Merry Christmas! (and I found my camera!)

 Merry Merry Christmas Everyone!  We had an amazing time with the Dodge family for Christmas - and we look forward to visiting Justin's family my future family to celebrate with them very soon.  I hope you all had a beautiful holiday!

Tomorrow will be a sad day as I begin to put away the Christmas decor.  I will miss the lights, the stockings and greenery that graced the house the last 45 days.  I love Christmas - everything that goes along with it.

The snow.  The lights. The family. The traditions. The dinners.  And even visiting the mall.

It's a shame that the season is so short.   But if it didn't come to an end, I would never be able to get Christmas decorations for 60% off.   

Oh, hey, I found my camera! Long story...but it was in my kitchen cabinet with the cookbooks. Why would I ever put it there??

This means that I can finally share my Christmas decorations...right when it's time to put them back in the attic for another 11 months.  Get ready for a long post with lots of pictures.  I'm catching up on 6 weeks of lost picture-taking time!

Greenery is one of my favorite ways to decorate for the season.  That's why I love clustering together the little alpines.  These little guys get dolled up in my homemade ornaments and are free of lights.  Just letting their natural beauty shine.

Remember these ornaments I made last year?  I am still loving them!  I wish I had time to make more this year.  But I had a few other projects in the works...



"Green" might as well be my theme for all decor.  You'll see plain evergreens here and there for a splash of freshness.  Just setting a mini tree on the table, or a plain green wreath on the windows makes my house feel like Christmas.  I decorate with all faux evergreens.  It's a necessity, though I do appreciate the ease of fixing up the branches and setting it out with out having to water - my mom is highly allergic to pine, and if I had a real tree (or 10 real trees...), she wouldn't be able to visit for long periods of time.

 

 

This is only my second year with a mantle to decorate, so I changed it up a little bit by adding the deer head wreath.  She could be my favorite part of my decorations this year. 

 

...and of course, there is a mini tree as well.

  

 

We added a new stocking to the mantle this year (the burlap one).  For no other reason other than I found it at the Country Living Fair in September.  And I couldn't go home with out it. 

 

Now every one in the family has their own sock hanging from the hearth.

 

Back to the greenery... even the kitchen got a little more green for the season.

Recognize those initial ornaments from last year? They're a little more modern than the rest of my house, so they found a home on the kitchen shelves.

 

After trimming the house in Christmas cheer, the botanical print gallery wall seemed really out of place.  So, ten minutes and a few prints later, this happened.

 

 

 That seemed like the perfect (free) solution for Christmasing-up a gallery wall.   

 

And now on the grand event...

 

On Facebook, I asked my friends how many trees they decorate each year.  I was actually pretty surprised by the responses... most of my friends have 1 tree.  Which makes me wonder if I'm too strict with my tree decorating rules.

I have my main tree. 

He's slender, 7 feet tall, and man, is he sexy.

 

It's so hard to get a good picture of him.  (Yes, he's a boy).  But, trust me, he's a pre-lit beauty.  Justin and I got him last year, and I'm still head-over-heels for him.

 

  

 

 You would be too if you had to live with this naked little tree for the past 15 years... 

 

That's the same tree I kept in my bedroom when I lived with my parents.  And then followed me to college, my apartment and even my first year in my house. 

 

My original tree has been downgraded to the basement, and has become the "family ornament" tree.  Justin's family and my family had the same tradition growing up.  We got a new ornament every year from birth through college.  As you can imagine, the ornaments slowly go from cute babies in bassinets, to baseball players and little angels.  Those ornaments have been boxed up from our family homes and have been moved into our home so we can create a tree together.

Each ornament contains their own memories and sentiments...but those memories don't match with vintage birds.  Now they have their own place for us to keep the memories alive. 

The tree is a little bare this year...but it's his first year in his new role. Maybe next year we'll give him a little makeover. 

Surpringly, having several trees is a win-win situation.  Justin is pretty stoked about having a tree in his man cave.  And I'm happy that my main tree can still have a theme.  Let's see how he feels about having angels and puppy dogs hanging next to Mark McGuire next year...

 

We now have two themed trees (well, three...or five if you count the alpine cluster with the homemade ornaments). 

While we probably won't get new ornaments anytime soon for our "family" tree, I add an ornament a year to the main one.  Each year, I find a new "vintage bird" to add to the flock. 

 

 

This year, I grabbed two...this little gold-wired lady is an antique I picked up at the Country Living Fair.  And I couldn't pass up this mercury owl when I saw him 60% off at PotteryBarn yesterday.

 

 

 

I'm definitely going to miss the ambient lighting coming off the Christmas trees.  But I can't wait for next year - it will be our first Christmas as a wedded couple and we'll have so many new memories to start.

 

 

Anyone else sad about taking down the Christmas decorations? Please tell me I'm not the only one crazy about decorating a "main" tree?

 

Merry Christmas!  I hope you all took advantage of the holiday and spent time with your families and loved ones. 

Mary