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Writer's pictureMaria Mellis

Ways to decorate for Christmas wonder


A child playing with a Nativity scene

As I scrolled through an article about decorating for Christmas from a major newsfeed this morning, I was taken aback by what the article labeled as a “pro parenting tip” for decorating. The advice: Don’t involve your children in decorating your home for the holidays! Instead, the article told readers to choose “posh materials,” neutral color-coordinated ornaments, and a few neatly wrapped presents while avoiding snowflake window stickers and red/green decor. I can certainly understand these tips will create a more Hallmark-ready living room, but for those of us who recognize Christmas as a celebration of the Christ Child born in time to change both our world and eternity, this on-trend decorating advice rings hollow. 


Instead, here are a few Advent and Christmas decorating tips that are less about fabricating an illusion of luxury and more about opening our hearts to the glory and wonder of the season. After all, isn’t the celebration of Christmas about welcoming a child born into poverty?


Highlight Christ

One easy and beautiful way to do this is through a Nativity scene (or several). In our home, one heirloom Nativity set is on display far above the reach of little children, and another playset version sits on our hearth for little ones. We even have smaller artsy Nativity scenes in different rooms around the house. 


Use lots of lights! 

Lights at Christmas are much more than incidental. They herald Christ as the Light of the World, remind us of the Christmas star, and signify the defeat of darkness through the three-fold coming of Christ: 2000 years ago, this year, and at his final coming. I suggest an Advent wreath with candles, lots of lights on your Christmas tree, and more candles once Christmas Day arrives. If you’re brave, go for outdoor lights, too. 


Be intentional about when and how you decorate

Make links between the meaning of Christmas and special dates through your decorating routines. And please, please involve your children! If you are able, plan your decorating as an intentional family event, and incorporate special food and music as part of the experience. For example, St. Lucy’s feast day (December 13) is traditionally linked to lights. I like to set up a Christmas tree toward the beginning of Advent but leave it as greenery until December 13, when we adorn it with lights. Ornaments can be added that day as well or at a later date of your choosing. (How about adding your ornaments on Gaudete Sunday, the third Sunday of Advent, which is intended to be a day of special anticipatory joy?) If you can’t wait any longer than the first of December to put lights on that tree, then add a little something when special feast days arrive throughout the Advent and Christmas seasons. 


Other examples of timing your decorating could include waiting to place Baby Jesus in your manger scene until Christmas or even waiting until Christmas Eve to decorate your tree. Remember: If you decorate in November, you’ll be eager to take those decorations down come early January. I’ve found that, by decorating mid-December, we build our excitement for Christmas, and we don’t want to take anything down until mid-January at the soonest! Liturgically, this is very appropriate since the Christmas season lasts until the Baptism of the Lord a few Sundays after Christmas, and some cultures even leave up Christmas decorations until the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, which is February 2. None of my timing tips are meant as exact prescriptions but rather as recommendations for ways that you can make the act of decorating (not just your decorations) more meaningful. Decorating for Christmas should not be an exhausting chore, but a beautiful, rich, and even holy experience of entering into the season.


Decorate with your family culture in mind

Include some special touches that reveal and create your own family culture. Perhaps there are a few items you treasure, or you have some unique or even silly decorations. These items should be things your children or your friends will remember as a special part of Christmas in your home. Examples from my family include Christmas stockings that my mother cross-stitched for each family member as they were born, a Christmas tree full of eclectic story-bearing ornaments (many of my family’s ornaments are memories from trips, representations of certain years, or reminders of the person who made them), and Christmas dishes that we use all through the season in place of our regular dishware. 


To be clear, there is nothing wrong with a fashionably pristine tree with matching gold or silver ornaments if that is your style. Just remember that your home should speak to your style, not someone else’s. It is also absolutely unnecessary to put in multiple days of decorating work if that is not you. If you want to string cranberries, cut paper snowflakes, and make gingerbread ornaments, good for you! But if you aren’t crafty, the good news is this is NOT a craft project. It’s a preparation and a celebration that is a great deal more about intentionality and family culture than about following a set rubric. 


Declutter

Now that I’ve finished telling you about all the things you should add to your space, I need to remind you that our homes should present a simplicity and order that invites calm and peace. There are so many trappings to Christmas that the season and your space can quickly become overwhelming, stressful, and even suffocating. 


So before you even begin to decorate for Christmas, I invite you to consider: Is there some way that I can tidy or empty my space to create more room for welcome? Consider if there are things that can be given away, furniture that is never used, or a bunch of items shoved into a corner. This doesn’t require a spring cleaning, but it at least needs reevaluation. If your mantle, counters, and shelves are routinely covered in knick-knacks and photographs, then it’s a good time to box and put them away to replace them with your Nativity scene rather than pushing them all together to make room for one more item. 


In brief, you should be changing your decorations, not adding to them. Those everyday items can come back out after Christmas. And just maybe there will be a few that you realize you haven’t missed and can retire for good! If the only way to make room for your Christmas tree is by awkwardly shoving your furniture together, consider if there is one chair, bench, or end table that can go to the basement or the garage for the Christmas season to make more room. It is also not mandatory to use every decoration that you have; ultimately, it is much more important to relish a few decorations than to be suffocated by many.


At the end of the day, our homes should speak wonder and truth this season. Advent and Christmas aren’t celebrated each year merely as historical memory. They present to us the living reality that we prepare our hearts to meet Christ both now and for eternity. Of course, the state of our homes is not always a reflection of the state of our hearts (thankfully!). But I think it is safe to say that the state of our homes does have an impact on the formation of our hearts — and of the hearts of those who walk through our doors. May the time and effort you put into decorating this year be a reflection of Christ dwelling with you and of your yearning to encounter him more deeply. 


Maria Mellis is wife to her beloved Austin and mother of three remarkable little souls. She has spent a decade teaching high school and college-level English and is currently active as a parish music director, but the majority of her time is now devoted to home and family life as she raises her young children. Maria has spent time living and teaching in Poland and loves to travel, to bake, and to play sports, especially soccer and volleyball. She is passionate about the daily opportunity that each one of us has to encounter God in the most ordinary of moments.

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