Red, green … and rainbow?
It may seem unnatural to decorate with colors outside of the holiday norm, but Baubles by Bella Bella is embracing a fresh and fun decorating approach this season with a technicolor world full of chartreuse reindeer heads, martini-glass ornaments and bubblegum-pink stockings.
It began to look a lot like Christmas at the local home shop all the way back in October. That’s when the shop’s employees started working like busy elves to put together lively displays full of fun, colorful items.
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Co-owner Ashley Thibaut says she shops Christmas decor almost a full year ahead at home and gift markets, which helps ensure a strong inventory will be ready for the shelves after Halloween.
“With clothing and shoes, we go (to market) in August to buy for fall. We go in February to buy for spring,” she says. “But, with home and gifts, we’re going in January, right when Christmas is over, to buy Christmas.”
Thibaut says the rainbow color scheme has become increasingly popular at market, so much so that these pieces now occupy a majority of Baubles’ holiday displays. It helps that these candy-colored products fit in perfectly with the vibe of the store, which usually stocks vibrant items for the home along with gifts and accessories for all ages.
“We wanted everything to be young and fun.”
[—Co-owner Ashley Thibaut]
“We wanted everything to be young and fun,” Thibaut says. “We didn’t want to be a serious home and gift store, because (Baton Rouge) already has those. All of the colors are perfect for us.”
Shoppers can still find items offered in red, green and even neutral shades at Baubles, located toward the middle of the store. But its vivid Christmas displays in rainbow overload seem to get more attention.
Best-sellers from last year include Glitterville Studio’s Papa Noel serving dishes and cocktail-themed ornaments, Thibaut says. Other hot items included Cody Foster & Co.’s blown-glass ornaments in playful shapes, like a Botox syringe, and neon and flocked statues of Santa, reindeer and more.
Thibaut is most excited for this season’s selection of celebrity ornaments, exclusive art by Cora B. Gallery and nutcracker items from Tomato Jane. Going through Baubles’ display back in November, she also pointed out what she would use to trim her own tree, and she didn’t stop at just the ornaments and garland on display.
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“I’ll stick anything in a tree,” she says, motioning to a small, decorated bottlebrush tree. “I’ll stick these (flocked) deers in the tree. It’s fun, and I like it that way. And, anything Cody Foster. He’s slowly becoming one of my favorites.”
Though the holiday displays at Baubles will be gone after Dec. 25, Thibaut will already have the 2024 season on her mind. And, in January, she’ll gear up for the market to look for new items and buy more of what customers couldn’t get enough of—in every color, of course.
This article was originally published in the December issue of 225 magazine.