Christmas Tour 2016 (part 1)

Well I did it folks. I broke my own rule. I decorated for Christmas BEFORE Thanksgiving. Yep. I went there. Now for many, it's what you're supposed to do. For me, I like having a Thanksgiving table ON Thanksgiving. But this year I knew with our schedules that I needed some extra time to decorate and get organized. I didn't want to kill myself trying to fit it in the weekend after Thanksgiving especially since we planned to put up a fence that weekend (more on that later). 

So here's the first part of Schrallville at Christmas...Let's get our jingle on, shall we?  

The front door is always festive with flowers, a lit snow man and Santa. This year, the Hubs also added a projector on the larger brick wall by the steps. It says "let it snow" with snow flakes twirling around. It's sort've hard to capture so I didn't bother. You can just use your imagination. 

Speaking of outside, we also have a new fence we installed last weekend, mentioned earlier. It's adorned with lit cedar garland and red bows. Probably one of my favorite additions this year. Wonder if can keep the garland up all year? 

The front yard also includes several inflatables that include Rudolph, Santa and Olaf. No, they are not small. The Hubs is committed to adding one new inflatable every year. <insert sigh here>  If you can't beat them, join them. 

Moving on in, there's our foyer. It's small but it has a welcoming touch with tidbits of Christmas. A basket of ornaments, greenery over the pictures, our stockings and a few touches here and there. 

The kitchen is one of my favorite rooms to decorate. I don't know why but I truly love adding touches to it. Maybe because that's "my room" in the house. On the way to the kitchen you pass our advent calendar. It's a kid favorite, purchased from Pottery Barn, and is filled with dark chocolate and candy canes. I had one my aunt made growing up and I still have it. I have such fond memories of waking up in December to have a piece of candy.  

In the kitchen the theme is red and green. I have a more whimsical look in here since the kitchen is neutral and can handle it. I also have a delicious McIntosh Apple candle that fills the whole room with delicious warmth. 

I love vintage Christmas and I have a Santa on the wall. I need to find more. The 1950's Santa's were so cool.

The top of the fridge even has a touch of Christmas... 

Perhaps a favorite are the sparkly balls that hang over the kitchen sink. With a little greenery on the light fixtures, it really makes the room feel festive. These are simply held up with thumb tacks and I knew I had to use them when I found them a few years ago at Hobby Lobby. 

You may have noticed there have been some changes in the kitchen. More on that in a future post. We had some upgrades to the house recently that we are very excited about and made a huge difference. 

Well folks, that's just a brief glimpse in to our home. I'll take you on a tour of the rest of the house soon! In the meantime, I hope you take time to enjoy the season and all it means. It's so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle and forget to stop and enjoy it.