it's beginning to look a lot like chirstmas

We've decorated the house in bits and pieces this year. A little here and there... basically anytime we stumbled on a Christmas storage box in the garage, we put something new up. We have spent the past 4 Christmas' in 4 different houses... so, yeah... there have been some holiday boxes that haven't been unpacked in a while. This was the first year in a long time that we were actually able to get a real tree... therefore... also the first time in a while that we were able to pull out all of our Christmas ornaments. To say I was excited would be a major understatement.

Everything looks just a little different than last year... but you'll definitely see a few familiar pieces...

I was finally able to pull out my little Snow Village collection again this year... it's been a long time since I've seen the glowing lights on these little buildings... 4 years, I think. We decided this village would be safest on top of the bookshelf... you know, to make sure there weren't any massive catastrophes caused by a certain Little Cat.

Here's how the Christmas tree turned out. I love all of the family ornaments and the general homespun look. I wanted to add more colorful ball ornaments, but Lance literally had to make me stop adding things. Christmas trees are one of the few times that I live by the motto, "the more the merrier." And don't even think about stealing any presents from under the tree... see that angel on top? She'll swoop right down and smack you in the head. I mean, look at her... she is ready.

And because Lance put "ornament restrictions" on the big tree... I decided to put up the two tiny 3 foot trees that we bought last year. This one was in the kitchen and had a little bird theme going on. I think it could benefit from a few blue and green ornaments or something of the sort... you know, for a little color... maybe next year.

But speaking of color... this is the "purple tree." And I love it. This one went up in the guest bedroom... mainly so Lance wouldn't have to stare at it's purple-ness all day. There are purple balls, purple feathery things, purple birds (yes, more birds)... it's hard to see in this picture... but take my word for it... this tree is awesome.

The Christmas card wall is right by the back door this year. I'm still using (and loving) my hand-dandy vertical card holder from Pier One. Christmas cards are yet another reason why December ranks as one of my all-time favorite months. I love the photos of loved ones from both near and far... the simple holiday greetings from friends I may not have heard from since last Christmas... it's a little reminder that we are still connected by those simple annual greetings.

I hung one of our twiggy Christmas stars in the kitchen window (right by the cards). I love these stars... I got them several years ago at Michaels for just a few dollars and they are one of my favorite decorations. I love their simplicity.

I hung the other twiggy star over the mirror in our dinning room... which happens to be right over the nativity set this year. Our Willow Tree nativity set is still one of my favorites. I love this whole little set up right here.

Since I ended up having some red Christmas balls leftover after Lance enforced the "ornament restriction," I decided to fill up a glass display vase that I already had in the kitchen. Loving the pop of red.

Ahem... yes, speaking of red... Let's talk about these giant red cones I have set up by the TV. I guess they are supposed to be Christmas trees... but they are really just GINORMOUS sparkly red cones. I bought them 4 or 5 years ago when we lived in our favorite house... and they never looked quite so ginormous on the fireplace there... but.they.are.huge. I feel like at any point they might simply take over our living room and swallow us whole.

Moving right along... my absolute favorite piece this year is still this sweet little musical figurine. The piece belonged to my grandparents and if you turn the Christmas tree it plays "Here Comes Santa Claus." I used to carefully turn the tree over and over again, just humming and staring at the little scene playing out before me... until eventually, I turned that little tree so much that I snapped the star right off. Oops. That's me in that little picture... pre-star-snappage. After my grandma passed away a few years ago, my mom gave me the beautiful piece, along with the photo. I love it.

We decided to hang these cute little snowmen by the stairs... well, I guess technically it's a snowman and snow-woman. They have a little heart that says, "Love will keep us warm." Which hopefully is true, since we've been trying to keep our thermostat set at 63 degrees this winter...

Our mantel is pretty simple this year... a strand of garland and 3 vases of some amaryllis flowers (fake... compliments of Target). Then of course we have our stockings hung too:) I really like how the mantle turned out, simple... but festive.

Santa is chilling on the dining room table this year. He was on the coffee table last year... but after I removed my white pumpkins from this year's fall decorations, I had this perfect little open spot for Santa in that mossy greenery... nestled him right in. I think he likes it there.

And don't forget the presents under the tree! All of our gifts that are going to Georgia later are sitting pretty under the tree for now. I think they add a nice little touch, don't you? And I'm still digging the red & white paper combo that I went with this year.

So, there you have it... it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas over here... good thing too, since it is only 4 days away and all...