It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

OK, Now if you've read my earlier posts, you know that I get a bit carried away with my holiday decorations.  Well, if you thought my other holiday decorations are out of control, my Christmas decor is way over the top.  I really can't help myself. I just love, love, love to transform my house to a magical Christmas wonderland.

If you have been reading my blog, you also know that I have been struggling, with all that is going on, to find the Christmas spirit, in what is usually my very favorite holiday.  Usually I start decorating the day after Thanksgiving, when everyone is out busting down store doors.  It takes a full 3 days to get the decorations up, but I usually get them all up and finished by the first of December.  I love to have my home all decked out.  It really gets me in the holiday spirit.  This year the first of December came and went, and I didn't even have my fall decor down.  I was tempted not to bother this year, after all, I had enough to worry about.  But I hoped that if I took the time and trouble to get them up, I'd catch the Christmas spirit that I so desperately needed.  I had to try, and guess what? It worked!   As soon as the decorations were up, I started to feel Christmas, and got the drive and energy I needed to do all the things we love to do at Christmastime.  It turns out that it was exactly what I, and my family, needed, to get back to some semblance of normal. 

 You might think its is shallow or vain to need to deck the house out like this, but I think it is wonderful thing that we light up and decorate out homes in the celebration of the birth of Christ, the Light of the World.  I try to make my home warm and cozy, a place where we want to be together.  And the best part about it, is that I haven't spent a lot of money to do it.  Mostly everything is either found at yard sales, 75% off after Christmas sales, handed down in the family, or I made myself.  But I think it looks like a million bucks.

In the front, I hang wreaths on the windows and put flickering candles in the windows, which I think give it an Eastern stately flair, that works so well with the symmetry of my house.

Dennis found the huge wreath at Sam's Club.  It is awesome!  The long-needled pine garland is from TPT, and looks so real, which is great, since fresh greenery usually doesn't make it through the holidays here.

My secret is garland, and luscious ribbon EVERYWHERE imaginable - hanging from every light fixture and ceiling fan.  Huge bolts of ribbon are cheap at Sam's and Costco, so you can be liberal with it.  The kissing ball in the entry way is a family tradition we had when I was a kid.  Daddy had 4 girls, and was always catching one of us under it.

The poinsettia picture was one I painted for my Christmas card a few years back.

The first thing you see when you walk in my house are my nativity scenes.  I don't want my children, or anyone else for that matter, questioning what we believe Christmas is really about.  I have so many beautiful nativity sets, from large to tiny, they are all so different and I love them all!  My favorites are the ones that were handmade for me , or given as gifts by people I love.  My kids love to look at them, and the ones on the lower shelf are kid-proof for the kids to play with.

The two jewelry trees are very special to us.  My grandmother made the red one, and Dennis' great grandmother made the purple one. It must have been one of those things everyone did in Homemaking meeting years ago.  I think they are fantastic.  I'd love to make one myself! When we got married I was so excited to find out that we had each inherited our grandmother's jewelry trees, like it was meant to be.  That is why they get a place of honor in our home.

I am so glad my family room is red.  It really help make the place cozy at Christmas.  This is where we all hang out and I want it to be just warm, friendly and fun in here.

I looked everywhere for a perfect wreath for the fireplace, and when I found this it was so exactly perfect.  I got it cheap because some of the enameled berries were broken, and the white styrofoam was showing through.  So I found some nail polish the perfect shade of red.  I dabbed it over the white parts, and ta-da, good as new.  I was so proud of myself.  Then when I was hanging it up, I dropped it and it broke into 4 pieces, and lots of the berries were broken.  I was devastated, and should have thrown it away, but I knew I would never find another wreath as perfect, so I painstakingly put it all back together and used a lot of nail polish.  You would never know by looking at it now.  It is extremely fragile, though, and every year I have to touch it up with the nail polish.  Well worth it, I think.

We have our "fun" tree by the fireplace that holds all the handmade ornaments I have gathered from my ornament parties, all the ornaments my kids have made over the years, and all the ornaments I get my kids each year as a tradition. It is strung with red wood beads and fake popcorn strings.  The kids love this tree, and are always looking at all the ornaments, and finding their ornaments on it.

I love the garage sale find feather trees in garage sale find old crocks.

By the fireplace are the fantastic old wood skis and happi-time sled, both garage sale treasures!  Also, not pictured, are my dad's old boyhood ice-skates (he grew up in Colorado).  They are black with a festive red plaid lining.  

This year I added this jar of delicious old retro glass ornaments that I got for a steal at a GS.  The colors are so fun and funky, and I love looking at them.  The boxes they came in as just as fun, but I couldn't figure out a way to display them yet.

I used to collect snowmen, and the ones I have kept are up in the blue cupboards among the white milk glass.  The white and blue make a perfect winter wonderland for my snowmen peeking down on us.

I also just love old stocking.  These are my favorite.  They have names scribbled on them with a ballpoint pen: Amber, Fran, Roy, and Frank.  Garage sale, of course.

Another favorite old stocking was hand-knit with the name "Guy"  on it.  It fits great on my antique wood sock stretcher that hangs on the wall all year.  GS finds, both.

The picture of a mug and cookies was another card cover I painted a few years back.  I just love my felt Santa and his friend.

Target has the funnest advent calender cabinets with little doors for each day.  We read a little advent book with a scripture and a Christmas activity each day before we open the door.  This year we were less than stellar at following through with this one, but we have been pretty consistent in years past.

I love my dining room.  I make the festive chair covers from table runners.  They are so easy.  You just cut one table runner in half to make two chair covers, hem them, add ribbon ties, and sew tucks to make them fit your chair.  If the tops of your chairs are straight it is a piece of cake.  The hard part was finding 4 matching table runners cheap. That is why I have red and white.  While you are at it, also buy a table runner for the top of your table if you can find enough.  The chair covers do so much to dress up the dining room, don't you think?

I dressed up the top of the china cabinet with my old mantel scarf, since this house doesn't have a mantel.  Then I topped it with some old branches from an artificial tree we had long ago, stuck in some poinsettias and lots of ribbon.  So easy and looks so rich!

Also, I love the fake pastries, cakes, and chocolates from TPT on my cake plates.  They look real enough to get your mouth watering.

 What did I tell you about lots of ribbon?

On the hall table an old photo of my grandpa and aunt as a baby feeding a reindeer has a prominent position.  I stamped these frames and gave them with copies of this picture to all my siblings as gifts last Christmas.

While the family room/kitchen is warm and fun, I had to go for the glitz in the living room.  This year I decided to go for gold.  I don't know why I am so into glitz lately. I was inspired by the gold leaf garlands and square wreath I got weeks after Christmas at Target last year.  I didn't need it, but at 75% off, I couldn't pass it up.  I am so glad I did, because I just love the new direction my living room took this year.

The gold inspired me to do a gold tree.  This year I didn't put on any ornaments that weren't gold, silver, cream, or white, and once again, lots and lots of gold ribbon.  My kids actually decorated the tree this year, and they did a great job.  Dylan did the whole area next to the chair that he could reach.

My favorites are my new fat pearl garland, glass birds with feather tales, gilded mirrors, and my handmade ornaments.  I have been collecting for my elegant tree for a long time. As you can see, I believe you can never have too many ornaments. When I was a kid we always had two trees too, the Santa tree and the Victorian tree, and now I do the same thing.  I just love both, and between them there is a place for every ornament.

I just love the gold!  The balls in the vase are more old crazed glass balls I found garage saling - silver and gold in all sizes.  They all had old red bows tied on each that I removed.  The old photo is my dad visiting a department store Santa when he was about Caleb's age.  He is dressed like a kid in A Christmas Story and the Santa is perfect.  My favorite picture ever!

I love the vinette in the corner of the living room.  Dennis surprised me with these wisemen last Chriatmas.  I was thrilled.  I love them with the big mirrored star that I previously didn't know what to do with, and the "wisemen..."sign.  

Above it is last years Christmas card picture.  That was by far the hardest one I have ever done, but my very favorite.  I have only started my picture for this years card, and it is already Christmas Eve.  This year something had to give, and my Christmas card was it.  They won't get sent out until after the new year.  I hope people won't mind.  But I am going to paint a Christmas picture anyway.  It will be the only picture I painted all year, and I am excited to have such a great excuse to take the time to paint again.

So there it is.  I love my cozy, yummy home this time of year.  It helps, I hope, to keep us in the spirit, and remind us of Christ and family and memories, (and keep everyone's attention off all the messes all over the floors at the same time.  Keep guests looking up.  That is my philosophy.)

May your Christmas be cozy and yummy too!