It has been a few years since I have done a Christmas home tour (2013 to be exact), and after a few requests, I decided to go for it!
Much of my Christmas decor has stayed the same over the years. A few addition here and there. Some slight variations in how I display it. This year I pulled out my Christmas tubs and began decorating with the intention to set aside any unused Christmas decor in a donation pile. If I wasn't loving it, it was probably time for it to go. And so in the end, everything that I did put up for display are things that I truly love which means that my Christmas home is making me very happy this year!
Starting in the front room . . .
The Willow Tree nativity set always goes on the piano. And I love the baby Jesus art by Beth Allen.
Early this year I was fortunate enough to inherit this beautiful piece of antique furniture from my mom. It belonged to my great-grandmother Leota and is nearly 100 years old. It lived in her house, my grandparents house, and my parents' home. It is a treasure with so much detail and wonderful craftsmanship and I'm glad that I can give this piece of my mom's family history a home. I'm carefully researching ways that I might spruce it up -- clean it up and give it some shine again. Needs just a little love. It fits absolutely perfectly in this little alcove by our front door. Since the day we moved in - 6 years ago - this spot has remained empty as I have been unable to find the right thing to fill it with. Well, the perfect thing finally came along! It was meant to be.
Each of the nativity/angel sets are from my mom's collection. I love the way this display turned out. It is one of my favorite views in my home this Christmas season.
Each year I try to find something new to add to my Christmas decorations - or rather, my mom finds something new for me! So much of what I own has come from her. When I take the time to notice and think about it, it's quite surprising just how much was gifted from her. This year was different, though. I didn't get anything new from a store. With the cleaning out of the cabin and my dad cleaning out the house, I have been able to sort through and gather many of my mom's own Christmas decor and bring them home to include with my own. Just another piece of her to be with us.
This piece was a gift to my mom from her sister Pam and husband while they were stationed in Germany with the Air Force. Time got away from me so next year I plan to clean the melted wax out of the candle holders and get this thing in working order again.
New ornaments this year . . .
. . . A pair of white doves from mom's collection. An ornament for Cooper from Home Sweet Pet on Etsy. And a couple Danish ornaments -- braided hearts made by the kids & I and a few straw ornaments also from Etsy.
Then onto the dining room . . .
Glass stars from Piggy & Dirt will never ever get old. New this year . . . an advent candle wreath. Yet another Danish tradition. Each Sunday we burn one of the candles, then two, then three, until this upcoming Sunday when we will burn all four. While they burn we sit around the table and read scriptures from the life of Christ and watch Bible videos on my iPad that correspond with what we read.
Oh Cooper. Looks like he snuck into the shot while wrestling with one of my shoes. He'll be 6 months old this Christmas.
This buffet sat in the entry of the cabin and the style is just so my mom. It was the one and only piece of furniture that I requested when the cabin was sold fully furnished. I put down all the seats in my van, loaded up the buffet (with plenty of room to spare - yay for vans!), and drove the 500+ miles back home so it could sit in this spot. It is perfect.
The glittery houses are also from the cabin. My favorite piece of Christmas decor there. The mirrored "MERRY" banner was a little present from my mom one year. The cider jug with twinkle lights was a DIY project she did several years ago with the help of my brother Sam. She collected the jugs and he drilled a hole in the glass for the power cord to feed through.
I love the way it shines.
Into the kitchen . . . .
Keeping it simple, because there's already so much going on in the kitchen.
The JOY banner was made by my mom. And the tin wheel/caddy below came from the cabin. Filling it with an assortment of fun Christmas things has made me so so happy! At the cabin it also sat on the dining table and she would fill the compartments with candy, granola bars & snack, random pens would end up in there, as well as my parents' reading glasses.
Dressed up the little shelf alcove on my kitchen island with Christmas dishes and a couple Christmas recipe books I pulled from my mom's Christmas stash. She had a thing for Susan Branch for several years. The quilted recipe binder was a real treasure to find -- it is full of handwritten recipes contributed by my Grandma Margaret and several of my dad's sisters and sister-in-laws in the 80's. Everytime I look at it I think about the kind of effort that went into creating a family Christmas recipe book like this. There were no computers for typing your recipes and no xerox machines to make copies. I'm guessing that each person hand wrote their recipes multiple times so they could be included in a book for each woman. I love it. And the little hand-drawn holly doodles on each page . . . so precious!
It makes me want to compile a family recipe book for this next generation, in our own handwriting so it can be preserved.
And I really, really want to know the story behind the name of these cookies . . . "Scratch me Back" cookies. Hmm . . . That is Grandma Margaret's handwriting.
Lastly, the family room . . .
Love these trees. And, ahem, pardon my dust. The kids are in charge of dusting and you can see the kind of "detailed" work they do. ;)
I went through my Chatbooks and pulled all the books that encompassed December of past years.
Good memories.
This mirrored alcove is always a little tricky for me to decorate. It usually gets the hodge podge of everything that is leftover. I made the star from yardsticks a few years ago. And I love displaying a Christmas picture from mine and Scott's childhoods. That photo album holds our family Christmas card pictures from every year since 1999.
And my very favorite vintage Santa winking mugs. They were a gift from my Grandma Margaret to my mom many, many years ago.
All the Christmas books fit into a vintage lunch pail from the Cabin. When the kids were little I would wrap the books and let them open one each night in December. As they have gotten older that tradition has fallen by the wayside. And that's okay! But we still love our books. One night I had each of the kids pick their favorite book and we read that one aloud together. It was perfect - gave us a taste of Christmas storytelling, on one night, all under 30 minutes.
Bottlebrush tree from Target. Quote board from White Brick Lane. And the chimes have been in our family since the beginning -- a gift from Scott's parents.
The wooden Christmas tree is from my childhood. Mom always had it out on display filled with red Santa suckers. Those Santa suckers are harder to find nowadays, but when I come across them I'll buy a bunch and fill the tree for nostalgia's sake. The kids appreciate that very much. The photo albums are scrapbooks I made back in the day for December Daily. I had good intentions to jump on the DD bandwagon this year (seeing as it is our last year with all my kids at home), but it didn't quite happen. I have been pretty consistent about taking photos everyday, so I may just put together a simpler photo album with less creativity & scrapbook stuff, just so this special month can be recorded.
And every December I makeover my hallway gallery frames with Christmas Eve pictures of years past. I sure love those cute little faces!
Phew! Made it through the whole house. And now Cooper really wants to go outside. Thanks for taking a walk around with me!