This year I'm blogging my Christmas decorations so I can remember next year what I liked, what didn't work and maybe a few areas I want to add to. Why?
Case in point. This year I went crazy buying some new decorations at Hobby Lobby. I mean I looooovvvvveedd them. Pretty mercury glass candle holders and trees, new Christmas ornaments to hang from lights, etc. Turns out I couldn't use a darn one of them. OK maybe I did find use for one set of Christmas balls but literally, everything else went back. Do you know how deflating that is to a gal like me? Devastating.
Why take them back you ask? Well my logic was that I had 500 more sq. feet to decorate this year so therefore I needed more decorations. Wrong. Apparently I still have so many that I had plenty to go around. And somehow I feel like I have less table top space to decorate? I don't see how that's possible but it sure feels that way.
So instead of making twice the work (it takes a lot of time to return that stuff people) I'm logging what I did this year so that if I'm smart, which is a big 'ol gumby stretch, I may reference this little post before next season.
I broke the cardinal rule and started decorating before Thanksgiving. Since we travel I wanted to enjoy it for as long as possible during the season. It only took me 4 days to get around to it. (So mom, you can breathe a sigh of relief and no longer feel shamed. The tree didn't actually go up until AFTER Turkey day.)
Let's start with the kitchen shall we? Now I know next year it will look a little more finished because I aspire to have it painted by then. But you never know...
I used some new sequined red and green Christmas balls and hung them from my kitchen sink nook. It was easy with a little ribbon (and the help of Anna M). It's perhaps my favorite "addition" to decorating this year. Adding a little greenery and a ribbon to the lights made it that much more festive.
And of course I always love my little snow man and JINGLE sign. There are also a few other nick-knacks on the shelves, including Peeples the Elf, but I didn't capture all of those. You'd be scrolling forever if I did.
Now on to our living room and our Christmas tree. I love our Christmas tree. It's so full and lush and takes up the entire big corner of the room. Using some magnolia leaves and faux red berries dressed up the mantle. There's also a wire reindeer in the center but he doesn't show up well in pictures.
I had to throw out my fur trimmed tree skirt this year (it got wet and mildewed...sigh...so sad). I bought a new fancy one but it was $40 and after a week of driving around with it in my car I returned it. The price tag hurt my feelings. Then Anna M suggested I just use some left over fabric around the bottom. Presto! Instant matching tree skirt. Why hadn't I thought of that!? Here's a little closer shot of the orange fabric I draped underneath. I believe I'll be doing this from now on.
Then there were the table tops with Santas, snowmen and a few scented candles...you'll notice we flip the tables in the living room, storing one in the office in order to fit the Christmas tree.
Overall it has made the room so cozy and festive! Especially when you walk in and see this from the front foyer. (Dad, did you notice I have the NC State game on the TV?! Don't worry, they will be Wolfpack fans despite growing up in Gamecock town.) And I probably just lost some readers.
And lets not forget the pretty wreath I made here that's in the foyer along with a Christmas cactus and a cute skinny, tall Santa.
You've already seen pictures of the dining room from this and this post but I still wanted it included in this post. I don't want it to feel neglected since it is one of my favorite rooms of the house.
And last but not least, our outside. I went with red as our pop of color this year. Red in the wreath, red bows, red accents on the snowman, red bow on the lantern...you get the picture.
Our side porch has garland draped with Christmas balls and a bow at each point, along with a light up wreath. I even put some red Christmas balls in the lantern by the door (and our other matching burlap wreath). It still kills me that we have no landscaping. One of our regrets of the renovation was getting rid of the overgrown shrubs so soon. We thought we could plant them this fall but funds went over and that was scratched off the list. So now we have none.
Friday after Thanksgiving I went to Anna M's to let the boys play together and put up her outside garland. She then she returned the favor by helping me spruce up my wreaths and outside. I was starting to feel a little stale so it helps to have a friend come over and make suggestions. We hung some leftover large Christmas balls in the tree near the grapevine pre-lite reindeer and added a few bows to the mailbox and light post.
There is also a blow up reindeer in the yard. I caved. Daniel has always wanted one and I'm always a "white light only" kind of gal. But he wore me down. I can't seem to capture a good picture of it at night, sadly. I must admit it's not as bad as I thought it would be. The boys love saying "it woke up!" at night when they see it come to life. Maybe next year we will have more shrubs so we can put up the rest of our outdoor lights.
The rest of the rooms in the house have little nick-knacks on the tables just to keep it fun and festive. I'm hoping to put the boy's tree up in their room next year but we didn't have the space seeing as how their dresser is still a changing table. Potty training. It's on the to-do list.
Anyone else had fun decorating for Christmas? Or were you a Bah-Humbug and chose not to decorate?
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