Thursday, December 8, 2011

Decking The Halls


 This is our first Christmas as Mr. & Mrs. and it is also our first Christmas in our first home! Lots of excitement and traditions to start. Unfortunately, there are so many little traditions I wish I could start, but they would seem silly to have grown adults do them. Like leave food for the reindeer, hide our Elf from Elf on the Shelf (that I wish I had)... Things like that. We are children at heart though, so maybe we could pull some of it off.
 Decorating for Christmas is one of my very favorite things to do. This year things are a little bit hodgepodge. I love all my Christmas trinkets that I've collected since I was a little girl, but I really want to have a better theme mixed into it. I am just starting out so it will come over the years. I guess I am used to living at a mini-North Pole back home at Mom and Dad's.
 Just about all of my Santas are out (I have a couple still in their boxes waiting for me to find them a home) which excites me. I have been collecting them for years. I have the big ones on the stairs and my little ones scattered throughout. Everyone says my collection has to be done, but I just love collecting them throughout my life. Maybe it can continue, but at a slower pace. :)
 Our tree is up and decorated with the ornaments we do have. It's okay. I'm not loving it because it is just really random, but it is cute. I wanted to get a real tree this year, a big fat real one.... but it doesn't look like that's going to be happening. Maybe we can still pull it off. I'd really like to have a real tree for our first year here. If you have a connection with Santa, would you mind passing that wish along?
Along with our tree in the den, we have a tiny one in our bedroom. I love that little tree. I light it in the evenings even if I am not in there. When I pass by the door and go in to bed, it's so cozy looking!
 Mon put the tree up... and fluffed it for me! I am really fussy about the tree being fluffed well.
 Our Advent wreath is up, sitting on our dining room table and it gets lit every night at dinner, just like all the years growing up at home.
 Today I spent some time in the garden. I wanted some fresh greens for inside the house so I grabbed my little clippers and my rubber bucket and enjoyed some time out there snipping just the right pieces. I mixed them with my real, over-sized pine cones.
 We got two new ornaments this year (actually three)... This one from Mom and Dad. And then the second one was from Mami and Papi. I don't even want to talk about it, but I was trying to take it out of its box, it was caught and then it flew out of the box and shattered into 34573457394 pieces... and there were an equal amount of tears from this little elf.
 We technically got this one this year as well, months ago though. This is from the place we held our wedding reception. What a fun reminder!
 I love our silver candlesticks on the mantle. And I love that gold candle. It doesn't look so pretty in this picture though. In fact, this isn't a great picture of what this setup looks like, but you'll get the idea.
 Yes, I know it's blurry, but I love the way the lights look. One day, I will have a camera that can do both... Crisp with the bokeh in the background! Just as soon as I get the rest of my Amazon points, it will come off the list... finally.
 One of my Santas. Isn't he cute?!
 
And then the wreath. I love having a wreath on the door. Actually, I just love wreathes. They can be on doors or windows, or headboards on beds, hanging over a mirror, or any place one looks like it would fit nicely. 

This year I knew I had to watch my budget closely and had to figure out how I could use what I had, along with a few new pieces to dress up this super cheap and totally blah artificial wreath.
I started by adding a different variety of greens.
Then came the red berries.
Some matte gold berries. 
And of course, a bow.


We have some other Christmas decorations scattered throughout the house... in the kitchen on the counters and shelves and a few minimal things in the dining room.... There is a centerpiece I really want to make, and it would be cheap, but we will see. That room needs some sprucing up! 
The upstairs bedrooms have things hung on the door and sitting on the nightstands.
But these are the main decorations I wanted to share.
I also have a Christmas village that is huge.
I really don't know if that is going to happen this year though.
We don't have a lot of time, or much room for it.
It's a sore subject.
I really wish I could put it up, but it might be best to wait until next year. 
We will see.
If I do put it up, I will be sure to post pictures.

How do you decorate for Christmas?
Do you have any special DIY decorating projects or fun family traditions passed down from generations?

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