snowflake design pressed into their shape. You can emphasize it, like we did here, by outlining the pattern in white piping. And that’s just one idea! For more pizzelle options, click here.
Sip Something Frosty
Serve a refreshing glass of eggnog with a snowflake cookie garnish slipped over the side. For instructions on making the cookies, click here.
Cozy Up at “Home”
Our white paper houses look just like a house covered in snow. Print out our templates on paper or cardstock, fold them into a home, and fill them with tea lights to decorate the table or your mantel, slip a gift card—or a ring box!—inside to turn them into a present, or write each person’s name on the roof and leave one at each place to use them as placecards. And make sure to leave plenty on the kid’s table so they can decorate them with crayons or paper cut-out decor.
Light Up the “Neighborhood”
You can mix store-bought homes, lit up by candles, alongside your decorative paper holiday houses.
Turn Straws Into Gold
Grab a box of inexpensive gold paper straws and some gold pipe cleaners and you’re ready to make holiday decorating magic.
Gaze at Some Stars
Make your house shine by scattering gold stars—made out of paper straws—all around. It’s fun and easy to create lovely, minimalist star ornaments to spread out along the table, prop up on the mantel, or hang them from the tree or light fixtures.
Party in Cyberspace
If your holiday party is taking place via zoom, let gold stars—plus presents, confetti, and party poppers—light up cyberspace thanks to our zoom backdrop. Download our image and use it to customize your screen for a virtual holiday party.
Add Gold “Charms”
Create an oversized gold initial charm to dress up each guest’s plate. (The name written on the decorative house box serves as a placecard, so you don’t have to worry about any confusion if two people have the same initial.) This looks elegant but is so easy. Just cut the straws into pieces, twist the pipe cleaners around those pieces to form letters, then tie each guest’s initial around a napkin for a gilded place setting that doubles as a favor. Sprinkle some gold confetti to make it extra festive for the holiday.
Give A Work of Art
Gold straws and pipe cleaners aren’t just for letters; you can use them to whip up mini easels for placecards, family photos, seasonal greetings like Happy Holidays, notes of encouragement “You’re Golden!” or any other paper notes.
Serve Something Special
Even if your holiday party is made up of just the same people who sit around your dinner table every event, you can give it a “special occasion” feeling by dressing up your food and drink with a few easy accessories, whether that’s mixing a special drink or adding celebratory banners to dessert.
Dress Up Your Drinks
Add a festive garnish to any drink to turn it into a holiday cocktail or mocktail (even if it’s just juice or seltzer!) Consider adding an herb like rosemary or mint, a piece of fruit like an orange peel, or dried apple or persimmon slice. You can even mix your own “soda” by combining sparkling water or seltzer with cranberry juice or cider or making a syrup with herbs like thyme or mint then mixing it with grapefruit juice.
Add a Holiday Greeting
You’ve heard of greeting cards? This is a greeting cake! Transform dessert with our downloadable banners. Print them, cut them out, and tape them to toothpicks or skewers to turn them into cake toppers. You can use our pre-printed version to wish everyone health, joy, and love, or download our blank banner and write your own message.
For more holiday decor ideas, click here.