Decorating For the Holidays

During my first Christmas in Wizard101 several years ago, I wondered how I'd decorate a house. I couldn't buy Santa's Sleigh, or a giant Christmas tree, so what COULD I do? I didn't realize that there were quite a large number of things that worked well for a Christmas celebration, and that the entire house didn't have to be covered in snow to be a nice home. Typically, we only set up a tree and occasionally put up lights as it is, but we love Christmas as much as the next person! While Felix having a nice Christmas Tree and other decorations in a potential Christmas Card Pack would be nice, there are plenty of other options out there for making your holiday home special!

What do you like to do for the holidays? Ask yourself that question. A decorated house is only a way to express yourself and your creativity, like other forms of art. Do I want to have Santa's Sleigh pulled by a Wyvern? Do I want to create Santa's Workshop?

You'll need to do some shopping, and besides the Bazaar, there's plenty of good places to buy things!

I always envision a fireplace, lit and burning, with a sofa and a few chairs surrounding it, the Christmas tree in one corner. Then, there's the dining hall - every good party comes with a meal. The table will be long, and full of food... or what used to be food, anyway, depending on the style of your house and the hunger of your guests.

With this in mind, I decided to decorate a single room in the large Wizard City house for Christmas to demonstrate my ideas.

First, I placed a campfire near one wall. I then placed, using rugs, a fireplace over it and against the wall. This made the setting more realistic and provided a warmer atmosphere. I then set a spot for the tree off to the side. I placed a regular old pine tree and used glitches to place a rug as the skirt. There are several great guides to creating a full-blown Christmas tree listed at the end of the post.

If you look hard enough, you can also find actual presents of varying types. I personally couldn't find any, so I went with various trinkets that I bought with gold from the crown shop. I placed these under the tree. I then added a sofa, some chairs, and a few potted plants for effect. I placed a clock on the mantle, and a few pictures around the room.

In these few, short steps, I've got a major living space decorated for the holidays, and it wasn't too difficult, either.

There have been quite a few holiday decorations going around. Some people have set up a Santa's Workshop, while others have created an area to visit Santa.

Others use music players and pianos for an elegant look. I've even seen crafting tables used as a workshop. Some of the things I've mentioned here have been used in Wizard101 Central's Home for the Holidays Dorm Decorating Contest. Check it out HERE. Kevin Battleblood's guide to making a Christmas tree HERE.

Have you guys checked out Housing101? It's a great website where many house decorators have joined together to post about one of their favorite things to do - decorate houses! You can even see all of my housing posts there. And when you're not reading one of the almost 70 amazing posts, you can check out housing guides for glitches and decorating in general! It's all run by Malorn Ghostrider, an expert house decorator, if I do say so myself. He's happy to take questions, too, because I know I've sent him my share. See it all at http://wiz101housing.blogspot.com/!

Merry Christmas and happy decorating!