Transitioning From Christmas To Winter

The holiday season always seem to pass just as quickly as it approaches. This year I felt like I didn't go too heavy on decorating as we're still adjusting into life with a little one. I decided to not stress over decorating- so I decorated as I felt and left a lot simple. Jules just turned eight months old and is now starting to crawl around. With that, little fingers are getting into everything and we're now in the season of watching and baby proofing.

The time between Christmas and the New Year is usually when I transition from taking down all our holiday decor and I leave up my winter looks. During this time, it's a bit awkward because most don't know what to leave up and take down.

With all this mild Ohio winter we've been having, it seems almost acceptable to roll into spring decor but I know we have some long winter months ahead... even if tulips feel like they should be popping out of the frozen ground soon. This is the process I take when transitioning Christmas into winter that may be helpful to you:

This includes ornaments, holiday garlands, bells, Santa figurines, etc.. I leave my winter greens and some items that may have snowflakes (as this feels like winter to me). I'll swap out my seasonal scroll to an everyday scroll design and I'll swap the ornate holiday garlands to a simple winter garland.

Because we have a couple months before I pull my spring blooms out, leaving pine and cedar greenery is necessary. Leaving these greens also makes the home feel less bare after the Christmas decor is gone.

Once all my Christmas is in piles and is ready to be stored away, I'll use this time to sort anything I'm ready to separate with. When we first got married, I started with a small handful of Christmas decor that I had thrifted or found on sale after the season. Those items may not have been ideally what I wanted but with the small budget it surely worked. With each new season that has passed, my Christmas collection has grown slowly. After Christmas, I find it perfect to take inventory on what I have or may have gathered- which means it may be time to donate the items that I'm not "in love with".

After Christmas is down, I find it refreshing to give things a nice little wipe down after my Christmas decor is down. This also feels perfect with starting fresh for the New Year. I grab a bucket of Thieves cleaner and warm water and will wipe the shelves for a refresh. 

If I don't make it to this step directly after Christmas is down, the January and February months are perfect for this cleaning.

Hopefully these three simple steps are useful to you as you transition from Christmas to winter. I find this time in between Christmas and New Years to be the most refreshing. As we renew our minds for goal setting in 2022, may our homes be a reflection. 

Hugs, Alyssa