Decorate with Crafts

With its wide-open rooms and inviting decor, Karen and Dave Dolce's Naperville, Illinois, home is tailor-made for seasonal entertaining. Every year, the couple look forward to hosting as many as 17 family members at their annual Christmas Eve dinner, a favorite event for the Dolces. However, Karen's work as an executive assistant and Dave's painting-and-decorating and real estate businesses -- not to mention the couple's full social calendar -- keep them too active for fussy festooning at the holidays. Instead, yuletide decorating in their house is best kept short, simple and to-the-point so they can focus on their busy schedules.

For advice on the best way to make the most impact in the least amount of time, Karen and Dave turned to Country Sampler stylists Sally-Jo Enstad, Pam Hamilton and Catherine Parker, who shared their favorite hints for holiday vignettes with major impression made and minor minutes committed. "If you're crunched for time at the holidays (and who isn't), simplify your decorating by sticking with large vignettes everyone will notice," Pam says. "Start with big-impact displays and save the small details for later."

Sally-Jo adds, "Pick spaces that get the most traffic for your vignettes, like the foyer or areas where you entertain." For example, she suggests setting up an eye-catching arrangement in the entryway to greet guests; making it merry in the kitchen with a moveable tableau on a breadboard; and fashioning a good-enough-to-eat dining room display. Read on to get the stylists' helpful hints for creating these three attention-grabbing groupings in your holiday home!

Season's Greetings
1. Make an entrance. Greet your guests with an enchanting entryway vignette such as the one the stylists fashioned in the Dolces' foyer. "I usually do something with that table for the holidays, but I never thought of doing that much," Karen says of the makeover. "It looks so nice with all of their extra touches." 2. Stick with St. Nick. "When you have a theme, it makes your vignette feel very deliberate," Sally-Jo says. The stylists placed Santas high (a framed print), medium (a white figure on the table) and low (a soft-sided St. Nick propped up on a basket) for maximum draw-the-eye appeal. 3. Play peek-a-boo. Another Santa peeps out from inside a drawer for extra dimension. 4. Shine on. "Repurpose shiny everyday objects to add sparkle to your Christmas decor," Pam says. Here, the stylists placed a simple silver charger in a black box to reflect the light of an electric candle; ball ornaments and a glittery snowflake complete the scene. 5. Pop to it. Splashes of red -- a runner, a "Merry Christmas" plaque -- brighten dark furnishings. For an extra burst of color, tie a ribbon around a bouquet of greens and berries for a quick wall accent that complements your staircase garland.

Moveable Feast
6. Stay flexible. "Counter space is often at a premium, so make the most of its decorating potential with a display you can move," Sally-Jo says. "To start, top a wood board with something fun, like a glass canister filled with battery-powered lights." 7. Catch a lift. For visual delight, perch a tray of goodies atop a jar full of candy canes. 8. Glow and tell. Place votives inside teacups stacked on top of coffee mugs. Or, for more tea-time fun, tuck dainty snowmen inside a pewter teapot or sugar bowl. 9. Sweeten the deal. "A gingerbread mug candle and a coordinating cluster of cinnamon sticks enhances this arrangement's cuteness quotient," Pam says. 10. Get your fill. If time allows, adorn the space around your vignette with simple wreaths or everyday pieces, such as a black apothecary chest, that can hold more holiday decor.

Cool as Ice
11. Get crafty. "Set a wintry scene with common items you can pick up at the craft or discount store," Pam advises. "We filled glass craft blocks with strands of twinkle lights and turned inexpensive ice-cream dishes into candleholders with tinsel nests." A snowball candle and polyester-batting snow around the base of the tree contribute more icy appeal. 12. Be hot and cold. Balance ice- and snow-themed elements with red accents, such as a quilt spread out as a tablecloth or a red pitcher of lighted willow branches. 13. Don't blank out. The stylists cleverly hung a bright-hued ornament on the tin-bucket tree base to jazz up what could have been a decorating dead zone. 14. Figure it out. Nothing evokes a style or a feeling as easily as holiday figurines. "If you favor a nostalgic look, bring in old-fashioned accents, like these vintage-style kids on boxes, or mica-coated snowmen like the ones on the hutch," Pam says. 15. Call for backup. "Don't forget your background," Pam says. "It doesn't have to be fancy; we added a punch of color with red wood letters that spell out a seasonal sentiment."

CRAFTER PRODUCTS
Visit our Craft Fair online for more information.

SEASON'S GREETINGS
Old World foyer table, Country Creations
Santa picture, Olde Farm Creek
Electric candle light with berry vine, Country Living
Soft pine garland, The Primitive Corner
Santa in drawer, New England Saltbox
Santa holding fabric candy cane, The Olde Country Cupboard
Christmas trundle basket, May-B Gifts
Primitive white Santa, American Country
Merry Christmas plaque, Huckleberry Hollow Designs

MOVEABLE FEAST
Primitive stove-top cover/tray, The Back Door
Enamel mug candle lamp with gingerbread boy and greenery, Country Fair
Cinnamon sticks with gingerbread men and homespun, Homespun Productions
Black star glass jars, Country Creations
Black apothecary chest and mixed pine wreath, The Bittersweet Vine
Enamel-coated jelly roll pan, Cox Country Gifts
Papier-mache snowmen and tree, Quilter's Roost

COOL AS ICE
Joy bricks, Klages Kollectibles
Red ceramic vase, lighted willow branches and Feathered Star throw, Country Living
Children on boxes, Country Village Shoppe
Initial ornament, The Purple Toad
Grubby snowball battery tealight, Homespun Productions
Tinsel tree snowman, Henny Penny's House
Angel on snowman, The Bittersweet Vine