2013 Christmas Tour

Well, Christmas is in about a week which is such a good feeling because at this point whatever is not done probably won't happen and that is just fine. I am done scrambling around and I plan to enjoy the rest of this time doing some fun stuff with the family. Ahh it feels so good. Their is too much business this time of year.  We have some beautiful snow and it is finally warm enough we can go outside and play in it. It is hard to believe I look forward to 30 degree weather!

I wan't sure I would do a Christmas tour because after taking all my pictures my tour just doesn't compare to a lot of other tours out there. But I decided to just go for it and it would be fun to compare the years down the road. I like decorating for Christmas but I don't love rearranging the whole house for it, and I don't love taking it all down in January. So I always keep that in mind when I decorate.
So here is goes, not the most glamorous but it works for us.

In our office I hang a wreath on our chalkboard with some ribbon. The ribbon usually changes color every year. I love the Joy in the middle, it is so simple.

In our family room I add greenery, ornaments, vintage blue jars and pinecones to the box under the TV. I found these huge pine cones at Hobby Lobby last year, I love them.

I made a sign with chipboard letters I found at Target. I explain more about it here. I added some greenery to the top of our curio cabinet from the clippings of our Christmas tree.  One of the few perks of having a real Christmas tree is adding real greenery to rest of the house.

I added some garland to our banister with green ribbon. I used green pipe cleaners to attach the garland to the banister then tie a bow over top. Red is not my favorite color so I opted for green and gold this year. Red always sneaks its way in though.

I added just a few things to our half bath. I love these jewel tone ornaments I found last year. Maybe next year I will do jewel tones all over, they are so pretty!

In our kitchen I added some garland above the cabinets and ornaments in the containers.

 

Here is our hot chocolate bar. With all this cold weather, it is getting used a lot. It is so much easier having everything out and available.

I reused some of the elements from my winter centerpiece, as seen here, on my island.

Here is our only tree, which is not perfect and mostly full of ornaments the kids have made. And I love it! You probably can't tell but a lot of the ornaments are hanging all together because that's how the kids did it. Another thing you probably can't see is that most of the needles are on the floor! Oh someday maybe I can talk my husband into a fake tree. The needles drive me crazy!

I wasn't going to put my Christmas village up this year, but as it turns out it is the kids FAVORITE thing. I never would have guessed that, so up it goes. They love all the lights in the houses. And it was my Grandmas so it is nice to think of her when I look at it.

Well that is it, nothing too fancy and lots of room for improvement next year.

Once I get over all the pressure that comes with Christmas and really remind myself it is about the giving and kids, it is so much more fun. I love listening to the kids talk about Christmas because the excitement is really building now. Only two more days of school until Christmas break and snow is in the forecast, which makes it even more fun for them.  The kids are so excited, their excitement is contagious! Their is nothing better than Christmas morning, ok now I am getting excited! I better get wrapping.

As always have a wonderful day!!


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