Christmas house #3.

We all spent Christmas eve at my sister Spring's house.  I don't know if anyone reads the blog CJane Enjoy It,  but she always refers to her home as "Retro House."  Well, Spring lives in the same neighborhood as CJane, so their house is our own family's Retro House. 

My parents (who have been in the business of remodeling houses for over 40 years) were even a little bit worried when Spring and her husband Nate first purchased the house.  It was definitely a major fixer-upper and my parents were nervous for  them to take on the monumental task of getting it family friendly, with six young children at home. But Spring and Nate are both hard workers and had a vision ... and they saw it through. Their style is kind of funky/cool and we all loved seeing it at Christmastime.

Spring made one of those fabulous mercury ornament wreaths too:

Nate and at least some of the kids always go and chop down a real tree:

Spring has lots of Christmas vintage items in her front entryway:

I LOVE this garland in her kitchen:

She has a tree in every child's bedroom: 

Her little daughter, Anna, even got her gnome's tree house ready for the season!

We are one of those family's who decided early on that we would have an ON year, and then an OFF year for the holidays instead of spliting the day up - so whenever it is an ON year for our family and we are all together for Christmas, we always go caroling on Christmas eve and we always sing The First Noel.  We've gotten pretty good at it too.  We are a REALLY large group so we have lots of voices singing all four parts.  The best part about it is when the door first opens up ... it is always quite a surprise for the recipients.  You don't see too many carolers out and about in the neighborhood anymore.

One of the cutest things I saw that night was Finn spotting his friend through the window:

It was absolutely adorable.

Christmas house #2.

Just a few posts ago, I mentioned a frame that my sister Courtney had made for Stephanie Nielson which she featured on her blog over at Nie-Nie Dialogues.  Courtney had referred to it as the "island of misfit toys" frame.  When I asked her about that she said that it all started with the mercury glass ornament wreath she had just made....

Courtney was in her son Smith's room and was tired of constantly seeing piles of little tiny this's and that toys all over the floor.  She told Smith she was just going to throw them out to which he vehemently objected and said that he wanted to keep all of them.  Having just finished her wreath, which involved hours of endless gluing and arranging, Courtney had the idea to put all of those little toys he loved around a frame that could hang on the wall so Smith could see them, instead of just laying all over the floor. 

I think that was a pretty ingenius idea.  I know I, for one, would treasure a frame of little items I loved from my youth.  That is when I made the comment that Courtney's creativity never ceases to amaze me. 

Here is a sampling of Courtie's house this Christmas:

She put scrapbook paper around her lamp shades to jazz them up!

Her ADORABLE girls' room:

And Smith's room:

Courtney REALLY knows how to shop and find things ... I would totally hire her.



Christmas home tour #1.

It absolutely AMAZES me how quickly Christmas seems to come to an end.  And every year I have a hard time letting go of it.  I like having Christmas decorations up and how it makes the house seem just a little bit more cozy.  I like getting Christmas cards in the mail ... even the ones that come after Christmas because people were late mailing them (like me), and I have a really hard time letting go of Christmas carols.  I haven't even posted pictures of my house yet, even when I actually had a request to. (How sweet is that?)

So because I am the sole executive of this blog, I made an executive decision to continue Christmas posts until the first of the year.  And also, just because I can.

So here is the first of my Christmas home tours for the next couple of days.  This is my house, and I am posting it first because even though I have had friends stop by who think my house looks pretty "decked out" for the holidays - it doesn't even compare to two of my sisters' houses.  They will be house #2 and house #3. (And their's are really a treat to see.)

The entryway:  I have had my Santa collection in my entry way for YEARS.  Sometimes my stair garland has had santa ornaments on it, sometimes bows and stockings ... but this year I changed it up a bit and decided to go a little more simple and serene.  (Totally inspired by Pottery Barn.  I visited that store more this season than ever before.  I just loved everything they had.)









The Living Room:  Last year I had my big family tree in this room with the hundreds of ornaments I've collected over the years.  I do LOVE that tree, but this year I just didn't have the "fight" in me to put it up.  It isn't pre-lit and just the thought of battling those lights made me tired.  So I carried the serene feeling into my living room and just put up a small white tree with white and silver ornaments on it.  It made me happy every time I saw it ... partly because it was SO much easier to put up.

I just love these enormous ornaments too.  I found them at two different stores several years ago at the after Chrismas sale.  I asked the sales girl if they were just for display (they were the only ones in the store like it) and she said, "Oh I can sell them to you."   One of my favorite finds.

And this is still one of my favorite nativity sets.

The kitchen:  I usually decorate my kitchen a little bit whimsical.  I had an idea of something new I wanted to try over my island.  I felt like I needed just a little more umph in there!  It turned out pretty much how I wanted it ... but I'll add some more green garland and maybe a few more ornaments next year!

Which brings us to the family room ...  The room that would usually hold a big tree, but (again), I decided to go easy on myself and I just put up another small tree.  It seems like I have had this little tree forever too, but it's theme changes from year to year.  My sister Leslie told me that she loves when I decorate it with my 12 days of Christmas ornaments, so this year, that is what I did.  And my santa collection found a new home up on the shelves in here too!

And there you have it.  Hopefully you are still in a bit of a festive mood too ... if not, sorry.  You can check back with me after the first of the year.    ;)

It's Christmas.

When the family and I took a trip back to see my two Tennessee girls in early November, Santa came out on stage to open the show and said, "I don't know what season it was when you left home, but here at the Tennessee Shindig, it's Christmas!"

Well, ready or not ... it's Christmas for all of us too!  I wanted to wish all of you the happiest holiday and hope that you have a wonderful day with your families.  It is so fun to have new friends because of the blogging community and I wanted to just let you know that I appreciate you and your visits here!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

xoxo