Timeliness has never been my thing. Obviously…since I’m bringing you pictures of our “ho ho holiday home” the day after Christmas. It could be worse. It could be July. But alas….decorating our home for Christmas was extra fun this year since many of our spaces (unlike last year) are in a somewhat finished, presentably state. Last Christmas we were still missing lots of major furnishings including walls. Needless to say…I went ALL OUT. Let’s start our tour with the outside of our home:
This is actually recycled from last Christmas, but we decorated the house exactly the same. Last year’s outdoor pic trumps this year because we don’t have snow here in central Maine…although storm’s a brewin’! To recap…snow pics trump no snow pics. Moving inside the house to the staircase….which we decorated the same as last year (you can see the comparison to last year’s staircase decor here…see…we had no balusters back then).
I love the DIY ornament garland on the staircase. It’s a cheap knockoff of the fancy Pottery Barn style, made from basic garlands from Lowes (the kind with no adornments, just garland) and a couple packages of shatter resistant ornaments from Target.
We hung the Christmas art that we made last year (from here and here) in the hallway, at the bottom of the staircase. They replaced the beach town photography that I did back in my college days.
Our stockings were hung by the chimney with care…I mean…from the bookcase. Same thing, right?!
The paw stocking is a Goose stocking, the one in the middle is Colby’s (his grandmother knitted it for him way back when he was a wee one), and the glittery pink one on the right is mine. But you guys probably figured all that out on your own. We’ve been typecasted.
The decor at the top of the bookcase came from Target a few seasons ago during a post Christmas clearance sale. I adore combo of the reindeer with the bright red votives and glittery trees. Glitter makes me happy.
On the bookcase I added my latest post Christmas sale finds…a bunch of faceted, mercury glass bud vases. I got them from the Christmas Tree Shops last year for a super steal. They originally cost $2.00 each (I think) but I picked them up during a 70% off sale. I bought them all.
The dining room also got a little Christmas pizazz. You already saw the mini wreaths and garlands in this room and the kitchen, but have you seen our hutch decor?
The best part of this niche is the ceramic house. My grandma made that back before I was a blip on the radar. It also has some mini pegs that fit in all those holes but I didn’t put them out since I was afraid Goose would eat them. Totally something he would do. In Goose’s dog world, plastic equals yummy treat.
As a child, my grandma put this ceramic house (with pegs) out in her living room and I used to spend hours upon hours rearranging the pegs, color coding them, and rearranging some more. Apparently I was born with a tedious, organizational obsession. Last Christmas, my grandma passed the house down to me and I couldn’t be happier.
Then there’s the…wait for it…Christmas tree…by day and by night.
I swear I’m the anomaly in the Christmas tree decorating world. I decorate my tree the exact same way every year. I can’t help it. My Christmas tree decor is just so gosh darn sentimental that I can’t bear to mix it up. Most of the decor is passed down from my parents (including the fake tree). Then there’s my collection of Hallmark Mary’s Angels. It’s a collection my family started for me when I was four-ish and every Christmas I get a new angel. I’m up to 25. Even the Christmas train is sentimental. It used to hang out under my parents’ tree when my brother and I were kids. We used to play with that train relentlessly and now I proudly sport it under my own tree.
The one thing new this year to the Christmas tree mix was how I wrapped the presents. Me and present wrapping are tight. We’ve been BFFs since middle school and know each other’s deepest secrets. But seriously, I love LOVE to wrap presents. I get it from my momma. But as much as I love to wrap, this was the first year I ever wrapped our Christmas presents in theme.
I used one roll of red faux bois wrapping paper from Target, which was a splurge at $5 a roll. But I mixed in a $1 roll of brown mailing paper decorated up with some snowflake ribbon and some leftover wedding project jute. I cheaped out on the tags and printed them myself using this free printable sheet.
The present wrapping was a big hit at our Christmas this year at my parents’ house. So now that Christmas decorating 2012 is over, I’m off to Target to see what decor items I can snatch up for cheap to expand the Christmas collection.
Pssst…What is your go to Christmas decorating task? Do you decorate your tree the same every year or switch it up? I REALLY want to hear from those of you who don’t keep it the same. I need to know I’m not the only sentimental one out there who can’t bear the thought of decorating the tree any other way!
We haven’t had a tree lately but I always use the same ornaments – Margaret Furlong 3″ angels. They look like they are made of sea shells but are unglazed porcelain. There is a new one every year. My sister bought me two in the late 1980’s and I have purchased the new one each year and found the few older ones so I have a complete set. When I had fewer angels I mixed them with pastel round ornaments but now I have enough for a small tree and just add lights & garland.
And I always put up the porcelain tree with plastic “lights” that get stuck in holes that my grandmother made in ceramic class. It is about a foot tall, just clear glaze over white porcelain and one of the lights was lost over the years – but I was so happy when my mom passed it on to me.
It is sort of odd decorating for Christmas in Florida – just not the same without the potential for snow (but I really don’t miss dealing with snow). But the palm trees with lights are fun!
Oooooh…those angels sound so adorable! I heart angels…obviously! Sounds like such a great collection.
Why did you not show any gifts wrapped by Colby??? I know for a fact that he, like most men, is “wrapping challenged”.
I showed them…on Instagram and Facebook! He did good…really good…almost good enough to let him wrap the presents next year…emphasis on “almost”.
I decorate my tree the same every year. With a few new additions albeit. It’s very traditional, with a train under it as well, passed down to me from my train loving father. I love all my Christmas decor so much that I leave it up until about mid-january…which everyone thinks is insane, but I love it. –I very much enjoy following your blog which I found a couple of months ago. thanks for sharing!
Your tree sounds adorable with the train! I love traditions and passed down decor like that. And I love that you leave your decor out so long…it’s definitely not insane…it’s all just too pretty to only leave up for a few weeks! Thanks so much for the adorable comment!