Category: Holidays and Christmas

My Spoonflower shop is called India pied-à-terre because everything there is India-inspired design. There’s holiday wrapping paper! It’s big over-scaled Indian block print holiday paper. Here’s a re-run of last year’s post so new followers don’t miss out this year, if you want to order some …

Head on over to Spoonflower to get some gift wrap paper …

The designs are big and dramatic. Because India is not a shy place. These are great prints for larger gift boxes. You can use them artfully on small packages too – one motif on a paper might cover an entire small box like this one which is an 8x8x8 box:

I cut a strip of the paper’s red border to make a paper ribbon.

All the designs were inspired by India’s block print textiles. Block printed fabrics are printed with wooden blocks, and the blocks are traditionally painstakingly carved by hand. So the designs on these wrapping papers have a hand-carved quality. Like, they are not 100% perfect as they might be if made by machine.

For this Christmas and holiday collection, I chose jewel colors and golds. And some colors are a bit offbeat for the holidays but still very festive – to me, chartreuse and violet are like the green and red of India.

And may I also suggest, you could use these papers for decoupage and DIY projects too. They can be used for more than wrapping gifts. Spoonflower prints on quality paper – this is nice thick paper! It’s not thin paper that you must double up so people can’t see the what the gift is before they even open it. We’ve all run into that and it’s so annoying. I wouldn’t do that to you – I searched hard for a way to print quality gift wrap.

The wrapping paper is 6 feet long by 26 inches wide. A roll can wrap about four medium size gifts.

You can get them at Spoonflower! There are 15 designs and color combos to choose from!

*** HOLIDAY DEADLINES: Please note, if you’re interested in ordering, Spoonflower deadlines for holiday delivery are coming soon – order by Dec. 6 to guarantee delivery before Christmas. See their deadline schedule. Spoonflower prints custom paper when you order it, so it can take up to 10 days to ship. ***

 

Every year, I wrap green Christmas garland around our stair railings. The problem is, it feels so top-heavy. It feels like I’m squeezed and assaulted by greenery when I come down the stairs! Like, it’s reaching out and suffocating me in a forest of sharp pine needles. That is not the holiday spirit I’m going for! I like the holiday decorations AND I like having generous elbow room around my house.

So what do you do?

How about this … this idea shows “outside the box” thinking:

Shared by Desire to Decorate, the solution is so obvious now!

Wrap the garland around the bottom of the railings. Be careful so that you, your family, friends or pets won’t trip on the garland. Falls can cause serious injury. Did you know that falls are a leading cause of injury death? It is true. I’d say the garland as shown above is creeping a bit into the area where you’d walk on the stairs. Keep the garland close to the railings, so the steps are free of garland.

You could even let the garland spill over the open side of the stairs as a decorative display, keeping the steps clear.

How many ideas found on Pinterest do you really use? After the tens of thousands of pins I’ve saved, I have used very few ideas. But I did use this idea! Because of this idea, here’s our staircase garland now. There’s lots of elbow room now and I don’t feel squeezed by greenery:

You can see I designed the garland and other decorative things to spill over the side. I kept the steps free of garland. I don’t want it suffocating my face, and I don’t want it wrapping around my feet either! Especially while I’m carrying laundry to the basement, or hauling our big 22-pound Maine Coon cat upstairs to go to bed. Yeah, he likes being slung over the shoulder and carried upstairs at night — it’s a cute routine.

Here you can see there’s still plenty of room to walk up and down the stairs.

Here’s what it looks like when you’re walking down the stairs:

Another good thing about this arrangement is, the railing is clear so you can use the railing for safety. There’s nothing that can ruin the holidays faster than falling down the stairs and landing in the hospital. So let’s keep the holidays pretty AND safe!

 

The over-the-top sequins, mirrors and sparkle from India are perfect for holiday decorating. These things are naturally festive! To easily find looks from India for Christmas decor, I usually scroll through eBay and etsy. Today, here are some ideas from eBay …

The seller shows this shawl draped over shoulders – and of course! – but at a generous 82″ by 40″, couldn’t it also be draped over a table:

Add some gold and silver candlesticks, or even mercury glass, and you’ve got a great holiday look on a console table, cocktail table or smaller dining table. Take another look at any Indian shawl and see how you could use it as home decor, not just clothing.

TIP: **If you’re interested in purchasing anything that will ship economy from India for your holiday decorating, click the eBay Buy It Now button very soon. Economy shipping takes awhile and you will need to order this week to ensure you receive items before Christmas.**

Vintage and new sari borders are great to use as unique ribbons for presents, to add a strip of mirrors and sequins to a fireplace mantel, and to wrap around plain glass candle hurricanes to instantly turn them into holiday candleholders. There’s so many ways you can use sari borders and there’s an endless supply of them on eBay in red, green, gold and silver. This one-yard length of vintage silk has pretty mirrorwork and with both red and green, it’s perfect for Christmas decorating:

WIth green and golden zari touches, this vintage dupatta (like a scarf Indian women wear) is festive enough for holiday decorating. Add lots of brass candlesticks!

Dupattas are a perfect shape for table runners. Just search “vintage dupatta” in eBay. At any time, you will find a never-ending supply of different colors and styles. Here’s another vintage silk dupatta in red:

It even has gold and green beadwork, perfect for the holidays!

You might not think of pineapples as a holiday motif. But the pineapple is a traditional symbol to welcome people to your home. Mix it with brass and wood candleholders and it’s perfectly at home with your holiday decor. Here’s a brass pineapple from India:

Wouldn’t a genie lamp make all your holiday wishes come true (a genie tells me this eBay seller wishes for Johnnie Depp):

Etched brass trays like this one are gorgeous for elegant holiday decorating and this one comes with a bonus – five brass goblets. You could set tealights in the goblets:

That’s a miniature set, but you can find etched brass trays in very large sizes on eBay as well.

Let’s look for some silver now.

If you don’t have small children or pets who would get in trouble with them, you could scatter large silver beads around a holiday tablescape. Like, think about how you might scatter acorns around a table centerpiece for fall and Thanksgiving decorating. Do the same thing with large beads! This bead is about 1″ in diameter, large enough that its red and green details would not be missed:

I hope you’re convinced to search for holiday colors in items from India. And to look at everyday things in a different way to see the decorating potential in them!