Decorating the kids’ rooms for Christmas with no more than 3 items…
A special shout out to anyone traveling here from Matt and Jacque’s place at The DIY Village! Thanks for coming, and be sure to check the bottom of the post for the next stop on what I think is the most fun Christmas tour series of them all, “The Kids Christmas Tour!” I’m so glad that Chelsea from Two Twenty One put this colorful tour crowd together!
Ahh, December is here again. Time for watching the Hallmark channel, making the cookies and eating the cookies…then making (and eating) some more cookies. It’s also the time of year that we parents must tackle a string of chores and to-dos longer than Santa’s famed naughty and nice ledger.
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And with all of those items to check off the list that we’re making and checking off twice, you might be thinking, “Why is this lunatic fanning the frantic Christmas flames? Now you’re telling me I have to decorate my kids’ room, too?? You’ve got to be kidding me.” Valid point.
Here’s my three-part response:
- First of all, I AM crazy. So take any advice received here with a skeptical “caveat emptor” attitude.
- Second, let’s all agree that Christmas is awesome. So it’s natural that to want to max out on the Christmas fun. And I do that, in part, by decorating the kids’ rooms.
- Finally, and in my defense; I’m not talking hours of decorating these spaces. I’m talking about doing the bare minimum. But wonderfully, the bare minimum is quite enough to bring a HEAP of joy to the face of your little ones. And maybe yours, as well.
Do we want to inspire visions of dancing sugarplums in those cute nestled little babes’ heads? You bet. But let’s face it; our time available to complete the said mission is slim to nil. So…
Here’s what we do. Exactly 3 things; No more, no less.
Step 1: A (mini) Christmas Tree
Mini Christmas are ubiquitous nowadays. And little tabletop trees make the perfect addition to a tight kid’s space.
These little trees’ pint-size is perfect, and their price tag is certainly appealing, too. But best of all, kids love to take ownership in decorating their own little trees. My daughter decorates hers differently every year.
Last year, we made it a pink snowy tree, which is super easy to do. To see the simple snowy-tree-how-to head here.
Truth be told, my daughter has many-a-mini-tree in her room each year. But that’s because she LOVES to make them. She is a crafty one that kiddo of mine.
So we geek out together with glue guns each year to create more DIY Christmas trees. Here are a few of our favorites we’ve tackled over the years:
Favorite DIY Christmas tree crafts to try:
The boys? They don’t care as much about who decorates their little trees or if there’s a different “theme” each year or not. They just want to have a little tree in their room, period.
In our youngest’s room, I often leave the tree naked. His room has an outdoorsy theme. So I figure leaving the tree naked looks intentional, and it’s less work for me; win-win.
Usually, I leave the mini tree in our oldest’s room naked, too. I don’t have a good reason the naked look there, to be honest. But since he doesn’t care, I figure if I don’t get to it, no harm, no foul.
Want to find a tabletop tree? I’ve sourced some good ones below. Just click on any of the trees to get more info from the retailer.
*Click on any of the Christmas trees pictured to get more details.
Step #2: Something with Christmas Lighting/a Christmas Canvas
Christmas is magical, for sure. And Christmas lights are a big part of the magic.
My mom made me a little ceramic Christmas tree as a child. And I remember vividly falling asleep with the light from that little tree glowing in my room. It made me so happy.
I still have that mini tree. We use it every year as part of our Christmas village and train layout (you can see a bit of it below).
And I make sure that each of the kids has at least one thing that includes Christmas lights in their rooms. It could be something as simple as draping a strand of lights somewhere in the room.
Once a year I did just that, as you can see in the shot below. I simply draped some colored lights over our littlest’s DIY tent and beneath his campfire so it looked like a little campfire burning at night.
Heck, if the mini tree already has lights, then that counts! Consider it a two-fer. I tend to double up in the lighting department. Their mini-trees have lights, and each of them has another item that lights up, as well.
Our daughter has a little light up ceramic Dept. 56 Winnie the Pooh Christmas village. It sits on the built-in shelves inside her little bed nook. And when the lights are on at night, it looks so cozy there.
There are lots of easy ways to add Christmas lights to a kids room. This year, for instance, I wrapped some colored lights strung around little fishing buoys in our oldest’s room.
You can just make them out in the top left corner of the pic above. Took all of 30 seconds, but he loves it.
And each of the kids has a light-up Christmas canvas that hangs on their wall. It’s the one with the Santa Claus in the shot above.
My mom got them for the kids one year, and we love them! We just swap out one piece of art or a frame that usually hangs on their walls for the lighted canvases.
My son has one with a train. It’s between those two photos on the wall shown above.
Here are some awesome light up canvases I found for you to check out. Most of them are around $20.
*Click on any of the Christmas canvases pictured to get more details.
Step #3: A Christmas Pillow for the win
This is a toughie, guys. Toss a Christmas-y throw pillow in their room.
It’s quick, easy and inexpensive to add a throw pillow on their beds.
I swap out literally one pillow in each room. Can’t get much simpler.
And there are so many completely precious pillow options out there. I have a whole Christmas pillow shopping guide here. But I picked some of my favorites for you to peruse below as well.
*Click on any of the Christmas pillows pictured to get more details.
And there you have it. How to deck the kiddos’ halls with just three items. Now get cracking. You have a throw pillow to change!
And after you toss that pillow on their bed, then you need to check out the other kid spaces all decorated up for the holidays. The bloggers on this tour are all fantastic with kids rooms, so I know you’ll love what you see.
If this stop was at the northern Heather’s house, the next stop is at the southern Heather’s home. She’s one of my best blogging buddies…and one of the trendiest, most together-est boy moms I know. Her blog is Southern State of Mind. Go check out what she did in her little guys’ spaces for Christmas…
Two Twenty One // House by Hoff // At Charlotte’s House // Making Home Base
Casa Watkins Living // DIY Decor Mom // Bless’er House // The DIY Village
Heathered Nest // Southern State of Mind // Rain on a Tin Roof // Haneen’s Haven
Pssst…before you go, I sure would love to hang out with you again really soon! Click here or on the image below and get a FREE copy of “Builder-Grade To Beautiful: 10 Totally Transformative Home Decorating Solutions, All Under $100!” 
Oh my Heather! So many cute Christmas things!! I love it all. Your kids’ rooms are completely decked out for the holidays! It’s all wonderful and cheery.