Decorating for Christmas

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

I have come a long way in my thinking on decorating for Christmas.  I used to go all out.  I'm not going to even tell you how many Christmas trees I used to put up and decorate.  It was a bit ridiculous. We had a much bigger house then and I felt every room should be filled.  Please don't get me wrong, I truly appreciate the beauty of it when I see it done at someone else's home and I just cannot get over lights and garland and ornaments and candles and on and on and on.  It really does make me happy.  But, what makes me even happier is a scaled back version!

We live in a much smaller ranch home now, which is more peaceful and pleasing to us.  A lot less to take care of!  So, I decorate a bit in the kitchen, which is the first room people see when they come in, and I decorate in the living room.  This year the kids each put a tree in their rooms as well.  They haven't done that for along time, but this year they were both on board!  Those though, were all them, so I didn't have any work there!

Here are the festive touches in the kitchen!

This candle smells heavenly and it crackles while it burns!

Pistachios and M&Ms

These were tins I found at my beloved Hobby Lobby.  I absolutely loved the retro look to them and the colors were perfect!  Behind are sprigs of evergreen that match the look of my Christmas tree in the living room.

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Fun wreaths in each of the kitchen windows!  Shh, these were really candle rings!

We have a larger doorway from the kitchen to the living room.  On the kitchen side I have a garland decorated with reds and greens and on the living room side an identical garland decorated with the colors matching the living room.

I love the whimsical look of these ornaments!

Into the living room we go.

Last year, I bought this Christmas tree.  For years I had a tree that I had to string lights on before I decorated. I know, poor, pitiful me.  But, I splurged and bought a new one last year and Oh. My. Goodness.  Prelit heaven!  I put it up and plug it in and Voila! It's magic.  Addie actually put the ornaments on for me this year.  She did an amazing job.  We don't have many ornaments, but the tree also has pine cones on it and I just love the look!  The close up picture at the beginning of the post shows that a bit more.

It could be because I was a teacher once upon a time, but I have a thing for children's books.  I have kept all the Christmas/Winter related books the kids have collected over the years and put them out each year under the tree.  Even now, they pull books out of the basket and read.  There is just something about reading near Christmas lights that is magical!  

Old favorites.

A have a couple of vases of ornaments on top of the piano.  Addie says it cramps her style because she likes to throw her piano books up there.  She was really wanting the fall garland to be removed. Little did she know or remember that it is replaced with something else at Christmas!

Here is the garland on the opposite side of the kitchen doorway.  These are our two main living spaces! It's a short, sweet tour :)

I used to hang this wreath on the outside of the door.  But, we live out in the country and no one really uses our front door to come into the house.  I know that sounds strange!  I wanted to enjoy the wreath more, so I hung it inside.  I love how real it looks! 

I get to keep this candle out all through the winter months.  It makes the snow and cold more bearable!

And these are a couple old classics.  The kids still love this little snowglobe and the gingerbread box houses the Christmas cards as the roll in.  And oh, my December issue of Better Homes and Gardens just came in the mail!

There you have it!  I love that it's simple and sweet.  I love that it only took me a couple hours to pull everything out and put it up (thank you Addie and Reece!) I REALLY love that it takes even less time to put it all away come January.   

Let the festivities begin!