Red roses and green leaf bouquet
Terri Webster Schrandt

#SundayStills Monthly Color Challenge: Holiday Red and Green

For December’s monthly color challenge, we will explore the traditional red and green colors we tend to see in abundance during the holiday season.

Do you decorate your home or yard for the Holidays? If you have followed my blog for any length, you know I love decorating my house for any occasion. Christmas is no exception and I tend to go overboard.

Red and Green Holiday Decor

But not this year, and I will explain why later. But first, let’s talk about why red and green are popular color choices.

History of the Colors Red and Green Displayed During the Holiday Season

According to The Fact Site and Country Living:

In Christianity, it is taught that the red represents the blood of Jesus when He was crucified, and the green represents the eternal life of Jesus like an evergreen tree.

Some people claim it comes from holly bushes, as they thrive at that time of year. Ancient Celtic people believed that holly plants, with their red berries and dark green leaves, brought beauty and good fortune during the winter solstice.

faux holly

Modern advertising has promoted the red and green colors we associate with Christmas during the holiday season. Blue, gold, and white are also popular colors.

Decorating with Red and Green

“With red, you feel. With blue, you think. With green, you do.” ~ Mehmet Murat ildan

Here are some examples of using the colors red and green for holiday decorating. Both images were snapped at the homes of family and friends who displayed Christmas villages.

Christmas Village
Inside a Christmas Village
Miniature Christmas Toys
The island of misfit toys?

My sister-in-law always has a wonderful table set for Christmas Eve. It is magical to not only enjoy the decorations but also the food and company of family.

Christmas Eve Table Decor
Holiday Table Decor

Lights are a popular decor choice outside and on the tree.

“An optimist is a person who sees a green light everywhere, while a pessimist sees only the red stoplight… the truly wise person is colorblind.” ~ Albert Schweitzer

Clear Christmas Ornament
Christmas Ornament
red and green lights
Holiday bulbs in Downtown Spokane
Red Christmas Light
Macro red light

Red and Green in Nature

early November snow
Magical Autumn Snow

“…the winter is kind and leaves red berries on the boughs for hungry sparrows…”
― John Geddes

Christmas red berries
Birds love these local berries
Annas Hummingbird
All mine!

This red Medinilla plant makes for a festive decoration. (Snapped at Hawaii Tropical Bioreserve and Garden)

crimson medinilla red flower
Crimson Medinilla flowers hang like Christmas ornaments

“Where flowers bloom so does hope.” — Lady Bird Johnson

I received this beautiful Christmas-themed bouquet for my birthday last week 🎂

Red roses and green leaf bouquet

I really admire the delivery drivers this time of year. This bouquet was delivered to my front porch in the rain. Where else would they leave this?

I chose a more minimalist holiday decor this year. We will be snowbirds in Arizona during the entire month of January, and I don’t want to come home and see Christmas in all its red and green glory when we return in early February.

Hope you like my winter forest Christmas Tree 🎄😉

Christmas Tree Forest
Christmas Tree Forest

“Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.” ~ Norman Vincent Peale

Inspiring Photo Challenges This Week

Each week I find inspiration from my fellow bloggers’ photo challenges. I enjoy incorporating these into my Sunday Stills weekly themes.

Sunday Stills Photo Challenge Reminders

The Sunday Stills weekly-themed photo challenge is easy to join. You have all week to share and link your post.

  • Remember to title your blog post a little differently than mine.
  • Please create a new post for the theme or link a recent one.
  • Entries for this theme can be posted all week.
  • Tag your post “Sunday Stills.”
  • Don’t forget to create a pingback to this post so that other participants can read your post.
  • I also recommend adding your post’s URL to the comments.

This Week’s Featured Bloggers

Sunday Stills is a wonderful community of bloggers, poets, artists, and photographers who desire to connect with one another. Below are this week’s links from bloggers who shared their photos of RED and GREEN. I add these all week as new links are posted.

Upcoming calendar for December and early January:

  • Dec 17 Festive
  • Dec 24 No Challenge—Merry Christmas!
  • Dec 31 2023 Year in Review
  • Jan 7 No Challenge

I can’t wait to see how you interpret the various shades of RED and GREEN this week. You can also share just red or just green if you prefer. Join me next week as we celebrate the theme FESTIVE!

Winter bitmoji

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138 comments

  8. Terri, I never heard of Medinilla, but they’re gorgeous, as is your table setting! Many years ago, Helen and I went to an estate sale and purchased some red crystal that was too nice to pass up. We pull it out every Christmas for a dinner party with old friends. I’m sharing it as my contribution this week. Your pictures in this post are so pretty. Have a great weekend. Joe

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  9. SO festive and magical, Terri. I appreciate all descriptions of colors. It isn’t something we always think about, is it? It just feels apropos because of the season. I love all your red berries, and holly. What a nice month to enjoy Arizona. Always hope to see everyone.

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  13. Terri, that is a beautiful birthday bouquet. What more could you need for decoration? I combined gold and blue ornaments from two previous trees onto one small tree this year and left the red and green (mostly family ornaments) in storage. Adapting to a small space means I have to make choices. Maybe next year I’ll bring out the red and green again. I’m looking forward to hearing about your month in Arizona. That should be nice.

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  14. Love the birthday bouquet, Terri. It always feels like the height of luxury to me to receive flowers. We don’t have a big house so I have a small green tree with old favourite decorations and sometimes a couple of new ones. I always have a Nativity scene by the fireplace. A traditional Christmas.

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  16. Holly is my favourite of all the plants, Terri. I’ve always loved it because I associate it with Christmas. When I was growing up, everybody always had holly (with berries) inside their homes for Christmas. Usually, it was hung on the tops of picture frames. I used to go out and collect it in the woods and sell it to the neighbours for extra pocket money. It was always one of favouite jobs of the year.
    Your sister-in-law’s Christmas Eve table looks lovely. I enjoy making up the table for Christmas dinner. I always go overboard, but everyone seems to enjoy it, even though it’s a lot of work clearing it all away after dinner.
    And I agree that we should all give all the delivery people a big thank you at this time of the year (including Santa).
    I’m joining the challenge via my Wordless Wednesday post this week. See you then.

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    • I remember you mentioning your Holly collection job, Hugh. I would have liked that! I think we all need a little special holiday decor. It’s a season for celebrating and acknowledging the reason for the season and the extra work involved is worth it. See you Wednesday!!

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  17. The red/green prompt has lit up the comments – they’re so fun to read! Yippee! Microsoft Updates cursed my computer so I’m late to this post’s party. As you say, though, I have all week to post, so here I am joining in on the fun. I love the photos you chose to share and the quotes. The Schweitzer quote made me chuckle as my FIL is colorblind and whenever he sees what I see as red, it’s brown. He’d love to be praised as being a truly wise person. I think your minimalist decorations are perfect and they’ll be a welcome site when you return from your adventures in Arizona. You’re truly a wise person! 🎄😍🥳

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  21. Thank you for participating! I liked the explanation to why we use red and green for Christmas. In fact I had never thought of why! Beautiful table laid and magical snow for you! Wishing you and yours a happy and relaxing Christmas!

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  30. Lovely photos – cool macro shot – and I like the Christmas tree forest idea! 🎄 You must be looking forward to getting away from the cold in January! 🌴 Christmas rituals and celebrations (religious and secular alike) are a huge part of German heritage, so I would never NOT decorate. Age has dampened enthusiasm for the more complicated outdoor lighting designs, though. 😆 As you’ll see in my gallery for this week:

    https://thedogladysden.com/red-green-sundaystills-on-a-monday-photography/

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  32. I just discovered your blog from the dog ladies den blog. I really enjoyed the combination of photos, a bit of history on green and red and the quotes. When I have more time I’d like to participate. I won’t be decorating for Christmas this year, my husband passed away suddenly in July and I’m trying to get into the spirit. There are good days and bad days but I’m remembering the reason for the season which is Christ’s birth and the importance of family and friends.

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    • Hi Diane, thank you for stopping by and leaving your lovely comment! I’m sorry to read your husband passed away recently. Christ indeed brings peace beyond our understanding. May your friends and family draw close to each other this season and beyond. 🙏❤️💚

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  34. Terri, every year I say I will decorate for Christmas and then don’t as I figure it is just me and I don’t entertain. But after 15 years with only a wreath on the door, I do plan to change that mindset next year. The house is small, so I did used to go all out, but it meant tucking away things until the holiday season was over. It became an all-day affair to decorate, then take it apart and returned to normal. But it looked nice, especially sitting in the dark and enjoying the peacefulness of the Christmas lights. Your flowers are beautiful as are the festive shots you have captured of the Christmas village and the Island of Misfit Toys (I love Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer) and the dinnerware. How lucky you two are to escape the cold and snow and spend a month in Arizona. We all are envious.

    Here is my post, hot off the press as they say. Like you, blending a little nature and a little Christmas.

    Up on the housetop, reindeer pause …

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      • So I have to get into the spirit again, whether it’s just me seeing it or not. I can see not decorating a lot if you won’t be home. A fellow blogger left his tree up for an entire year once. He had done extensive remodeling and made a new family room, so put the tree in there and he figured why not? He decorated for each holiday. 🙂

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  42. Hi Terri, I love how your red and green photos light up the page even amongst the snowy conditions. It gives me a great insight to how this time of year is different but same with us down here in the southern hemisphere. You all take decorating to the next level!! I was going to do a search of why red and green are the colours but thankfully you did it for me. Thanks again!

    The Colours of Christmas #SundayStills

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    • Many thanks, Debbie! Inquiring minds needed to know. I had read about the holly being associated with Christmas, but not about it how it represents Jesus. The ads from Coca-cola in the 30s cemented the red and green colors into American pop culture. I do really enjoy seeing the red and green against the snow, especially now that we live in snow conditions.

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    • Thank you, Colleen, I enjoy learning how certain holiday traditions began. The holly makes sense. I also read the Cocacola began selling their drink with Santa back in the 1930s, so the festive ads were filled with red and green graphics pics. Merry Christmas to you and Happy Yule as well!

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  49. Glorious pictures, Terri. I love the little villages. Those should be Christmas cards! The table setting is adorable. I’d have to work for days (maybe weeks and years) to create something like that. Your birthday bouquet is beautiful and looks very festive for the season. Can’t wait for you snowbirds to get here. 🙂

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  51. What a beautiful bouquet you had for your birthday, and your sister-in-law’s table looks lovely. We went minimalist a few years back, and my daughter-in-law has never let me forget it! Hope you have a lovely break in Arizona, Terri. I tend to think of Arizona as hot… is it?

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  53. I love red and green together, Terri. I think it’s the Holly against a backdrop of white snow that stands out. I tend to decorate with white and silver, but some red and green always sneaks in there. Beautiful photos, my friend. The “local berries” is a favorite, and that holiday place setting looks incredibly inviting. ❤ Happy Holidays.

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  55. Loved your festive post this week Terri, and special thanks for featuring my site. We’re a bit flummoxed this week by the issues with the WP reader 😩. I hope you’re looking forward to your month in AZ – I know I would be! For the holidays nothing beats snowy cold and Christmas lights but other than that IMHO winter does not have much to recommend it LOL. Your sister-in-law’s table is a perfect reminder of the importance of celebrating, especially with family. Happy holidays to you and yours!

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    • Thank you, Tina! I rarely use the WP reader. I read posts sent to me via email. But there have been issues with that too. 🙄 We are really looking forward to snowbirding in AZ. By January, I will be over the winter when those doldrums begin. My brother says the temps average high 60s for the high and low 40s for the lows. He said that’s cold 🤣🤣.

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  62. Excellent choices of colors for the challenge and tying it to the season. Great pics … and I personally enjoy seeing nature’s red with a backdrop of white snow. Enjoy the rest of the holiday season. (hope you received my links to your Sweet challenge of many moons ago.)
    Here are my beach walk essays about green https://beachwalkreflections.wordpress.com/2021/03/18/52-green/ … and red https://beachwalkreflections.wordpress.com/2021/11/06/90-red/

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    • For sure, Jacqui! We were very minimalist over the years in our Sacramento home due to travel during Christmas–why put up a tree if no one is there to enjoy it? I went big the last couple of years…because I could, and we tend to be indoors more to enjoy them. We shall see how the travel goes this year.

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  67. Terri, I love all your photos in this post. Those holly berry plants and crimson Medinilla flowers are my favourites; just amazing what Nature gives us. I also love the bouquet for your birthday. A dusting of snow or rain drops on it makes it look even more beautiful. Your Christmas tree forest captures the beauty of winter. I plan to join you again next week. Thank you for hosting Sunday Stills. Have a wonderful week!

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    • Thanks so much, Natalie! I think I’m drawn to red and green, especially in photos since they are complimentary colors (opposite on the color wheel). I enjoy seeing my Christmas tree forest this year–so different. I look forward to you festive post next week 🙂

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