7 Unique Ways to Decorate Your Home for Advent and Christmas This Year

1. Decorate with Christmas Related Scripture

If you have the knack for calligraphy or even for fancy writing of some kind, stretch out Christmas-related Scripture throughout your home. Framed verses could be featured from the front door to the living room or up the stairs, a single theme unfolding.

Start with Isaiah 7:14, which says, “Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: See, the virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel.” Follow this with Isaiah 9:6, which describes Immanuel in greater detail, giving him several names.

Or, simply feature the names in frames of their own: “Wonderful Counsellor,”; “Mighty God,”: “Eternal Father,” or “Prince of Peace.” Write these boldly in the center of each frame, in a majestic but easily readable script, and add stamps or (if you are a skilled artist) symbols that stand for these names. Consider pairing the English with the original Hebrew as an alternative to imagery. Use watermarked paper for extra impact or if you cannot draw.

There are numerous short verses befitting the time of year: if you lack inspiration, several websites offer suggestions. If you would rather pick just one long section, say Luke 1:26-38 where the angel Gabriel visits Mary, break it into several frames. As you hang them on your walls, pray that they will be a means by which you can tell the gospel to your friends.

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2. Decorate with Images of the Christmas Story

Another way to tell the story of Christ’s birth is with images rather than Scripture. Hang these throughout your home, turn to face the wall, with a number at the back of each frame. This has the benefit of combining art with activity but also of reaching those who respond to the visual rather than the written story. If you are not handy with a pen or brush, look online to purchase a series of small, inexpensive prints or even a free site posting Bible images. Your local Christian bookstore might also have something to offer.

If you are a painter or sketch artist, render your own depictions of scenes such as the visiting angels, the shepherds, Jesus in the manger, and so on. Whether you do that or buy pictures from the internet (crediting the artist, of course), ensure they are accurate. Make sure Mary is a young girl, for example, and they are Middle Eastern, not pale Europeans. Be thoughtful about what you hang or pin on your walls.

Consider involving your kids in the process wherever possible. They might be too young to draw Mary and the Baby, but perhaps they can add glitter and sequins to clothes or brighten a sky filled with a host of singing angels.

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3. A Candlelit Path

Thanks to the current popularity of fake candles and all kinds of lighting, there is no problem finding safe ways to light the home during Advent. You can be as elaborate or as simple as you want, using batteries or plug-in LED styles of lighting that resemble candles or other imagery. Stick with tabletop items or string lights through the inside and outside of the home, and turn on a new one with every new Sunday (or even every day) of Advent.

Select a color theme that fits with everything (white) or one to match each room. Alternatively, forget colors and just focus on a theme where you want the lights to lead you in thought and prayer. If you plan well in advance, you will have time to find a dove, a star, an angel, and a lamb, each one naturally facilitating discussion about Christmas themes like peace and the lamb of God.

Online selections offer everything from small, cute items to enormous works of art to cover an entire front lawn. Decide what your goal is and your budget: are you trying to reach the neighborhood for Christ? To start a conversation with your kids’ teenage friends? To remind yourself of the meaning of Christmas?

Lights signify several things about Christ and about Christmas. He is THE light, source of peace, source of joy. We rejoice as the Magi did: “When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.” (Matthew 2:10) This is the main point behind lighting up at Christmas: pointing to the light of Christ.

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4. Seasonal Family Artwork

Build a display of items your own children have made for Christmas each year, starting at preschool or kindergarten, leading right to the current moment. Recognize the progression of their understanding and skill throughout the years, even if that skill never amounted to serious artistic chops. The point is that Christ came as a baby, became a child, and grew into an adult. He can relate to us.

A second way to use that decorative theme for worshipful purposes is to remind everyone in the household that we grow as Christians when we follow the Lord. We start out pretty rough with sin, and we are never fully rid of sin during our lifetime, even when we are saved by our faith in Jesus Christ. But sanctification smooths out the unfinished lines and brightens the darker shades that were discolored by the grime of our pre-salvation hearts. Often, we miss the progress, thinking we have not changed at all. But when we look back over a year - as symbolized by each piece of art - we see where the Lord has been at work. “But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord because God chose you as first fruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.” (2 Thessalonians 2:13)

Highlight those cracked edges on a ceramic mug and the areas of a Nativity painting where paints accidentally mixed together and turned brown. Trace the improvement across subsequent years of art class in school and talk about the changes you can see in each other and yourselves. Give glory to God.

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5. Decorate with Gifts

You might remember the days when families gave and received Christmas cards, which they would string from a ribbon. Return to that tradition with 24 decorative envelopes, each one numbered, but put a twist on the trend. Fill each one with a small gift for a particular person. Alternatively, place someone’s name in the envelope: this individual will be the recipient of a gift that cannot fit inside an envelope.

Make sure the stationery hanging from each ribbon or string is attractive as they will still be dangling there after the gift inside has been removed. These do not have to be matching Christmas cards if you prefer a mismatched aesthetic; in fact, the envelope is all that anyone will see. Red, silver, and gold are readily available in multiple sizes.

What sorts of gifts can you hang in a small envelope? These can include cash, gift certificates, art work, photographs, or prayers. It all depends on the size of envelope you go for - anything from a tiny tag-sized item to an A4 giant. This is another good way to get kids involved since envelopes are perfect for sequins, stickers, stamps, foam shapes, or anything else you want to let them loose with. Adults have fun with stencils and stamps too.

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6. Christmas Trees

Roma Maitlall explained the significance of the evergreen tree. “When every other tree and plant dies, it remains alive, defying the dreary, chilly weather and bringing color to an otherwise dark world. So, every Christmas, when we put up an evergreen tree in our homes, we are acknowledging the eternal life we have because of Jesus.” This is why we put a tree up at Christmas.

In North America, we picture a Christmas tree as a giant Douglas Fir, but December 25th is summer in some parts of the world. In others, there is no such thing as a Douglas Fir, especially not in the desert. Populate your side tables and shelves with models of small trees from around the globe or with A4 images set in frames or hung from the wall.

Christ came for all people, not just for us and our household. Isaiah 40:22 says, “God is the one who rules the whole earth.” Use the imagery of trees to prompt yourself to think about cultures and households besides your own, whether to consider the needs of those places (such as impoverished countries suffering from famine) or to simply remember what unites us.

Trees you might find in other countries include Sierra Leone’s cotton tree, France’s dwarf beech trees, and olive trees like the one in Crete, which has stood since the time of Christ, perhaps longer. Find or make ornamental versions of these exotic trees, and place a single gift under each one to keep it festive.

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7. Christmas Cards

Although Christ calls us into his much bigger family - the church - the Bible is also full of family histories. Lineage shows the continuity of God’s Word in which prophecy has reached through generations to provide an heir from David’s line. Jeremiah 23:4 promises: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.”

History matters, and your family history is important to who you are as a believer. Whether Grandma gave your kids their first Bible, or you argued with an atheist uncle whose stubborn unbelief prompted you to question, research, and affirm your faith, these people matter. Hang their old Christmas cards this Christmas.

There are several ways to use these decoratively, but here are two. One is to choose 24 of them, each article in its original envelope or in a new one if necessary, numbered for each day from the 1st to the 24th. Open them as though for the first time. Another is to take them out of the envelopes to admire the older styles of art, sacred symbolism, and the real handwriting inside. Often, the older cards retain artistic value in their own right. They can be propped on shelves and tables instead of hanging them, which makes them easier to read and enjoy over a cup of coffee.

Perhaps a unique way of decorating for Advent and Christmas is to visit with the past. One thing that makes Christmas decor so special is the nostalgia attached to it, the personalization to which every member of a household can contribute. Let it sink in as you admire your Christmas decor that Christ IS personal. That is essential to a worshipful celebration of Christmas.

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This article originally appeared on Christianity.com. For more faith-building resources, visit Christianity.com.