A white snowy Christmas may not be possible in your area, but white peonies bring a white Christmas to a French table setting. 

Christmas Kitchen Plate Stand

A French-style kitchen plate stand holds seasonal greenery along with white dishes during the Christmas season and into the coming Winter months. 

One of the easiest ways to add Christmas cheer to a kitchen is to add plants and flowers associated with the season. Paperwhites forced into bloom, rosemary trained as a tree, ivy grown in a wreath shape, and small evergreen trees spruce up white dishes for the holidays. 

Refresh Boxwoods for Christmas | French Country Style

Preserved boxwoods can be refreshed by painting them white or gold to give them French Country style for Christmas. 

I love preserved green boxwood wreaths, topiaries, bouquets, and balls, but I like to use other colors for Christmas instead of traditional red and green. White, gold, silver, and blue are my favorite colors for Christmas so decorations will blend with the everyday colors in my home. 

Green boxwood is almost a neutral because it goes well with all colors, but this Christmas I took a leap and painted preserved boxwood. I was not sure how the boxwood would look, but after liking how the first painted boxwood turned out, I updated three more preserved boxwoods with paint. 

See how I changed FOUR preserved boxwoods to white and gold . . .  just in time for Christmas decorating. 

Favorite Christmas Carols

Favorite Christmas carols take us to the Christmases of our dreams, and to our treasured memories collected over the years.  

Christmas carols are among the first things that signal the beginning of the Christmas season long before the tree is trimmed, presents are wrapped, and cookies are baked. 

When you hear them on the radio, in television commercials, and in department stores, you know the Christmas season has arrived. 

Welcome to A Merry Musical Blog Hop hosted by Amber at Follow the Yellow Brick Home where I am joining fifteen talented bloggers in sharing how music is part of our Christmases and how music signals Christmas has arrived. 

If you are coming from My Thrift Store Addiction, weren't you inspired by her post about the beautiful Nutcracker Ballet? For more inspiration, there are links to all of the merry musical blog posts at the end. 

Advent Calendar Christmas Boxes

Advent calendars using Christmas boxes are a fun way to lead up to Christmas Day, beginning early or late in a countdown. 

In the hustle and bustle of preparations for Christmas, time sometimes runs out to get everything done you want to do. If you are thinking, "Oops, missed setting up an Advent Calendar this year," think again. 

Christmas Potting Bench

A potting bench just steps away on a back porch is a great place to work on Christmas greenery and to keep potted plants fresh during the holidays. And a potting bench is a place to keep your spirit alive as you work to create holiday magic in your home. 

Live plants flourish in cool temperatures and high humidity. After buying seasonal potted plants like rosemary trees, keep them outside until you want to use them inside as part of your decorations for Christmas celebrations. 

If temperatures dip down to freezing, bring plants inside overnight, and return them to the potting bench the next morning when temperatures rise above freezing. 

Christmas Porch Natural Greenery

Use natural greenery from your yard, the roadside, or a garden center to create beautiful free Christmas porch decorations. 

The Christmas season is upon us now that December has arrived!  And, Christmas decorations have begun at my house starting with both the front and back porches.