A Very Branded Christmas: Holiday Home Tour 2018
Dec 7
It’s the most wonderful time of the year…
It really is, in my opinion. I LOVE Christmas. You could say I’m obsessed, and that would be fair… but I can’t help it. I’m just giddy at Christmas time.
A couple of years ago I shared my first Holiday Home Tour… and since things have changed, and I’ve added more to my Christmas decor, I thought I’d share another one!
I’m not a winter gal, by any means though. I could definitely do without the cold. Maybe I’ll celebrate Christmas in Australia next year…there’s a thought!
One of my favorite parts is the holiday decorating. I play one [of the many] Christmas playlists on Spotify, light my favorite Christmas-scented candle, and get to decorating.
Side note: What’s up with Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas” song being on e-v-e-r-y playlist? I mean, don’t get me wrong… I looooove that song. And I’d never skip past it… I guess Spotify has declared it the official anthem of Christmas!
House Decorations
You may think I’m nuts but my house is already decorated in my branding colors. They’re good colors —what can I say? From the artwork on the walls to the couch and pillows, there is only black, white, gold and pink! It also makes it easier for my brand photo shoots. Anytime I snap a quick pic around my house, it’s on-brand!
To continue the branded theme, I had to buy Christmas decorations in the same glorious colors. So my 9 ft tree is glistening with white, silver, and gold ornaments.
It also has a fabulous gold ribbon tree topper that made its debut last year. My mother-in-law showed me how to turn wired ribbon into a bow — so we made a bunch. One is on the top of our tree, and the rest are on our staircase garland.
I used two giant spools of wired gold ribbon — 90 feet each!
With the same type of ribbon, I followed a Pinterest tutorial to make a garland for the tree. I wanted the ribbon to look like it was billowing down from the top and wrapping around the tree.
In actuality, it doesn’t wrap around at all. It misses the back of the tree completely.
My assistant Jodie helped me with this part — check out the video to see how we did it!
To start, my assistant cut pipe cleaners in half and then twisted each piece onto the ribbon, every 18 inches. She left the ends of the pipe cleaners straight so that I could easily affix it to the tree branches.
I chose green pipe cleaners so that they would blend into the tree.
I then grabbed the ladder and starting from the top, I stuck the ribbon into the tree and bent the pipe cleaner pieces around the tree branches. I moved around the tree and at a slight angle to make it seem natural. The ribbon should come out from the tree and look flowy.
Full disclosure — you’re supposed to attach the ribbon garland first, before the ornaments. I didn’t and paid the price for it. So I had quite a few ornaments fall off (and one broke) during the process.
Christmas Tree
After three years of struggling with a hand-me-down pre-lit tree that never stayed lit… we finally said enough! At 8pm, the Saturday after Thanksgiving, we rushed over to Home Depot and grabbed this 9 ft pre-lit (with LED — which apparently won’t burn out) beauty, then started decorating.
Our new tree has a button to switch the lights from white to colored. Remember the days when you had to choose between the two? Not anymore!
I, of course, prefer the white lights because it’s ‘on-brand.’ My husband and kiddo, on the other hand, like the more colorful version. So I’m glad I can change it back with the flip of a switch!
Importance of Colors
On a serious note — it is important to have set colors in your branding and remain consistent. You don’t have to be as crazy as me and decorate the whole house (but I’m telling ya, it definitely helps with my brand photos!!). However, you should be “decorating” your entire business with them.
Having established colors (just like having set fonts, logo systems, etc.) helps you to build a recognizable and comprehensive visual branding system.
It also helps you remain consistent, which builds trust with your audience.
That’s why choosing brand colors is such an important part of my Brand Collection process. I do it for every client.
Well, I hope you enjoyed this little holiday home tour! Wishing you a…
