it's beginning to look a lot like christmas

it's beginning to look a lot like
christmas

since i was a little girl, the day after thanksgiving always meant putting up the christmas tree and getting ready for christmas. as a kid it meant cutting down the biggest tree we could find, bringing it home, then watching my dad try to figure out how in the world to fit a fourteen foot christmas tree into a stand that was never made to accomodate a fourteen foot christmas tree. it often involved wiring the tree to several walls, and a lot of laughter.

now that i'm all grown up (and lucky for me i'm married to mr. christmas!) we start decking the house out as soon as the thanksgiving dishes are in the dishwasher. although we used a fake tree for the second time in my life this year, we found it barely fit into it's designated spot in the new house. hence, the oddly placed star zip-tied to the top the tree (below). the girls get such a kick out of putting their handmade ornaments from over the years up on the tree... not to mention the handmade ornaments i made as a kid. there's always so many memories tied up in hanging each ornament on the tree.




i picked up some really pretty glass ornaments and hung them from my dining room ceiling over my table. to hang them i raided stan's tackle box. (he says he doesn't own any craft supplies! ha!) then hung them with clear tacks. after i assured stan that the holes wouldn't be THAT noticable. hopefully after christmas i'm not in big trouble. hee hee.


the fireplace mantle ended up as a garland magnet. we stacked three different types of garland on top of each other. the little lamps we bought the first year we were married. so they were a fun addition to the garland mountain. the stockings are my personal attempt at making knock of pottery barn items. my mom has an embriodery machine, so i used that and sewed the stockings myself several years back. i'm pretty sure this is the most complicated sewing project i had done since jr high home economics.

at night the front door is surrounded by lighted garland. but this is the day time view. the welcome is an uppercase living wall sticky, and the big bow above the door i made myself.

this is me sneaking a picture of stan reading in our christmas wonderland of a living room. as soon as we have a night that's not too foggy, i'll try to get some pics of the outside of the house all aglow.