Christmas Decorating

I absolutely love decorating for Christmas. When I get home in the evenings, I turn on each and every light at night and it makes me so happy! There is nothing better than sitting next to a lighted tree with presents underneath, sipping on a cup of wossil (thank you mom for sending me a pitcher of your delicious recipe) and watching a silly Christmas movie.

We started with our tree. Right now, we use a fake tree and add new lights every year. We will be getting a real tree next year. I can't wait...I miss that lovely smell. We had a little helper when we set up the tree. She loves lights...and not to mention wrapping paper, bows, ornaments, etc :). Gracie is a little camera shy, but she also likes to help.

I don't have a picture of our finished tree, but I'll get one soon. It's nothing fancy. We have lights and a bunch of random ornaments. Mostly ones from our childhoods and from trips we have taken. It is always a blast putting them on the tree together and reminiscing on all the fun memories. After the tree was up, I focused on our mantle. My sister was a big help with this (thanks Annie!). I love lights on the mantle, but I also like a classic look. I ended up going with garland, magnolias and lights. Oh, and we put some wood in our little boat next to the fire. Cozy, right?!

My sweet father-in-law has given me beautiful handmade Santa's the past 2 years. These Santa's are gorgeous! I now have a green and red one and they cheerfully greet you when you walk in the front door. I only have a picture of last year's, but I'll get a picture of my new one. He's a jazz player with a saxaphone and he's fabulous!

Our dining room stays very traditional at Christmas. Red and green plaid with gold touches. I love our tree centerpiece on our dining room table.

Then, it came time to decorate our new kitchen! It has so many blues and greens that I did not want to go the traditional route. I found these beautiful silver, blue and gold ornaments and put them in a vase and they work great with the space! This is where I dream of a coastal Christmas.

In the living room, we have bookshelves and they are perfect for my village. My mom and dad give us a new village piece each year and I love putting this up because I remember why I got each piece. My village is continuously growing, so it's a good thing we have more shelf space. It's the only place we get "snow" in December.

Finally, we needed some lights outside. We decided not to do the whole house this year, but did some garland and bows around the door. It turned out nicely and we don't look like the Mr. Scrooge:).

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!!