Wednesday, November 11, 2020

A Tropical Chinoiserie Christmas

Amanda Lindroth

 I was at the car wash yesterday and they had their Christmas tree up and decorated. Oh my. I promise I am not about to start decorating for Christmas yet. But this is my first Christmas in my new house and I'm looking forward to decorating it for the holidays. I would love to do a very tropical Coastal Chinoiserie look. I was at HomeGoods yesterday and they are stocked with the cutest Christmas decor - flamingos, seashells, and such. 

I would love tips from those of my followers in the South and Florida. I know, for example, that regular wreaths are a big no here as they would dry out too quickly. Aren't these palm frond wreaths above wonderful? I wonder whether wreaths like these are available locally. I have double French doors and this would be a great look. I'd love your ideas and, of course, I will share all my plans. I always decorate Thanksgiving week so that is right around the corner. 

Tips on tropical wreaths, decorating palms, favorite holiday candles, anything like this would be great to hear from everyone. I will not make the mistake of decorating my palms like this....

This Is Why You Don't Put Lights on a Palm Tree


49 comments:

  1. Nest Holiday candle is my favorite fragrance this time of year, I always splurge on the 4 wick, it lasts 6 weeks. We wrap our queen palms in warm white LEDs all the way to the top then use several green uplights to illuminate the fronds tucked into the base. It looks spectacular! We have afternoon sun exposure on the front of our house so wreaths typically only last a season or two before they bleach out. I add fresh ribbon every year, and often change the color scheme that way. I have never seen real palm frond wreaths in my area, I would be shocked if they stay green for long but you could always use some spray paint. Christmas in Florida takes some getting used to, we have been here 10 years and love it but that first year, we really missed the snow and it didn't help that it rained all day and shorted out our outdoor lights! Can't wait to see how you add Christmas to your new home Beth!

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    1. LOVE the Nest Holiday candle. Also an annual splurge for me. I also try to buy at Neiman-Marcus after Christmas (usually 30-50% off).

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    2. Lexi - Thank you for these ideas. I too have been using Nest Holiday candles for years. Great tips on lighting my palms. The palm frond wreaths actually dry nicely and can be used either fresh or dried.

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    3. MXC - I have a collection of Nest holiday candles including some beautiful limited edition ones that are silver and gold plated striped.

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  2. 😂😂😂😂😂

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  3. This post made my day - absolutely hysterical.

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  4. OMG, that it too good - I'm laughing out loud!!

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  5. Quite a few homes in our neighborhood have had their Christmas lights on since November 1st -- they've had their fill of 2020 and want to start the season early. While I feel the same, I'll think we'll wait until Thanksgiving evening (our usual tradition) to light ours. Uncertain about putting up a Christmas tree this year for some reason. Cocktails may remedy my lack of enthusiasm about the tree...

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    1. My community has dates you can put outdoor decorations up and when they come down - they are very compulsive here - LOL. I am not doing a traditional tree this year. I think this year people need to do what feels right whatever that may be. We live in crazy times.

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  6. Lots of years I DO put a fresh wreath on my front door and it does just fine. Of course, I have a covered porch so it is not exposed to direct sun, so I think that helps. By the way, I am doing a completely new tree this year, as I have different furniture than I have had in the past. I have ordered new Christmas ornaments from Etsy and from The Enchanted home with lots of chinoiserie! I can't wait to get them and decorate my tree!

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    1. I can't wait to see you photos Debbi! I always love the way you decorate for every holiday.

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    2. My entryway is protected, but I think I feel like something different. Your tree will be amazing.

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  7. Check out the online web store, Terrain. They have metallic oyster shell wreaths that look pretty good!

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    1. Thank you for sharing that - the website and oyster wreath are wonderful.

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    2. Thank you for this info Terrain has many great gift ideas!

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  8. Your car wash has a Christmas tree?! My local shopping mall wraps the trunks of their huge palms with strands of lights every year, and actually I think it looks quite beautiful. They just don't use as many lights, or place the strands as close together, as they've done in your above picture. I love Christmas time, and I love Christmas trees, but I have a huge living room with a high ceiling, and it really needs a big tree. A smaller tree just looks silly. It's quite a task to haul boxes and boxes of ornaments from my basement, decorate a ten foot tall tree, then "un-decorate" it when Christmas is over. Then there is the issue of removing a dead tree from my living room. (What I really need, is for the Christmas fairy to magically pay me a visit and do all my holiday decorating! Either that, or a smaller, more manageable house.)

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    1. Look at the palms again. The number of lights is not the issue - LOL. I am not doing a traditional tree this year for many reasons. More on that later. I think this year is such an aberration everyone needs to do what feels right and does not add pressure.

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    2. OK. I finally got it, Beth. (It certainly took me a while.) Do you think this was done intentionally by some lighting designer who wanted to play a joke on everyone, or maybe this isn't real, but a photo shopped image?

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    3. No - not photoshopped and there are lots of examples of these. I suspect they didn't realize the issue until it was too late.

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    4. Too funny...and there are a lot of these?! Then I guess I'm not the only one who was so naive. If they had just stopped at the top of the trunk, everything would have been fine.

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  9. Costco has great poinsettias and also live wreaths. They do fine at my home. I do not have direct sun on the front door. I also spritz them with water regularly. I have never seen a palm front wreath. I think it would dry out too quickly. Not sure. You will find lots of "Florida Christmas" at HomeGoods (as you know) and also Bealls. Pier One used to have some good coastal Christmas items, but alas, no more.

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    1. I have given up my Costco membership. It is not convenient and I do not want to run into Sandbagger. I got my wreaths from there forever, but I feel like something different this year. They looked great on my antique brick colonial in NOVA, but I want a more tropical vibe here.

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  10. I’m glad you asked. I happen to have lots of experience in this field. I have been part of th Woman’s Club of Stuart’s Holiday Home Tour here in Stuart, Fl for many years. We raise money for scholarships and have given almost $300,000. The tour is virtual this year and we get to see homes we couldn’t use on the tour before because of logistics. We have a Pinterest page with lots of idea boards, including Coastal Christmas. https://www.pinterest.com/smasonnc/_saved/ Let me know if you want more information. You can watch from anywhere and the price is less than half of what we usually charge.

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  11. Love the Nest Holiday candle and keep the scent going until February at least. This year, I have it in the Pura scent vials too.

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    1. I agree. People talk about the smell of fresh trees and wreaths, but the smell is gone in days. Nest lasts the entire time.

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  12. Do you take Coastal Living magazine? They always have pretty holiday inspiration in blues and greens.

    I love those wreaths! I've seen pretty ones made from oyster shells too.

    Palm trees look absolutely magical with white lights.

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    1. Coastal Living always has great ideas. I am looking forward to decorating my palms.

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  13. P.S oranges and other winter citrus fruits are always festive and pointsetias are tropical flowers.

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    1. Yes - here people plant poinsettias outdoors for the holidays.

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  14. I have always made my own wreaths mixing some elements of artificial with the real stuff--kinda like doing hair extensions. I've ordered a few faux stems from AFLORAL and they are as close to real looking as you can get.

    I love this idea for a wreath using faux tropical leaves. You can customize by adding stuff you like--shells, coral, blue and white chinoiserie ornaments, etc. Or you can add fresh flowers and replace as they wilt.

    Here's a fun place to start:
    https://www.afloral.com/blogs/how-to-diy/tropical-wreath

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    1. I love the idea of mixing faux and real - thank you!

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  15. Thanks for the laugh about the palm trees. Priceless.In Australia, we have our Christmas during a very hot summer, so live wreaths are impossible so we put faux greenery on ours, or do other creative things instead. My home has a very Japanese theme, so I made a wreath by wrapping gold ribbon around a wooden wreath and attaching battery powered tiny lights. I then decorated with those exquisite wire decorations called Mizuhiki. As my home Chizuru, means 1000 cranes, mine has mizuhiki cranes, bonsai trees and cherry blossoms. Shells are very popular in Australian Christmas decorating and I have seen lovely wreaths with shell stuck on them.
    I made a 'Christmas tree shape on the mirror of my bathroom by blutacking green dyed big star fish in a tall triangle to the mirror and using a brown dyed one as the base and adding a tiny yellow starfish to the top as a star.
    I have also seen tin poinsettia wreaths that look fabulous. Martha Stewart did a lovely article about them a bout 10 years ago.
    Enjoy the fun of finding new decorations for your beautiful home, Beth.

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    1. I love all these creative ideas. Thank you for sharing them.

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  16. I am from Charleston and grew up in DC area so coastal/lowcountry and Colonial were the two big influences. We always had Oyster shells and sand dollars on trees and wreaths and for years a huuuuuge knobby starfish on top. My mother alwyas used a lot of fruit - pineapples and citrus in our decor. We made orange and lemon pomanders (studded with cloves), used kumquat branches and pretty ribbon to decorate and lots and lots of magnolia leaves.All of that was mixed in with glass ornaments and balls she collected.

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  17. OMG, Mollie’s Mom, thoese are my exact memories! Lovely and timeless.

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  18. I love the wreath. However, I do get evergreen wreaths from LL Bean every year. Maybe you could put one inside so you have the fresh festive aroma!!

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    1. That's why I get the Nest holiday candles - you get the smell nonstop!

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  19. Yet another great topic. I also enjoyed the perfume/self-care topic earlier.

    sharon: I wondered over to the terrain website to view the oyster shell wreaths and they are beauties! A bit pricey as I have a double front door that would require two of these stunners. So... I will begin collecting lots of oyster shells while on my beach walks. Next fall, I will be glue gunning and spraying a couple of wreaths. Maybe add a red ribbon?

    Natasha and mollie's mom: Totally agree that citrus works fabulously to embellish a coastal home at Christmas time. Pomanders are amazing; I make them from kumquats and lemons. The scent is fabulous. Magnolia leaves make a nice bed for these also. Thumbs up for poinsettias in Florida. I have just ordered a number of amaryllis and paper white bulbs to start for the holiday season. They rise to fruition quickly in the damp warm climate here.

    I posted some inspiration for Christmas in Florida on my blog today for those who would like a look. I haven't done this in years!

    best,
    teaorwine

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  20. a couple of additional candle options... Thymes Frasier Fir and diptyque Feu deBois. The latter will make your house smell like you have a roaring wood fire (when you probably have a gas fireplace!)

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    1. I have used the Thymes Frasier Fir and like it very much. I have never met a Diptyque candle I have not liked - sounds wonderful.

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  21. Hi Beth,
    I would love to know more about the woman's club virtual home Christmas tour mentioned above. Do you have a link to it? When I lived in Honolulu small white lights were wrapped on all the large trees downtown. It was stunning! The palms are quite funny and remind me of the fertility festivals in Japan where huge penis are paraded down the street! Nothing subtle about it....Nan

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  22. Here is a link to the tour. I hope it’s ok, Beth. https://www.womansclubofstuart.com/tour-information-2020

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