Christmas Link Up Week 2 Home Tours

Welcome friends, new and old, to week 2 of our Christmas Link up Spectacular! If you didn’t join us last week for all the amazing Christmas trees then be sure to check it after reading this weeks. We’ll be hosting these link ups every Friday until Christmas and it’s going to be fabulous! Now, join us all for this week’s theme: Home Tours

Last year I honestly disliked all our Christmas decorations. The lack of consistency in color, texture, and style paired with the cheap, old bits of décor used for the past three years displeased me more than anything. For the first time, I was excited to take them down and clean them away.

Not this year!

I became slightly obsessed with the Scandinavian Christmas look and set out to replicate the simple natural beauty in our own home.

The only trouble was our budget…of $0. Luckily, I was able to use things from around and outside the house to make our cottage into a rustic Christmas wonderland.

Ok, “wonderland” might be an exaggeration, but it’s certainly a step up from last year’s mess!

This tree branch candle holder was so fun to make and adds an extra level of interest and height in an otherwise boring space. It was featured on Classy Clutter for Bake, Craft, Sew, Decorate!

Our tree this year was especially fun to put together, but I won’t go into detail about it here. You’ll find that post from last week’s link up.

These bulbs were a quick and easy DIY project.

I also made these stars and hung them all over the house. I also spray painted some pinecones to put on the tree. Beautiful, natural goodness!

On our coffee table I stayed consistent with the rustic/frugal theme by laying down some burlap, then pine, then drilling into a log to act as a candle holder. Now, the only trick will be keeping the two year old away from it.

I wish I could release the fresh pine scent through the computer for your enjoyment. Our home smells like the pine forests we used to explore when we lived in Romania.

These twig were an easy DIY which made their big blog debut at Over the Big Moon (another amazing blog to get awesome ideas at)!

And, something I’m super-duper excited about are these trees!

I got the idea from the Restoration Hardware catalog and was able to replicate them pretty closely. You can find the tutorial for those here.

Our mantel was adorned with some pine branches, candles, and branches in old wine bottles. I have plans to paint this room a lighter color, so wasn’t excited to share more of it.

Are you overwhelmed with planning your holidays? I have a little free planner with a bunch of printables that’s just perfect for you!

This is my favorite bit of decoration to take down from the attic: our nativity scene. I absolutely love the simplicity and purity of this one. It get’s displayed front and center every year.

Finally, better than all the decorations we put up inside our home is the display created by One far more powerful and artistic right outside our window:

I couldn’t be more proud and excited about the way we were able to use the resources available to us at home and, without spending a dime, brought a Scandinavian/Rustic/Neutral Christmas into this Schwind Cottage. It’s been an amazing and fun journey so far and the Holidays are just beginning! I hope you will find more inspiration from the other amazing home tours in the link up below and maybe even add your own!

Christmas Link Up Week 2 Home Tours