Christmas Decorating 2011

There is only one room that I really decorate for Christmas. That is the parlor. And why is this? Because it has a door so that I can keep eager little fingers from breaking touching anything. Mwahahaha!

Let's start with the piano. I flanked either side with a pair of candlesticks I got on clearance at Sears. They are destined for a coat of silver or black paint. I'll get to it after deciding. Next is a polyresin horse head that I think is awesome and Darin thinks is weird. I laid a pair of big polyresin vintage keys  next to the horse head just because. Continuing right is the centerpiece. I bought a trio of snowflake votives at Bath & Body Works years ago. These are placed on a large, antique, glass platter that I inherited from Darin's grandmother. Then I filled in the empty spaces with cheap mini silver ornaments from Walmart. Next to that is a white statuette of the Holy Family I picked up at Walmart also years ago. I love this piece because it is very intimate and the detailing is exquisite. (I just spelled exquisite correctly on my first try!)

This is the tablescape on top of the short bookcase. I left the swirly candlesticks with the glitter white pillar candles. The wedding pictures are replaced with my glass block nativity (three glass blocks, stuffed with white Christmas lights, topped with ribbon bows, and decaled with black vinyl silhouettes of a nativity scene). On the right is an ornament stand I picked up at Goodwill last year. It displays the custom ornaments I have gotten through personalizationmall.com (love them!) over the years. The one of top is a heart etched with "Our First Christmas," our names and wedding year. The other two are ovals etched with "Baby's First Christmas" and the boys' names and birth years, respectively. I'll have to find a second stand or something if we have anymore kids.

As you may have noticed, the top of my bookcases has pretty much become storage space. But I decided to change that for Christmas, at least. I took down all of the things I'm worried about the boys breaking and put up the following (from left to right) intermingled with a faux pine garland: 3 apothecary jars (each filled with a layer of Epsom salts for faux snow and a pine cone), three small pillar candles stamped with little snowflakes, my 'Be' blocks, a recently acquired crystal candlestick, a little wooden block votive holder decoupaged with scrapbook paper and the word 'believe' complete with glass votive and candle, our glass Bountiful temple wedding cake topper (I wasn't going to put that in reach of little fingers no matter what), a polyresin nativity, a set of 'JOY' blocks that my super crafty sister-in-law made for me, a bouquet of cranberry red flowers in a clear glass vase from the dollar store (I should really etch that vase, huh?), a sepia toned photo from our first family Christmas photo shoot when our first-born was a baby (there's a tree and fireplace in the background and everything), and finally, a plain white pillar candle.

And what would Christmas be without a tree? Our tree sits in front of a window, so it's impossible to get a good picture of it from the front during the day with our little camera. But here is a side view. It is dressed in silver ball and acrylic icicle ornaments serving as a backdrop to the family ornaments. Growing up, Darin's mom had a tradition of buying each child a new Hallmark ornament each year. We have chosen to continue the tradition. There are also some ornaments that belonged to me as a child (like that European painted egg), as well as a few of the snowflakes that my mother crocheted when I was a baby. Those adorned my family's Christmas tree every year for as long as I can remember.

The tree itself isn't much to look at, but considering that we got it for $7.50 in an after-Christmas sale, I really can't complain. It looks better from this angle. ;)

So there you have it--the bulk of my Christmas decorating. Anyone else calling their decorating good enough and bundling up with a cup of hot coco? Have you surprised yourself lately with being able to put together a half-decent display on a table or bookcase? Are you loving the snow (if there is any in your area) but kind of wishing it would go away, or at least melt off the roads?