Greetings Everyone!

As I have mentioned before, my hubby and I just moved into our retirement home a couple of years ago.  We went through the entire building process and waited 7+ months for our new home to be built.  The reason we went with the new build is because we found a pretty piece of property with a good many acres (hubby’s wish) in a neighborhood, in a cul-de-sac (my wish) and we were also able to make every single choice that would make it our own.  There were many reasons why we chose this model to build not the least of which was this pretty staircase.

I had had staircase railing decorating ideas flying around in my head for the entire time that the house was being built.  One of the first ideas that came to fruition was a burlap swag idea that I’d seen somewhere on Pinterest.  We did it our way and we started with a bolt of burlap fabric that I found at Joann’s Fabric.  My hubby and I laid out burlap on the floor (I wish I could remember how many yards I purchased, but I’m sorry to say that I cannot–we did use an entire bolt though) out into one long piece and folded it accordion style and wrapped masking tape around it every so often to keep it folded in place until we hung it up.  Once that was completed (no easy task honestly) we evenly draped it like you would a swag curtain between each post on the staircase and then took the masking tape off and tweaked each swag until it looked like we or I had envisioned.  I also made a flower arrangement and attached it to the bottom and on top of the bullnose section of the staircase; that pulled it all together nicely.  I then made bows and attached them to all of the swag points; I loved how it turned out and I kept it up for quite some time.

Then Fall rolled around and I decided that I would keep the burlap in place but make new Fall themed bows and a new arrangement for the bullnose.  This is how that turned out:

Of course Christmas decorating was next.  We removed the burlap and replaced it with pine garland wrapped in white lights, I made new Christmas bows, and a new arrangement for the bullnose.  I really loved how those lights looked, so, so pretty. My hubby also attached a remote control to the lights so that we could turn them on and off at will; that was so convenient.

After Christmas my daughter and I were chatting and she reminded me of a new and different staircase railing idea that she and I had discussed around Christmastime. That idea is what my hubby and I brought to fruition and what we have hanging on the railing now. I purchased pip berry garlands from The Pip Berry Barn and this is the garland that I chose to pair with my everyday home decor, it has worked beautifully. (I highly recommend purchasing Pip Berry Garland from this online store; the strands were so full and beautifully made, absolutely awesome)  I also purchased strings of 100 white lights with a brown cord and plugs at both ends.  These are the white lights that I purchased. We used two strands to do the stair decor, but I purchased extra strands for the inevitable, eventual, and necessary replacement parts. My hubby has attached the same remote control to the lights so that we can turn them on and off at will (I usually turn them on after dark and turn them off when we go to bed)

Of course I made new bows out of  burgundy checked wired ribbon which matched the ribbon that I’ve used in many a centerpiece, arrangement, and wreath throughout our home.  I purchased the ribbon online too because I couldn’t find what I knew I wanted around here.  This is the ribbon that I purchased.  And then I made a new flower arrangement out of burgundy and burlap gerber daisies and pip berry picks, wrapped white lights around that arrangement and tied it all together with a bow. This is what hangs in our house for my “regular” or “generic” decor.  I only change out the bows and flower arrangements for Fall and Christmas now-a-days; I love the look *that* much!

When I decorated for Fall, I simply changed out the bows and made a new arrangement for the bullnose.  Here is that finished project:

I came up with a different idea for the staircase decor for this Christmas (2015).  I’ve wanted to create an ornament and pine garland for a couple of years now, but, I knew that it was going to cost me a fortune to do so…not to mention give me a headache or two because yes, I’m a pretty patient person when I’m creating, but the patience required to create such a garland might just push my ‘envelope’ a bit. 😉  Anyway, here are some pictures of what I came up with this year.  If you’d like to see how my hubby and I put it together, you can check out my Blog entry entitled: Staircase Ornament and Pine Garland.  Here are some pictures of this year’s creation:

Keeping the staircase decorated throughout the year really helps to warm up our space. And with the addition of the lights in the evenings, it really feels comfy and cozy in here.  I’ve been so very happy with each and every change that I’ve made to the original idea and I’m sure I’ll continue to tweak and hopefully improve the look as time marches forward. 🙂

Until next time, y’all take care! ❤

**In crafting there are no mistakes just unique creations**