Christmas decor in the Country

There is nothing like Christmas in the country! All my life I have lived in the country, somewhere in the United States. I love the rural life and how with a little creativity we can decorate our homes and create a welcoming environment for family, friends and out of town guests. Here in Dinwiddie County Virginia we have one of the largest populations of pine tree farming in the state. This makes decorating for Christmas a joy! On our farm we are surrounded by trees, mainly pine trees.

As I prepared for the Holiday Season this year, I wanted to keep a more organic and natural feel to our home, both indoors and out. Using pine boughs, cedar sprigs, pine cones, holly and berries one can create a beautiful setting while capturing the feel of the season as well. Today I jumped in our Ranger and headed for the edges of the woods. I scavenged for greenery and nature that would go well with the variety of plaid wired ribbon I plan to use this winter. At our home Christmas and Winter decorating starts at Thanksgiving and doesn’t come down until St. Paddy’s Day. Being raised in Western Pennsylvania along a snow belt, we had snow most years for Christmas and snow lasted sometimes right through Easter. We needed the colors and warmth of our decorating to get us through those long winters of snow and more snow.

Filling the Ranger while getting some much needed fresh air was all a part of the fun of the season. A set of pruning shears was all I needed to fill the Ranger and then start getting creative. Of course I had been spending countless hours on PINTEREST (Follow us jeremiahinc)getting ideas and putting boards together of the ideas and thoughts I had and those that others have already done and kindly shared. Today was MY day to get creative! The light pole on the back porch were the perfect canvas in which to start, so I set out with my cedar sprigs and created bunches of cedar the perfect size for hanging from the poles. I then moved inside to start the task of making bows. My mom taught me many years ago how to make beautiful bows that would save me money and look prettier than those flat store bought bows. Mom was always sharing ideas that she had learned along the way and for this, I am grateful. Bows done, I attached my bows to the cedar and hung my creations.

Next would be the front porch. I had seen an idea several times over the last few years that sparked my eye. We purchased white rocking chairs years ago for our front porch that have been a steady place of rest, peace and conversation for our family and friends. I wanted to make our winter porch just as inviting as our summer porch. Again, I set out with the cedar sprigs and bows and created boughs and bows for our rocking chairs. Simple, elegant and comfy. Looks like a place that is inviting and cozy to sit a spell and look out over the farm!

Enough for outside, it was getting chilly so I moved indoors. Indoors, like outdoors, I had seen ideas for decorating your chairs around a table. What a beautiful way to dress up our home without adding lights and tons of knick knacks that would clutter our home. This time I went with pine sprigs grouped together and added gingham red bows to match our heirloom kitchen woven table covering. Once the bows were made, I used some jute string and tied everything to the chair and fluffed the bows. My guys thought this was awesome! Score! (Honestly, I thought they would growl at me because they can’t hang coats and shirts over the chairs!)

On to the man cave that is truly a man cave filled with deer heads on almost all the walls, a bobcat on another wall . I am always careful decorating this room for the holidays to make it match the look and feel and not to take away from the real nature of the room. This year I chose a buffalo plaid ribbon to use for bows and added bows and pine and cedar throughout the room.

Coming to the end of the day and the end of the Ranger full of greenery, its time to sit back and enjoy! Watch for more ideas and photos coming to our site, Facebook and Pinterest! Follow along with us! We would love to hear your comments and answer your questions, join the conversation and let’s share! After all, we are on this journey together, each with a different plan from God, but a similar road somehow! Merry Christmas from the Country!