Maggie and Reese: Gledelig Jul, or Merry Christmas Scandinavian Style!

Every year as I pull out my Christmas decorations

I think about the variety of ways people celebrate the Christmas holiday around the world.

When my boys were young,

we often added a tradition from another country

to our holiday celebrations,

a pickle ornament from Germany,

My pickle!

tradition has it that whoever finds the pickle

Christmas morning receives an extra gift.

As a mother of TWO, I found this to be a very bad idea. No one wants to be a loser on Christmas Day!

I have since found that this tradition's

history is a little suspect!

St. Nicholas Feast Day

(did you remember to put your shoes out December 5?)

and my personal favorite St. Lucia

(I always wanted to wear a crown of candles on my head)!

With that in mind, the next few blogs will feature

different styles you might want to try in your home

this holiday season.

First up ~ Simply Scandinavian!

When I think Scandinavian Christmas, words like simple and natural usually come to mind. Think of tree boughs

and pine cones. Paper cut outs and lot of RED also bring the Nordic spirit to your home

As someone who loves red, adding Scandinavian design elements to my decor at Christmas time has been easy.

Over the years I have collected "cut out" pillows

in red and white, knit stockings with a snowflake motif and a book that unfolds to tell the

Christmas story in cut out style.

This year I am adding a

Merry Christmas pillow and a white Plush Owl to the mix.

Everyone who has been to Ikea knows

the Swedes love contemporary design.

With that in mind, I pulled out some

old red glitter trees to pair with my woodland garland, red bells, knit stockings and the little white Plush Owls are

keeping guard on the sides.

Close up of fireplace

Below I have added a M&R

Gray Felt Chalet Runner and stick Hedgehog

with his Nordic styled headband

to M&R's Lafco Candle , Jingle Bell Napkin Rings

a saved Christmas card and antique
pewter for a festive look.

Don't forget to add some seasonal items to your

powder room. There are lots of beautifully packaged soaps and towels that will compliment a wide variety of looks. My soaps and towels came from a local garden shop and

I found the "glass" snowman silhouette picture

at a small town Texas hardware store!

Our guestroom has a white Matelasse coverlet so I can change out blankets and pillows with the season. This year I used red shams with M&R Gray Chalet Pillows and

Merry Christmas pillow and our white Plush Owl makes another appearance!

Link the Wonderdog has settled in for a long winter's nap!

The final touch for our Scandinavian guest room

This Little Light of Mine

M&R's wall art sign for
a little Scandinavian simplicity.