Put a (Christmas) Bag on It!

Hello all! Hope your weekend was great! We had such a wonderful long weekend away to our favorite place in the world other than home, New York City. We took some friends for their first trip and of course they loved the city. :) This is such a magical time to be there and the weather was incredible. 

We were finally able to visit the 9/11 Museum and I have to tell you, it is a must do. It's a stunning exhibit that will leave you weary and humbled but proud to be an American. 

We're happy to be back home but are already missing the city. It's back to reality and that reality is that the holiday is approaching FAST. I'm pretty much done with my decor but have been adding a few little details here and there. I'm all about easy and quick Christmas decor -- both are a must for me. I've mentioned before that I try to incorporate accessories that I already display and make them work for the season -- it's fun to try to figure out ways to dress up what we have. :)

A little trick I've used over the years is using gift bags -- of all types and sizes -- around the house. They are usually really inexpensive and the extra bonus -- easy to store! I showed you our Target dollar spot tree a couple weeks ago:

The poinsettia next to it is sitting in a bag that also came from the dollar spot (this was $3) I grabbed a couple of them to use around the house -- and they all have plants sitting in them. It makes a regular planter instantly festive. Love the plaid detail on it! 

I see a lot of draw string gift bags at Target and HomeGoods. They are adorable for gifts, but I find it's even more fun to use them around the house: 

I shared our Christmas kitchen last week and this little gift bag was a perfect fit over a planter that sits on the counter:

I got even more creative with a smaller version (these were from Target and came two to a package):

If you have adults using your soap you won't have any problems with it getting on the bag. Kids are another story. ;) I just rinse off any that gets on there. 

It's a fun little bit of Christmas cheer in the powder room!: 

I got this little canvas bag years ago and always put a little tree inside: 

You can see how I made those Pottery Barn pillows for cheap here. :)

We have a couple larger canvas bags I use for presents when we travel during the holidays. This year I put a large planter in one:

 And this one (I grabbed from Target this year) has a feather insert stuffed inside -- instant pillow!:

I LOVE that one! :) 

I think my favorite thing to do is take the super cute paper gift bags that I find and make them into art for the season. This one is actually the front of a gift bag:

I just cut out the front panel (the flat panel because it doesn't have the folds) and then put it in a frame -- super easy! 

The best part about all of these is that they take up so little storage space. Every year or two I try to get rid of another Christmas bin so I'm trying to store less and less.  

I found some other bags that would be great art! These were from the dollar store: 

And these were from Target: 

This size bag is usually a few bucks or less so it's a super inexpensive way to add some holiday decor around the house with minimal effort. Of course this would be even cheaper to pick up after the holidays!

Do you use wrapping supplies in your decor? I'd totally frame some pretty wrapping paper too! I've been doing this for years and love searching around the house to see what I can put a bag on. Ha! 

By the way…can we talk about the fact that Christmas is NEXT WEEK?? Maybe I don't want to talk about it. Seriously, how is it possible that it creeps up on me every single year?