When you’re expecting guests over the holidays, it’s easy to spruce up your guest bath to make it more festive. Given that you’ve seen my mostly traditional decorating style, you will probably guess that this is not my bathroom. It’s from HGTV, who I just discovered today has many of their recent years’ holiday specials on demand.

Image via HGTV

Even if you don’t want to go quite this crazy, you can easily put together a simple holiday bathroom decor without a lot of work or money.

Step 1: Buy some red towels.

Step 2: Buy a holiday shower curtain. Mine has embroidered ornaments on it. Or just change your rings to red plastic; they even have Christmas shower curtain rings.

Step 3: Get out that secret collection of pitty-pat towels that your mom or grandma gave you. Now’s the time to use them. Or buy some at Kohl’s; they’re cheap.

Step 4: Unearth the ceramic Christmas tree that you’re embarrassed to tell anyone you either made or kept from your family’s heirlooms. Your family’s version might be the Mickey Mouse Christmas statue or the Christmas flamingo. To each his own; I’m certainly in no position to judge anyone else.

Step 5: Buy a holiday-themed rug. I didn’t take a photo of mine, but it’s a homey small-town scene.

Step 6: Dump your liquid hand soap into the Christmas dispenser that someone gave you and you couldn’t quite bear to give away.

Step 7: If you have a light bar above your sink, put a fake evergreen spray on it.

Step 8: Buy a plug-in scent warmer; I have a fancy Scentsy one because my niece hosted a party and I had to buy something. It makes the room smell nice.

Step 9: Buy a box of holiday-themed Kleenex.

Voila! You have a pretty bathroom ready for guests. Once you actually do the nine steps, then at the end of the season you put all this stuff away in a single plastic bin and label it. It should be the first thing you get out after Thanksgiving so that you can enjoy your decorating throughout the season.

Last year, we were excited about the births of a couple of new babies, and this year, we have enjoyed the first birthdays of those lovely little children.  Grand-nephew David will be beside himself as he learns to celebrate Christmas at his Poppy and Nana’s house. Little Claire is going to have a brother in 2012, and I wish both of these families the best as we once again honor the Christ child whose story never grows old.