Tag Archives: theme

How to Decorate for the Holidays in an Original Retro Style

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When decorating for the holidays in an original retro style you need to first think about what colors are going to give you that feel as if your living room is from the forties, fifties or sixties. Stick to a palette of bright red, sky blue, avocado, muted gold and mocha. If you choose Christmas balls in these colors you have won half the battle in making your tree look authentic.

Traditional Christmas décor was also known for it’s themes. A Hawaiian or Tropical theme complete with shell garlands and hanging star fish was a big design hit in the seventies. In the fifties and sixties it was not uncommon to see cute elves decorating the tree, stockings and Christmas cards.

Plastic wreathes are very retro and if you hang one above your mantel you are immediately telling visitors that you are into the vintage Christmas look. Another lovely retro motif are nativity scenes made completely out of plastic or train sets running around the base of the tree made out of plastic as well.

The artificial bottlebrush tree is also very much from the sixties and seventies. These were metal spikes with evenly spaced arms with spines on them. The entire point of them is to not look too natural. The trendiest original retro colors are artificial white or pink. To decorate them drape them in thick hanks of metallic gold tinsel and opaque multicolor lights. It is also very sixties and seventies to have an angel at the top of your tree.

Gifts are wrapped in polka-dot and atomic pattern papers and plaid ribbons and bows. Tissue paper wrapped gifts with pink or powder blue ribbons that have been hand “curled” with scissors are also very sixties. Placing gifts in a basket with no wrapping and just a ribbon s also a very seventies thing to do.

When it comes to food the classic things to have on hand are canned cranberry jelly, a rock hard Christmas cake that reeks of booze, ham with pineapple slices and gingerbread cookies. Be sure to also have a bowl of walnuts and an old fashioned Nutcracker that looks like a soldier from the Nutcracker Suite on hand. It is also classic to serve eggnog and have a centerpiece made of poinsettia and holly in the center of your Christmas table.

How to Decorate Place Settings in A Cranberries and Cream Themes for Xmas

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The secret to decorating your home in a cranberries and cream theme for Christmas is to combine rich red accents with cream colored linens and bone colored china. You can get beautiful linen tablecloths made out of red striped grain bags that have been recycled from McInnis Antiques and similar online places that recycle this type of fabric. The idea is that your entire table-setting is created from white and crimson colors.

When setting a table be sure to add tall cranberry colored candles. Make them be in the scent of cranberries if you can get them. Liz Beloton and Rebecca Tanquera who have written a book called Table style use repurposed rustic linens as table cloths and add recycled tart molds to create this type of look.

If you collect ruby red glassware now is the time to showcase it on your table. Heavy porcelain goblets also look nice as part of this type of décor.

One nice touch is to freeze a ring of cranberries inside a tubular cake mold. You then set candles in the ice and let it melt slowly on the table. If you like you can just sprinkle cranberries across the table in a random pattern.

Another innovative centerpiece is to take tall vases and simply fill them to the hilt with sugar and cranberries. This is a sexy centerpiece that also looks great with a crimson poinsettia cutting or bundle of crimson or green calla lilies sticking out of the top.
Invu Drapery and Ikea are companies that sell very nice drapes and curtains in cream and cranberry colored patterns. You can also mix and match drapes. Try pairing velvet cranberry hued panels with cream colored chiffon drapes. The opposite effect also works well. Pair crimson colored sheers with heavy cotton or satin drapes in a cream color.

Cream colored lace pillows interspersed with cranberry colored ones also look lovely and help update a couch to make it look more Christmas-like.

There are all kinds of place settings on the market that have that crimson red handle. Mother of pearl handled table ware also goes nicely on crimson colored napkins.

You can easily make cranberry garlands and string them from a chandelier. Cranberry garlands can also be used as tie backs on curtains. You can also burn cranberry and vanilla scented incense to make your home smell even more like a luscious cranberry and cream dessert.