What an amazing week we just had! This time of year is our absolute favorite. As Gatehouse is filled with Holiday cheer, each person who walks through the door is also filled with cheer!
Gatehouse has a signature Christmas look that people yearn to have in their home, so it has become tradition to host classes giving tips and tricks for those trying to make their house a home for the holidays!
Our tradition starts with our delicious mulling spice and sweets while you shop!
This year, the delicious cookies were from Suss Cookie Co. Each day was a new flavor. We had a double chocolate with peppermint frosting, eggnog snickerdoodle, and a simple (but still delicious) sugar cookie.
Each year, we try to make our classes as informative as we can, along with fun, entertaining, and INSPIRING. We want to inspire every person who walks through our doors to create a beautiful home! Each of our classes this year did just that!
Read below for some tips and tricks we took from each class!
Wednesday, November 1st: HOLIDAY FLORALS AND FESTIVE DESIGN TIPS
Our guest speaker this day was Lizy Bowden, Floral Designer. She showed us how to make the most beautiful centerpiece garland for your dining table using all of Gatehouse’s faux floral picks and sprays! Here were a few of her tips:
-Start with a good base. The hot item at Gatehouse this year is our faux cedar garland!
-Use rule of 3’s or a triangular shape. The top of your triangle is the center of your garland. Work out to the ends of the table in a triangular shape.
-Add in a lot of different faux greens to your garland. This will give it a lush, upscale look.
-Start adding in colors (keep it to 2 or 3 accent colors) We used blue and white in our example.
-Keep open spots throughout your garland where you can add candles, votives, or other holiday accessories.
-Adding lights throughout the garland and candles along the table at the end will give it the finished look!
We also chatted about adding Christmas to everyday items in your home
-Adding old/broken ornaments to a bowl on the center of a side table or ottoman is the most simple way to add Christmas to any area of the home.
-Adding pot pourri around the home. Nothing is better than the smell of Christmas!
-Put a nativity scene in a large votive that may be used for something else year ’round.
-Adding faux snow to different areas of your home.
Thursday, November 2nd After Hours Event: HOLIDAY ENTERTAINING- PARTY TABLE SCAPES AND CENTERPIECES
This night was absolutely incredible! We had a delicious display of food and desserts by La Jolla Groves and some fresh floral displays by Lizy Bowden. The live holiday music by Summer and Sierra filled the night with holiday cheer!
The class was “Hosting the Perfect Holiday Party”. Here are a few tips we gathered from the class.
-Add candle rings, or small wreaths to the back of your dining chairs. Tie in your holiday theme by attaching it with a cute ribbon or adding in matching picks.
-Add a “hostess gift” to your place settings by tying a cute ornament around the napkin. Your guest can take home a cute gift to remember your wonderful holiday party!
– Change up your Christmas theme on your buffet table. Some people are nervous to switch up a theme, but this will add a beautiful focal point to your space.
Our special guest for the night was Rachel Parcell showing off her new clothing line! Her 2017 Holiday collection was to die for! We loved every single piece. It launched on November 13th, so you can shop it here!
Friday, November 3rd: MANTELS, WREATHS, AND BANISTERS
This is, by far, our most requested class, and it did not disappoint! Our very own Gatehouse designers Lisa, Chelsea, and Rachel gave us some tips on these Christmas essentials.
Mantel
-Again, start with a base. Since a mantel is up high, and typically hanging over the edge, a wire garland is necessary.
-Add in more greenery to give it fullness and texture. To secure these pieces, use the wire garland underneath to wrap it around each pick.
-Create a focal point in the center, using a triangular shape. Let the picks hang down to give it a waterfall look.
– If a mantel is 7ft, you use 7 of every pick, ornament, spray, etc. That’s a good rule of thumb for any mantel, tree, or space you are decorating.
-Add in specialty lights. If your base garland is already pre-lit, you probably wont even see the lights because it’s so buried.
-Again, keep the colors to only 1 or 2 accent colors
Banister
-Don’t wrap the garland around the banister, just let it drape from each pole. Keep it lighter, since there isn’t a base to hold up a lot of weight, add in a few greens and maybe an accent color here and there, but for the most part, keep it simple.
Wreaths
-Layer different wreaths together! Using a small and large wreath will give it texture and fluff!
-Add in picks, sprays, ornaments, ribbon accents to complete your Christmas theme.
-Add berries to one side or spread across the wreath to draw in color.
Saturday, November 4th: OH CHRISTMAS TREE
Year after year, this class is quickly becoming a fan favorite! Our Gatehouse designers show the way to decorate a tree just like WE do! After the class, we give away a fully decorated, Gatehouse signature tree! This year’s tree was absolutely stunning and the winner was so excited! Here are a few tips for decorating your faux Christmas trees!! AND Santa, HIMSELF, made an appearance!
– When you get your Christmas tree out of the box, fluff the branches! Don’t just fluff them out to the side, do up and down too to make it look really full.
– Although most trees come pre-lit, we like to use our own lighting to give it a special touch. We have a lot of fun lighting options at Gatehouse!
-Again, start with greens. Use 3 or 4 different greens/berries throughout your tree using one pick per foot. We used a 3.5 ft tree so we used between 3 and 4 of everything.
-Start with the largest ornaments on the bottom of tree and get smaller as you move to the top
-Put your ornaments deep into the tree and out on the edge Wire in every ornament so it is secure.
-At Gatehouse, we love to create “moments” within the tree by adding in a cute little house or a faux deer head. This will give your tree a special touch that not many people have!
-We love to add picks to the top of the tree facing upwards. This elongates the tree and adds a special touch to the top.
-Finish off by adding ribbon, special lights, or accent decorations through the tree.
Gatehouse Christmas Open House Video
We want to thank EVERYONE who was able to make it to our Open House. This year was absolutely amazing and we have YOU to thank for that.
