Instant Christmas: Just add a red bow

This has to be one of the easiest way to add instant holiday flair to your house: simply add a big red bow. Adding red bows to anything during the holiday season just screams “Christmas” and makes a huge impact with minimal effort. Red bows are inexpensive, that is if you buy the plastiky-velvety kind like I bought, and in the right situation they don’t look as tacky as you might think. Make sure to get the ones with six loops or more so you can fluff them up so they look bigger and have more presence on your railing or wherever else you want to hang them. These holiday déco tips can be done within five minutes with virtually no cost to you.

Here, I’ve attached the large red velvet bows to the columns of my front porch. The look is simple, welcoming, and very Christmassy, especially with a fresh dusting of snow. Also, the house looks terrific during daytime, which is important when you’re having friends and family over for a Christmas open house or a mid-day meal. Too often people decorate with only nighttime in mind. Note to self: make sure to tie the bows very tight to prevent them from landing on your neighbours’ yards on a very windy day, which has happened to me. To prevent that, I simply attached long strings of white cord to the red twist tie on the back of each bow.  I used white so that it would blend in the white of my balcony and I wrapped the cord around each column.

Here, I’ve added a large red bow to the black wrought iron lantern by my back door. It’s a classy look and so welcoming at night when I come home from work. Once again that was very low effort with huge impact. The bow is sitting on top of the lantern, and is secured with the plastic twist tie it came fitted with to prevent it from sliding. Since my lantern hangs down, I couldn’t position the bow under the lantern, which is fine since the bow brightens up the whole lantern and makes it look bigger than it actually is.

Back inside the house, I dressed up this beautiful white armoire with two red bows to add a touch of Xmas to a guest bedroom. It took less than two minutes (really!) to do and the look is very inviting, making your overnight holiday guests feel an extra sense of Christmas hospitality. I secured the bows with clear tape on the inside of the armoire doors, which allows you to open and close the doors without the bows getting caught.

The best part of decorating with bows is that they’re inexpensive, very versatile, and can easily be incorporated into your daily décor without having to move around any furniture.

I hope this inspires you to decorate your house for the holidays. For more great holiday decorating tips, check the links below.

Liette Tousignant