J is for Joyeux

No other holiday season is more joyous for an extended period than Christmas.  Perhaps our greatest Christmas tradition is spreading joy and goodwill. From the day after Thanksgiving to Christmas Day we greet everyone we meet, friends and strangers, with "Merry Christmas", "Happy Holidays", and "Joyeux Noël".  

is for Joyeux. 

 

Joyeux is French and translates to merry, happy, cheerful, and joyful in English. And, Christmas is a season of being merry, happy, cheerful, and joyful! 

French Country style is my favorite decorating style which means I look for ways to incorporate French Country throughout my home and garden during every season of the year. Joyeux Noël adds joyful French Country to my Christmas decor and has become part of my Christmas traditions.  

Gold joyeux hand painted onto pages from Words in a French Life are fun for each place setting at Christmas tables. The book has a new French word for each day and incorporates the word into a small story about the family life of the author.  An American married to a Frenchman with two small children who corrected her French inspired her to write the amusing, informative book chronicling their daily lives and new French words to her. 

The author's life with her French family is joyous to read, guaranteed to bring smiles and laughter to readers. After discovering this delightful book, it is now a tradition for me to use JOYEUX whenever and wherever I can in my house throughout the Christmas season. 

Small printed paper labels adorn a Christmas tree filled with Eiffel tower ornaments. Easy-to-make, inexpensive paper labels add joy to the tree and are easy to store for use next year. They are a fun way to add more French Country style at Christmas. 

Christmas coasters with Joyeux Noël were another easy project to add French style at Christmas. The square coasters are made from stone tiles found at Home Depot and Christmas labels found online. 

Small boxwood wreaths sitting on top of the Joyeux gold printed French pages make a very Christmas-y place setting. The gold joyeux pages were easy to print on my home printer. I printed an outlined version of the word joyeux, then used a gold paint pen to color in the word. 

May your Christmas be filled with Joy! 

One more way I use Joyeux is the traditional French greeting for saying Merry Christmas.