Deck The Halls - Done!

Actually this was done a long time ago - Thanksgiving weekend in fact. Christmas is my favorite holiday for many reasons, but I love the fact that the season lasts an entire month. I love the visual reminders of Christmas that drape my house the entire month of December.

I have been gathering Christmas decorations for many years. The majority of them come from yard sales or after Christmas sales. I am not one of those people who will shop the day after Christmas for 50% off decor. I wait several weeks until what's left is 75-90% off. Many of our decorations were gifts from friends and family through the years. I have bins and bins of Christmas decorations which live for 11 months in the rafters of our garage.

These were new this year. I could not resist them at IKEA and they are plastic so they do not shatter when the kids whack at them.


I love, love a good, funky Christmas pillow.


This is a close-up of our advent tree. We read a little book each night which tells the story of the birth of Christ. It is one of my favorite traditions to do with the children. Each night a new little book goes on the tree in the living room. This is also the tree where we leave the gifts.


Decorations on the top of the piano in the living room.


The ceramic doll was found in the Christmas clearance at TJMaxx year ago. There were three of them until someone dropped a bin from the rafters a couple of years ago.


This is perhaps not the best decoration to have out with a home full of daycare kids. We were doing really well with the kids leaving these alone (the candies are 4 years old) until yesterday when I caught one of the little girls sucking on one of the candy sticks. Upon closer inspection, she had sucked on about 8 candy sticks and then shoved them back into the little plastic cups. We'll just toss those out this year!


Yard sale glittered fruit. See the beautiful little glass balls on the wire tree in the background? They were one of my favorite finds this summer - soft pinks and greens and gold for $0.25/box.


I love this pewter bowl of old doorknobs. They were all collected from yard sales in New Hampshire and hold wonderful memories for me of that time.


We have tons of little and tall trees scattered throughout our house - I can think of 8 in the living room, kitchen and family room alone. The children have their very own trees in their rooms as well. The trees were gathered like everything else, little by little. The most expensive tree is the 6 foot skinny tree in the kitchen which I found for 90% off hidden under a display in Joann's many years ago. I paid $10.00 for it after a coupon (it was a $150.00 tree - gasp!).

Our family has collected star ornaments since our wedding 11 years ago. Each year, we would give each other a star ornament on Christmas Eve and when the children arrived, we added them to the star tradition as well. Somehow, this tradition stopped a couple of years ago, but I still find myself looking for charming hand crafted stars when I am out and about.


The children's nativity sits on top of a bookcase in the family room where they can reach it and play with it.


We display the Christmas cards in an old shutter leaning against the wall behind the Santa tree. I am not making Christmas cards this year. It is simply one of the things I've had to admit I cannot accomplish due to my new life and schedule. I love making them, I love sending them, but this year I need to wave a white flag and admit I just cannot do it - no time and too expensive. I still love all of you and will write a little Christmas note on the blog instead.

I found some adorable Santa ornaments this last summer at yard sales and the kids love this tree.


This is the tree next to the front door. It sits in its own red wooden pot and I found it for 75%off at Pier One. I rarely go in that store, but I love this tree! It is covered in fabric stars and candy canes.


I found the little blocks at a vintage shop.


That's it really. There is more, but it has taken me weeks to get around to editing and posting these photos. Feel free to stop by the house and share some hot cocoa and there may be a few caramels left from the ones Nola and Marsha dropped off. Actually, forget the caramels, they are going fast!