Christmas Decor

I sure love Christmas decorations - they make it seem so homey and cozy!  And the light put off by the tree is just amazing (it is also welcome in our living room - we don't have enough light in there)!  Here are some of my favorite spots of décor from this year.  I have to say - I do look forward to when I have coordinating stockings and tree skirt and all that jazz.  And I really want to pick a "decorating theme" - I feel like I have such a hodge podge of things!  I love red and green.  And burlap.  But sometimes I like other colors!  Or sometimes silver! And I know better than to get nice things when the kids are this young! 

 

Here are our outdoor lights!  Love them!

And here is the nativity scene on the table in the foyer!  I am glad I actually set it up this year.  I really want to start a Willow Tree nativity and collect the pieces over the next few years, but this one definitely works!

And here is our tree once it had gifts under it on Christmas Eve!

And one where you can actually see the lights looking all pretty! :)

And I took these pictures of the stockings this morning - there is still so much out from the craziness of Christmas morning that I couldn't get a "mantle picture" of the whole thing.  So a picture of each side will do!

And the other side!  See what I mean about a mix of styles?  Just look at all of the figurines on the mantle!  And a mix of styles of stockings!

Here are the towels hanging on the oven!

And this may be my favorite spot - under the TV in the kitchen!  Handmade goodies, annual Santa picture in the frame, wooden handpainted nativity blocks, and that decorative plate that I love!

Katie and Jack made these at school this year - love them!

And since all 3 of the kids have had the same teacher at the youngest age of mother's day out, I have a set!  LOVE them!

It also means I have a set of nativity baby snow globes!  Except Ryan knocked Katie's over this morning, so I ordered a new one and I may ask his teacher if she can do Katie's so they all have the same handwriting and look - ha! 

This is the wet bar area - love that Santa plate!

And this is another nook of the kitchen - the kids did such a great job on the gingerbread house!  And I do love that Merry Christmas platter too!

And another favorite - the Christmas cards!  It is so fun to have so many of our friends and family hanging in our kitchen!  I actually ran out of space this year - will definitely add some ribbon to other cabinets next year!

And this is Katie's tree in her room.  I love that it looks like it glows pink!  We also were going to set Jack's tree up, but he wouldn't stay in his bed consistently in the mornings, so we didn't do it this year.  Hopefully we can next year!

 

I have to admit that I did begin the undecorating this morning - I am ready for things to get back to normal and to attempt to find a resting spot for half of Toys R Us that now resides here.  Ha!  Next year I hope to get some garland with lights to put on the staircase and potentially the mantle (and find a new spot for the figurines)!  I'm going to try to make 2016 the year of "less is more" - so maybe while finding a home for these toys, I will also do a big purge!