the halls are decked!

I feel sooo bad I haven't been blogging this holiday season! I have just been sooo busy and also a little frustrated that my house isn't further along than it is. Despite the mess and boxes, and things being half painted, we decorated just as we normally would. Our new house is a little different from our last house, so we've had to change things up some, but it's been fun. I'm looking forward to next year, when the house will be DONE and beautiful, and we'll have gorgeous handmade decorations for every nook and cranny!

Anyway, I thought I'd share some of our holiday decor. I will take "real" pics tonight, after I find all the pieces to my tripod. lol Our neighborhood also puts out candlelit luminarias on Christmas eve, which I'm very anxious to experience and photograph!

Here is our lovely tree! I promise, I'll get better pics of it tonight, after Santa drops off the presents! It is only about 6 ft tall, so I wasn't able to get *all* my ornaments on it. The other problem with real trees is that the branches don't hold as much. We've also had about half our lights go out on it, so it's a good thing I really pack them on there! I always do white lights and then one string of colored lights, just to keep it fun.


I let the girls have trees in their rooms, and let them decorate them themselves. I sent them to their rooms with a basket of ornaments and they did the rest themselves. I was so impressed with how they did! I think next year we might get some fun pink tinsel trees for them and make coordinating ornaments for their rooms. :)



In the kitchen, I strung snowflakes in the window and lined up our gingerbread houses over the sink. I am hoping to really elaborate on these ideas next year!

Of course, the stockings are hung by the fireplace, waiting for Santa to fill them. (No picture b/c Scott's is missing - it needs fixing and fast!) On the buffet, I have our little village set up. The kids have enjoyed playing with it, after I tell them repeatedly not to, and making a huge mess of the fake snow.


And on the outside of the house, we've hung wreaths on the upstairs windows and lights along the garage. This pic is from a couple weeks ago - we are expecting about 18 more inches of snow over Christmas! Our Christmas tree is in that big window, which is our formal living room.


I have to say, this year has been SOOOOO much better than last Christmas, when we were struggling through our first few months of an 10 month unemployment. I am so thankful that things are better this year and I am very much looking forward to next year. As I was preparing for this Christmas, I came up with tons of ideas for vintage and handmade decorations for next year! I am hoping to hit some after Christmas clearance sales to get supplies. Fun, fun!

Merry Christmas to you all! I am planning to post again with fancier pics! Gotta find the mount for my tripod first! lol :) xoxo