MISSION TRANSITION

Don’t just hunker down and hibernate this winter! Keep your home feeling warm and welcoming with budget-minded ideas for bridging the decorating gap between seasons.

Make your home feel warm and inviting with Matthew Mead’s budget-friendly ideas for bridging the decorating gap between seasons.

When the Christmas and New Year’s holidays have passed and the house seems cold and spare, why not embrace the beauty of winter and fill your home with simple transitional decor? Instead of dodging the snowy season, create eye-catching groupings that feature pewter and white collectibles, rustic patterns, vintage graphics, and natural fare you can gather from your own yard.

Being thrifty and stylish can go hand in hand in maintaining a welcoming ambience beyond your holiday celebrations. By incorporating a few nature-made touches along with your own upcycled possessions, you’ll have a surefire way to beat the winter doldrums and keep your home looking festive and fun.

Begin your decorating endeavor with a stroll through your rooms to amass leftover holiday decor as well as items that feature a white distressed patina or gray weathered wood. Then head outdoors or to the crafts store for woodland treasures such as evergreen cuttings, birch bark, pinecones, moss and twigs that will bring life to your winter vignettes.

Set for the Season

Dress up simple place settings in winter style with a birch-bark-motif place mat. Use patterned wrapping paper or scrapbook paper, or scan birch bark on a color copier and print out the design on 11" x 17" paper. Continue the woodland theme by wrapping the design around glass candleholders, or consider photocopying moss, leaves and other natural materials to vary the look.

Warm and Woodsy

Turn glass cylinders into woodland-style candleholders by wrapping them in birch paper. Secure the ends with tape and outfit the containers with battery-operated candles. Entwine the candleholder bases in faux berry garland and sprinkle with a dusting of artificial snow to further the outdoor wonderland theme.

Heart of the Matter

Mix contrasting materials to craft an artful arrangement for the kitchen. Center a vintage copper heart mold on an ornate wooden board to offer a bit of sheen to the room. Adhere the mold to the board with epoxy for a permanent combo, or hot glue the pieces together for a temporary display. Adorn the vignette with fresh or dried sprigs of greenery and other heartshaped embellishments.

Timeless Trees

If your mini trees still have some life left in them after Christmas—or if faux pines are your preference— simply strip them of holiday accessories and give them a new look. Stand the trees in old crocks and urns to decorate a table or sideboard, and then festoon the branches with heart-shaped gingersnaps to carry your decor through to an upcoming Valentine’s Day celebration.

More Than Just Words

Turn a metal pail into a woodland cachepot with vintage ephemera and a handful of long-lasting greens and blooms. Photocopied or original handwritten letters and old advertisements collected from thrift stores or flea markets offer the perfect graphics for this project. Adhere the papers to the pail with decoupage medium and let dry. Apply waterproof matte-finish decoupage medium over the decorated pail. Fill the container with boxwood cuttings, cinnamon sticks, pinecones and high-quality faux flowers to decorate a door handle or brighten the front of a dark country cupboard.

Cracker Hack

Make a few fragrant paper cracker rolls as decorative accessories or to present as party favors to friends. Fill empty toilet tissue rolls with dried greens from your holiday decor and dried spices such as cloves, cinnamon and allspice. Wrap the rolls in scrapbook paper, tissue paper or gift wrap, and then tie the ends with string. The pieces can serve as bowl fillers when paired with cinnamon sticks and pinecones.

Matthew Mead is a lifestyle guru whose upcycling ideas make excellent use of items you already have or can find easily at thrift stores and flea markets. He is a photographer, stylist and author. Follow his work and upcoming projects on Instagram at www.instagram.com/matthewmeadstyle or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/matthew.mead.37.