Monday, December 19, 2011

A peek of our home during Christmas time ...




Our house is all decorated for Christmas.  I have pretty much the same Christmas theme every year.  My favorite Christmas things are reindeer, and I always decorate with red and gold.  I love to check last years blog posts to see how my decor changes from year to year.  As you will notice my style is a bit simple and functional.  I like to do just enough decorating to make the house festive.  I'm not the best decorator, because I'd rather be in the kitchen cooking.  I do have fun decorating, however I think could stand a few lessons. 





I love our tall skinny tree.  She is 9 feet tall and she came fresh out of the box 4 years ago.  This year her lights didn't work.  Gary (being the sweet man he is) cut off every single light and re-strung this tall lady!  Bless his heart.  I would have thrown her in the garbage and bought a new tree, but he saved our pocket book some pain!






The kids favorite part of our tree is this silly old gold star.  I was thinking I needed to get a new topper for our tree this year and Layla gasped in surprise.  "Mommy, Christmas trees must have stars!!"  So the gold star it is!








a few of my reindeer ornaments












Our mantle is always fun to decorate.  This year I decided to use lit garland.  I love it so much.  Our house is so cozy at night with the tree and the sparkling mantle.




Hayden insisted the nutcracker remain on the mantle.  He usually doesn't belong there, but Hayden insists he is protecting us.  Also the silly rooster match holder doesn't really mesh with my Christmas decor, but it belongs there. We have gas logs and the matches are stored up high right there for easy access for us adults, but the kids can't reach them.  The rooster holder was my grandmothers.  She hand painted it and I love it.






I wanted a simple center piece for my breakfast table.  We eat at the table every night so I didn't want a huge bulky centerpiece.  This glass bowl filled with read and cold balls is perfect!






Layla loves this little angel.  She has a place for a tea lite candle.  She looks so pretty at night with her candle burning bright.


Since I mentioned Layla....


She loves having a tree in her room.  I think this tree is PERFECT for her.




Hayden loves his Christmas tree too.  He always asks to sleep with the lights on, but we always end up turning them off.  He like to lay in bed and play by the light of the tree instead of sleep!



We have these fun little door knob hanging friends.  The angel hangs on our front door and the reindeer on the backdoor that leads to the patio.  They have little bells on them so you can hear the jingle when you open or close the door.



I love buying cinnamon scented pine cones every year.  They smell so good!!  These pine cones were just plain ole pine cones but I added a few balls to their basket to liven them up!  They are in the kitchen/breakfast area on the bakers-rack. 




My formal dining room table is suffering a bit this year.  I really haven't done too much in there, and now the table runner is holding all the Christmas cards we have received.    I usually set the table with fun dishes, but I'm not feeling it this year.





Here is a quick look at the outside.  The Santa is on the front porch and the snowman is on the back porch.  I need to take some night time pictures.  Gary hung clear lights all the way around our house.  I love the look of clear lights!



Merry Christmas from our home to yours!!


10 comments:

Erin said...

Love all the decorations - so pretty! Your tree is beautiful!

beckylbranch said...

I love all your decor and the kid's trees are SO CUTE! Connor would just take all the ornaments off right now...but in the future maybe we can do this :) xoxo Hope you have a Merry Christmas week!

Kelli said...

I love your decorations!!! The picture of Gary with Layla on his shoulders is priceless. That's such a cute idea to have trees in the kids' room.

Ashley said...

Your house looks really pretty! I love Layla's pink tree! Adorable!

Traci said...

I just love Layla's pink tree! We're on year 8 of our prelit & Dean has already said when it dies we buy a new one. I think I'll get a slim one when the time comes. I love my big fat one but it takes up a lot of space.

Jillian said...

I love the kids trees! I'm doing one big tree downstairs next year for the girls!

Laura@The Oily Cupboard said...

i so need to get the girls a pink tree....and dude a john deere tractor

Elaine said...

Looks pretty festive to me! We had crocheted Santa door knobs covers. Isn't it funny the things you cling to from childhood. Lena Kate says I need a fairy to top our tree...need to remind the girl they are angels, not fairies!

Kelli W said...

I love your tall skinny tree! I thought about getting a new topper this year, but I didn't see very many options that were better than the silver star we already have:)

Aly @ Analyze This said...

Tall and skinny ... just what I've always wanted to look like! Ha! I kid, but come on, you know my humor, I had to throw that in there :)

You decorations look great!! I especially LOVE Layla's tree in her room!

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas! You and your family are very special to me and I wish you all nothing but a joyous day!