Struggling with Decorating for Christmas

I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I'm terrible at decorating for Christmas. I get really underwhelmed when I open my Christmas bins and pull out enough decor to celebrate in a 10x10 foot box. And then I look around my beautiful home and think, oh. This is it?

It's overwhelming to look at pictures of beautifully decorated homes and think about how am I going to make our home look magical. I have a whole file saved on Pinterest of attainable inspiration pictures yet I can't figure out how to recreate any of them. I realize that a good collection of anything takes years to acquire and every other month of the year I'm okay with that. But somehow the first week of December always leaves me feeling like I don't have enough. I'm not doing enough. It's really only been the past two years that this disappointment has hit me pretty hard. Before that it wasn't my sole responsibility to create "a Christmas House" for my children.

I've talked a big game of heading to Hobby Lobby or Homegoods with a $100 bill and just buying up whatever I find pretty but each time I end up feeling like that money should go to presents instead. Then there is the post Christmas clearance section option but my reality is that I'm too busy paying full price for Thomas the Train napkins at Party City for a certain boy who's Birthday falls just 9 days after Christmas instead.

But honestly, it's not really a money thing. I could go buy some pretty tinsel or holiday lights if I want to do so. It's more of a question of where to start. How do you make a big impact with a few things? Do you just go into one store and get enough things to make one display area or do you spread it out with a little touch here and there? There is no right or wrong answer, I'm just curious.

I've thought about starting a little Christmas house collection that can go on the buffet in our dining room. The kids are fascinated by the lights. When I was a kid that was my favorite part of Christmas too. I adored the little tiny Christmas villages. Imagining what all the little Christmas families were doing inside their tiny stores and churches and village houses. Of course I worry at their age that they'll break them. They've already broken exactly six items so far so my collection of Christmas is truly dwindling.

I would love to hear more about how and why you decorate your homes for Christmas. Do you focus on just one area or do you spread it out throughout your home? Faux tree or real? Fill me in!

I think my favorite holiday decorations are simple greenery and chalkboard prints of Christmas music written in beautiful calligraphy. That is really my style. I need to just go order about 15 boxwood wreaths and a pile of pretty red ribbon. I love that simple and pretty effect all that greenery has on a room without being overly sparkly or asking to be broken. That actually is my plan. I'll keep you posted! I'm going to let you help me stay accountable for doing something more than a pretty tree this year! Pawleys Island Posh