This post is going to be HEAVY with pictures. Most of my family and some of W's have never been to our home for the holidays. We always travel to them so, when I talk about something in our house or what I am decorating for the holidays, or collecting etc. our family cannot visualize it at times because they have not seen my love for Cmas decorations. Yes,
we I have a lot! I LOVE this time of year and having the house full of the things that remind me of family members, memories of special moments, things that mean Cmas to us etc. They are warming to our hearts. I know the true meaning of this season is Jesus and celebrating his birth but I love the coziness of these collected things that remind us of special times and family. I am seriously a collector in this area and each room has its own decor theme. I can tell you a story about every item in our house. They have been collected over the past 17 years. Augh - has it really been that long? Just so you know, our house has not always looked like this. Just ask W. Our first 3 years of marriage we did not even decorate. We would place a wreath on our front apartment door and some lighted garland out on our balcony in Chas, SC but we did not have a tree or anything. We typically flew out of town to see the family sometime before CMas eve and I felt like "why decorate, we are not here at all?" We would leave for our break sometime before the holiday and spend almost 2 full weeks between all the family until returning home after New Years. Maybe that is why I am making up for lost time now ??? but I know my love is also fueled by the desire to give K some wonderful CMas memories as well as collect things to hand down to her one day. It's important to us that she enjoy seeing all the lil things and sharing the memories of each ornament, snow globe, dancing/singing toy and can look back years to come on helping me get them unwrapped from the attic and setting them in their special spots. I have many wonderful memories of helping my parents and my grandparents decorate for the season and carrying that tradition over to my baby sounds like a great idea.
Front Door
K did not want to get rid of her cinderella pumpkin this year and I couldn't see throwing out pumpkins that were not bad yet so... we stole this idea from a friend off of FB. Our porch snowman...
pictures I took today of the porch once it got a bit darker...
I made this wreath 3 years ago. I am thinking I may need to add more bling to it next year.
Entry
The entry area and dining room have a Nutcracker theme. I have many memories as a child attending the preformances of the play and also as an adult. K has also been to several versions of the show the past 3 years. She adores getting them out of the box, unwrapping them and playing with them. They may be special decorations but she is allowed to play with them. We have aready repaired a couple of them. Many family members have given us these special guys. They are loved and treasured! I have them on the entry chest of drawers, above the door in the windows, sitting on the tea trolley in the dining room, on top of the armoire in the dining room and on a small side entry table. Some are new, some are old, some are sparkly and some, Not!
I found a nutcracker snow globe last year. It plays one of the the songs from the show. Before Bomb@y closed I found this nutcracker toy Cmas tree. You wind the tree and pull a plug on the drum base and the tree spins and plays O Cmas Tree. K gets a kick outta seeing it go round and round and playing with it.
Our stockings hang from the stair railing since we do not have a fireplace in this house.
My aunt Carolyn gave me the singing santa many years ago. K loves him! He sings a lot and dances. I made the wreath on the closet door in LR 9 yrs ago and the door hanger '"peace" was in my first apartment 15 yrs ago.
We drop all our Cmas cards (not the picture ones) in the robin box that I had in my 1st apt. as the season goes on. K loves digging them out and asking questions about who sent what again and again and...
Dining Room
I am slowly adding to this garland every year. Last year I added the lights. This year I added some sparkly beads and feathers. What will I do next year?
This dining room light is such an eyesore to me so this year I could not handle it anymore and I decorated it! I wanted to do an upside down CMas tree but, those guys are expensive and I didn't have enough time to try and make one on my own using a form, garland etc. So, this is
what I came up with instead. Maybe next year it will be a tree?
My snow that our FitzNFloyd santa sleigh and reindeer are on is white rabbit fur. It is so so soft!
Kitchen
The theme in here is gingerbread houses and candy santas. My collection GREW once we moved here so most of this stuff is newer. I love the craftsmanship, detail and use ability of FitzNFloyd. There used to be an outlet 5 minutes from mom and dads house. I would get in trouble every time I visited. They had awesome sales (50 to 75%)... that is where any CMas money would go every time I visited.
All those times shopping for FitzNFloyd. Most of those moments were with my aunt Tina too. Some of these pieces were given as gifts though. The top 2 houses were from mom and dad and they are music boxes that play Cmas carols. I had them in other spots the past few years and K would wind them and dance to them all the time. They should be down for her but they seemed to fit better here on the bakers rack this year.
There is a santa candy jar my aunt Tina gave me years ago...when I was in my first apt... that I love seeing and filling every year. Have I said I have awesome family members? Even married and away they still send us a small gift every year that I love and cherish.
This is how I feel this time of the year! Giving is so fun! I am thankful we have been blessed to be able to give.
My MIL gave us these cute guys. I love them. They are baking gingerbread cookies and such.
W had an advent calendar as a kid and wanted K to have one too. I took the idea a step farther after we paid $15 the 1st year (she was 2 yrs) for a paper one filled with candy. I couldn't see paying that much money and trying to hunt one down every year so thanks to PBK her 3rd CMas I discovered this one that needed some fixing up online and grabbed it for a steal. K looks forward everyday to coming home and finding what candy is behind each door and counting down the days until CMas day. I love filling it with different candies she loves! The silver reindeer were in my first apartment and I thought they looked cute beside this house.
More FnF fun.
It seems "Rudy" our elf on the she!f got into the santa candy jar last night. He must be helping himself because candy is everywhere.
I made this gingerbread candy cane wreath in LR also. It used to hang on our back door to the garage. Now it hangs on our kitchen wall.
Den
This is the coziest room to me! I love laying/sitting/relaxing in here this time of the year. There is not a fireplace but with the tree lit and the garland on the hutch on... it is so peaceful! We love it! Our tree is huge. I purchased it the year W was deployed. We had a tiny 4 foot tree and I was determined K was going to have a nice tree the year her daddy was gone plus I wanted a nice tree for the hubby to come home to. Even if it was Jan 30th. We waited to open gifts with him that year too. So I purchased a 10 ft tree. Drug it out of my car Piece by Piece because it was entirely too heavy and with sheer will power and determination I got that thing up the stairs and into this house. I will NEVER do it alone again! It truly was for the love of CMas and giving K and W a tree that I got it together. Yes, I sat on the floor bawling after it was together but I did it! We started collecting ornaments years ago but our collection was still small especially when I put them on this giant. HA! This tree has evolved... there are many special irreplaceable ornaments on it. We sit and talk and share memories all the time while gazing at it. We have ornaments from our wedding day, ornaments from aunts, ornaments from special times (W deployment ... a few family members got Chr!stopher Radk0 ornaments that represented the US or patriotism, as well as Ks birth) etc. Since this room has a santa theme the ornaments that are on the tree are mostly Chr!stopher Radk0 santa ones. I know they are expensive but there are tricks to getting them cheaper if you shop, watch and collect them slowly. I think it makes them more special that way anyway.
My Dad bought this santa sitting reading when K was 2 yrs old. Santa reads the N!ght before Cmas story, his head, lips etc actually move. K loves it!
My MIL bought K the nativity scene when she was 3. It is all wood pieces and the barn doors actually close and lock. She moves the pieces around all the time. The animals and shepherds are never in the same place!
Awe! The couch. We have had the pillows since we moved into our home in LR. Then it was my way of making our den festive. Again, we didn't go crazy on CMas decorations because we would travel and we were not home much, even though we owned our own home. Mickey and the puppy sitting on the couch, play music and move. Again, K loves them! CMas is for the kids.
We started collecting snow globes in LR that had special meanings to us. I have CMas carolers, santa reading a list of naughtys and nice kids, a nutcracker scene and others. They all light up and play music. We have 2 sterling bells currently. One dated 1999, the year we married and 2005, the year of Ks birth. Then we have a plate for Santas cookies, reindeer treats and a mug for milk. The two side pieces are again... FnF musical pieces. The plates are from our denby wedding registry and we added the holly pattern plates soon after getting married.
I have had this reindeer since my 1st apt and after seeing K enjoy playing with him I found a sleigh and a porcelain vintage santa to add to her playing enjoyment.
Again, many treasures from dear family members.
Loft
The loft area is ever evolving. I have great ideas for it but I am not going to take over the toys just to decorate it ...yet! I asked K this year if she wanted me to put the small tree up there with all the angels and bell ornaments we have (from our home in LR) and she was not so thrilled about it so... I have just added a few items for now. It is all about her and the CMas things She has created over the past 5 years or special gifts she has been given.
From our home to yours... Merry Christmas!
