'Tis the Season

As promised I am going to talk a bit about Christmas decor.  It is one of my favorite things.  This year it was a bit of a challenge in my new home.  Especially because we had rats get into our storage and make nests in my artificial Christmas tree and some decor:(  So, just when I am not wanting to spend money on Christmas decor, that is exactly what I had to do.  One good thing that came out of it was the tree I got from Costco.ca.  It is a 10' tree with LED lights.  The LED is what sold my husband on the tree, but made me very nervous.  Ron HATES trying to figure out why strings of lights are not working, and apparently the LED are way more reliable.  I was relieved to see that the lights are not "fluorescent" looking.  They are a nice soft white.  Plus Ron pulled a light right out of its socket and the rest of them stayed lit!  This tree is so realistic that people can be touching it and still can't believe it is fake.  I just bought a "fresh balsam" candle from Bath and Body Works to make up for the lack of scent.

I would love to have the perfect "designer" decor, but I try and make sure the kids get to have their ornaments on the tree, and their special creations displayed throughout the house.  Each of the kids have a 4' tree in their rooms for their creations, and I have put their ornament with their pictures (and painted macaroni) on my main tree so that I can cry every time I look at it how small they once were!  Svea's handprint wreath still hangs.  I even have a mat that I stitched in kindergarten, and the plastic gingerbread house from my Grandma's Christmas decor.  It can all be worked in without looking too tacky.

I have framed Svea's first Christmas List from 2007.  She was in grade 1.   Here is the interpretation:

Svea's Christmas List

Canucks Jersey

Hockey Cards

A by myself craft bake mix for my play oven

A webkinz

A golden retriever

and some jewelry.

Thanks is my Christmas List





I have however put the star from our previous tree to rest. It was a picture of a Trevor Linden & Kirk MacLean...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't know how well you can see it, but I bought 2 frames from Michaels (on their 30% off sale) with 6 pictures each.  I have 10 Santa pictures of my kids now.  I have displayed them all.  It is so amazing to see how they change every year!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I needed a way to fill up this huge tree, so I bought this wide candy stripe ribbon from SuperStore. Its important with ribbon not to just wrap it around the tree. But make sure that it twists and it attached to the branches. Although this is a pretty tree by a fancy designer, I hate how the ribbon is so "flat" on the tree.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My brightly coloured family room tree used to be my small tree, but now it is 10'.  I love the look of large ornaments on a tree - especially a large tree.  I couldn't buy all new ornaments, so I clustered some of my old ones to make 1 large ornament.

 

 

 

 

 

I love pretty wrap.  The rats made nests in the tubes of my paper, and then died inside them.  So, I have new wrap this year!  Here is an inexpensive way to festively fill up a space at Christmas.  As you empty your Christmas decor rubbermaids, you should be filling them with your "rest of the year" nic nacs.  This way your home doesn't become too cluttered.

 

I love filling jars with cheap ornaments.  So pretty:

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My living room decor is my favorite, but we didn't do a tree there this year.  You'll have to wait until next years post.  Here is what I managed to put together in that room:



I wasn't sure where I was going to put my sock advent calendar in this house.  Then I remember that at Christmas 3M hooks are my best friend.  Here is what I came up with:

When the kids were small(er) I collected some of their Christmas socks, and then when to Old Navy and bought a pack of Christmas socks.  I buy a few treats, and use some leftover Halloween candy and fill the socks.  There is one for every day of december until Christmas.  It is a highlight for the kids.  (Just don't tell them I use some of their halloween candy!)

 

 

 

 

 

Another tip for fun Christmas decor is feather boas!  You can wrap them around foam cones to make trees, or around foam wreaths like Ive done here:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for reading this long post!  This Christmas as we celebrate the miraculous gift of Jesus, may we share with others the Joy that knowing Him brings.  I wish you all the Merriest of Christmas'!

Lisa