Some lovely ladies have given holiday tours of their homes this year, and they inspired me to follow suit. This post might be more for me, though, so I can remember where I put things for next year. Aging stinks.
I love decorating for Christmas, and have collected decorations of all sorts for years and years, even when all I was decking was my bedroom. I can’t even put out everything I have because I just don’t have the surface area. Also, I had questionable taste in the past, so some of the stuff is better off staying in the shed. My house will never grace the pages of a magazine, and Martha Stewart certainly has nothing to worry about, but it’s festive and fun and (mostly) kid friendly.
This is the entertainment center in the living room that I filled with some of my favorite decorations. The three wisemen (slightly hidden in between the nativity and Santa) are made out of bottles and were a gift from my piano teacher when I was in elementary school. It seems our elf, Pepper, decided to hang out here for the day. (Please ignore the junk my kids stuffed behind the TV that I didn’t notice until after I’d taken the picture.)
On the mantle is my holiday bear, also made by and given to e by my piano teacher. He changes attire based on the approaching holiday, and my kids adore him, so he gets a place of honor. I also like the little initial pins I got for our stockings last year.
On one of the walls, I’ve hung up some other inherited items, mostly from a dear friend who passed away, so this is a nice way to remember her.
Here’s my dining room table with a little North Pole village. I cannot tell you the number of times I’ve had to rearrange the building after the kids have messed around with them.
In the corner of the dining room, I put this wreath that I got from my senior winter formal in high school. I can’t believe that it hasn’t fallen apart yet. Also picture, my tribute to A Christmas Story, a replica of the Major Award delivery.
Of course, this is the tree. Every ornament has some meaning, some history associated, and I love trimming it each year, remembering.
And in an absolutely abysmal photo, we lit up the front of the house as well. You can’t see the toy train that quit working this year, or the inflatable ornaments, but you might notice that Snoopy joined us this year (I say might because I can barely make him out on the right side of the picture, and I know he's there). I’m not a big fan of inflatable decorations, but my husband likes them, so that’s for him. When we moved in, we learned that the whole street lined their property with candy cane poles and white lights, and we joined in immediately (making our own before we found an abandoned set in the attic), but sadly, over the year, this tradition has slowly eroded, and there are maybe 6 house participating this year. It’s sad, but we hold out hope that maybe next year, it’ll be better.
But I can’t hold a candle to my mom, who busted out the Christmas village this year. Actually, village is not an accurate term. It’s a Christmas metropolis. It takes 3 days to assemble. It takes up an entire room, and is still growing. And it is gorgeous. Like my tree, every piece represents something, down to the tiny UPS man that is my husband. It’s amazing, and I will happily show it off to you if you’d like to visit.
I truly hope that your holiday meals are scrumptious, every gift is met with joy and appreciation, everything is the right size, and your families are a constant delight to you and each other. Have a wonderful and very Merry Christmas.
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