Christmas Tour

I begin with a disclaimer: I am not a decorator. I enjoy and appreciate others' home decor immensely, but it is not a skill I possess. I do not decorate my house for normal days (example: only one room in our house has curtains...and its our bedroom...and its basically only to keep light out so we can sleep) or for seasons/holidays.

Except for Christmas, because, well, Christmastime is fantastic. So, I am getting past my decorating insecurities and revealing my Christmas-y home to you :)

I *heart* snowmen, so when John's aunt gave me this mat last year, I was excited. My practical side (which, as most of you know, is about 98% of me) loves that is something that is for winter and not just Christmas, so you can have it out well into the New Year to keep the cheer going. It is what greets you when you come in my front door.

Oh look, another snowman. Shocker. Anyhoo, my mom got me this magnet set last year from one of those catalogs that you don't know why you get and has gifts for the ungiftable person. I love it and apparently Hannah does too, because she is regularly running off with the poor guy's buttons and scarf. John likes to rearrange it when I'm not looking and see how long it takes me to notice. Never a dull moment! I think it is so clever that you 'create' it on your fridge. Plus (again practical), it is very easy to store.


Moving into the living room, this is our mantle. I almost didn't want to put this up because I feel like it looks so...homely compared to other people's. But, I am doing it anyway, because it is ours and I like it. So there. I got the idea of the blocks from a magazine. John put his glasses on my snowman cookie jar a week ago and they've been there ever since. How much do you love the little baby stocking? Don't worry, she's not getting jipped; we don't fill stockings, so its just for show.
I would like to find something at an after-Christmas sale to hang up instead of the normal kiddo/family picture at the holidays next year. A wreath? A garland-esque thing? Suggestions would be greatly appreciated...also, where do I look?


So, one of my favorite things this year is our little nativity set. My mom got this for Hannah last year for Christmas. My requirement for a set was that it was kid-friendly. I heard a lady at a seminar say she thought it was important that kids could play with and move around the characters of a nativity set and that made a lot of sense to me! At some point I'd like to get a 'nice' set to put somewhere safe from little hands.

It has lots more pieces, but I decided to keep it simple this year with just Mary, Joseph, Jesus and manger, Angel, Sheep, and Donkey. I figure the fewer pieces we have out, the fewer will get lost! Hannah adores this set and is constantly talking about "Baby Jesus!" and "Mawy and Joes-beth" and "Ang-hels!" I have also decided having Hannah run around in seasonal jammies is my own little moving burst of Christmas joy :)


Ok, so I may be super insecure about my decorating skills, but I can pick out a darn good tree, if I do say so myself. This is the smallest tree I have ever owned, but it really does look nice in our living room. I like 'em tall and fat :) John's sister made us the angel on the top, which I love. I have mostly traditionally colored ornaments (red, green, gold, silver). Lots of them are handmade or were ours when we were kids. We've gotten a few as gifts of the last few years as well.


A few favorite ornaments:

Hannah, 2009.


My ornament from many moons ago that (I believe) my great aunt made. My initials didn't change when I got married, which is pretty nifty for such situations.


Had to show this one off; we get an NCSU ornament from my aunt Jackie almost every year. I love that my school colors are red/white because they look nice on my tree!

Thanks for touring! Merry Christmas! I hope to have a Christmas book review up sometime late this week or early next.