Holiday Style with Cindy Hattersley
The small gold pinecones and acorns for my mini tree came from TJ Maxx, found the way most good things there are found, while I was looking for something else. That is the whole reason for going in November, when the holiday section is full and everything is still on the shelf and online. So here are my TJ Maxx Marshalls holiday finds for the tree, the mantel, the table, the kitchen, and the closet.
My friend Cindy and I are doing this together again, and her holiday post is up on Cindy Hattersley. She looks at a room the way a designer does. I look at one like someone who owns far too much and likes to add more. Read both and you will have two completely different Christmases to borrow from. If you missed the fall finds from these same two stores, the rule still holds: the stock changes constantly, so when something good turns up, buy it that day. You can always return it.
This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through one of my links, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. I only share things I would genuinely buy myself.
Where to Look Before You Fill the Cart
A few corners of these stores are worth heading for first. At TJ Maxx the Runway section, and at Marshalls the Designer Shop, are where the better labels sit, and both stores keep a cashmere shop that I check on every visit. For the house, go to the Home side and then walk the kitchen aisle slowly, because the tea cups and saucers and transferware plates never sit where you expect them to be. Most of the holiday floor is red and green, so I scan the edges for the colors that I like, forest, navy and brown. And sign up for the email lists if you have not already. The holiday shipments arrive in waves, and the emails tell you when the next one lands.
The Tree and the Mantel
My palette is dark blue, dark green, and brown, the same colors as the tapestry pillows in my blue room. In the living room I have a tabletop tree just like the Victorians and it is decorated with miniature frames of tartan plaid and horse brass, which I don’t expect you to find at TJ Maxx, but then again you never know. (If you want horse brass, try an antique shop or eBay.) What TJ Maxx did give me are the small frames, and the plaid ribbon.
The mantel in the living room is leather boxes, candles and whatever I have found outdoors, pinecones and bird nests and the occasional branch. Almost none of it was bought, which is the point, and the stores are where I fill in the gaps. The candles are flameless, tapers and pillars, with a timer so the mantel glows on its own at four o’clock when the light goes. Flameless is also safer when there are dry pinecones and nests nearby, and both stores carry them in good-looking versions.
Books are decor in my house, and at Christmas they come out in stacks, holiday books for children and for adults, piled on tables and the arms of chairs with the covers facing out. Both stores have book sections, and the holiday picture books start showing up in November. Pick up a few for the stack, a few for the bibliophiles and of course for your grandchildren or children who visit over the season. Don’t forget to add a few for yourself and all of the women in your life. A coffee table book is always welcome.
Throws for the Sofa and the Dogs
I love the throws at both stores. Cashmere is what I buy for myself and for my sister, and the plaid throws and the soft plush ones are for the dogs, who love them as much as I do. A throw folded at the foot of a chair is a decoration and a dog bed at the same time. That said, the basket of throws for guests is not used by the dogs, just in case you should stop by.
The Christmas Table
Holiday tableware is my favorite aisle in either store, and there is always some holiday transferware on my table. This year it is green and white, the Night Before Christmas pattern, and only the salad plates, which pair well with my white dinner plates. I also got a set of Mikasa plaid plates and small bowls. Sadly I could not find them online so be sure to check your store if you like plaid. That is how I get a pattern on the table without buying a full set. My house is collected rather than matched, and the table follows. Teacups and saucers, stemmed glasses in smoke or clear, and candlesticks in three different heights are all worth picking up too. Nothing has to match, and that is part of the charm of the holidays, mix the old and a little new.
If Hanukkah is on your calendar, the same shelves carry menorahs and blue and white dishes.
In the Kitchen
The kitchen is where I use the most of what I buy. I cook in All-Clad, which turns up at both stores now and then, and if a piece you need shows up in the right size, do not stand there thinking about it. It will not be there the next time you shop. For December I add the small things: small baking pans for brownies and bar cookies and a bread pan to give away, stoneware mixing bowls, and cookie cutters. Trees, stars, whatever they have. A good cookie tin or glass jar is worth picking up too, because a jar filled with caramel corn, cookies, granola or snack mix is a present.
Tea towels are my obsession. I won’t lie, I own more of them than any one kitchen can use, and I tuck one into every basket I give. Plaid, a woodland print, a little holly, it does not matter, and at a price that makes a stack of them reasonable. Add an apron or a pair of oven mitts and you have a hostess gift someone will actually use. Or purchase a stack of napkins and tie on a cheese spreader with ribbon.
What to Wear to Every Gathering
The holidays come with at least three kinds of gathering, and each wants something a little different. Christmas Eve is my plaid skirt night, a tartan or a black watch, with a cream or black cashmere sweater on top and boots I can stand in for the whole evening. Check the Runway and Designer Shop racks for wool skirts and velvet blazers, and the cashmere shop for sweaters, where the popular sizes go first.
Christmas Day is for comfort that still looks like you tried. A soft turtleneck in brown, a navy cardigan, a long wool skirt, and slippers waiting by the door for the afternoon. Or maybe you stay in your pajamas and lounge wear all day. A good scarf and a pair of leather gloves live by my front door from now until March, and both stores usually have them.
Both stores have jewelry counters worth a look, and a pair of evening shoes in a heel you can actually walk in is a favor to your future self at midnight. I keep the same few classic pieces in rotation and let the accessories change the occasion, which is a habit I have had for years.
Before You Go Shopping
Go with a loose list and an open mind. I never come home with exactly what I wrote down, and the best finds were never on it. My ShopMy page has what I have linked here and a few things I could not fit in, and Cindy has her own picks and her own eye for the same stores, so read hers too. If you are still working out the gift side of the season, my Christmas gift guide and the advent calendar roundup are both ready, and The Holiday Shop has the decor in one place.
One more thing. Both stores extended their holiday returns, so anything bought from October 4 through December 24 can go back to the store through January 25, 2027, and TJ Maxx online orders have until February 4, 2027. Check your receipt or order email for the exact date, especially for Marshalls online. A gift return with a receipt comes back as store credit, and a TJ Maxx purchase has to go back to TJ Maxx and a Marshalls purchase to Marshalls. That is why I am comfortable buying the maybe pieces now.
That is my list, though by the time you read it I will probably have bought a few more things that are not on it.
Here is a link to Cindy Hattersley.
Tell me, what is the one holiday thing you buy every year without thinking, the candles, the books, a tartan something?Â
Follow along on Pinterest and Instagram for more during the week. for more of the season as it happens.
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