I know it’s way past Christmas and we are in the middle of the transition to the new year but I wanted to document our Christmas of 2017. It was a very nice one and I was enjoying every minute of it and didn’t feel like stopping to write a post. We were taking lots of pictures so this is mostly a photo Christmas recap. To keep it somewhat logical I decided to break it up into three parts. Today’s post is about our Christmas decor. I will write about what we ate and what we did for fun in part 2 and part 3.
In spite of broken toes and having to get back in the ortho boot, I was really looking forward to decorating the house for Christmas. I wanted some cheer and coziness. I still stayed true to my “less is more” approach and mostly decorated with what we already have. I even left quite a few decorations in their bins. It was a balance of festive and simple, and I was happy with how it turned out.
We used fresh flowers and greenery which was a simple but special touch. Even though we didn’t have a lot of “stuff” all over the house, the live decorations made the house look and feel cozy and festive. I still have some flowers, amazingly, carrying on to the new year.
We started with a live tree. We normally do a plastic one but wanted to give a real tree a try. It was beautiful and relatively easy to maintain.
Shopping for a Christmas tree in shorts and a t-shirt– welcome to Texas!
The ornaments are all the same that we’ve been using year after year. Red and gold is my favorite Christmas color combination.
We have a small plastic tree in Phoebe’s room which the kids decorate with handmade ornaments. Some of them are Brian’s from when he was a boy, and from when the older kids were little. The collection keeps growing!
On the front porch, I added a ribbon to this simple door swag to go with the Red and Gold color scheme.
The rosemary plants came with a little fake berry branch. Pretty and functional, I have been using the rosemary in cooking.
The nuts were fun to crack. Now the kids know how unshelled nuts look like! Phoebe decided hazelnuts are her favorite (mine too).
The cat is enjoying the decor, obviously.
These cookie tins remained empty and I eventually put them away. We still had plenty of sweets to eat so no regrets there. I bought the amaryllis at Walmart for a couple of dollars, watered it per package directions and waited.
It bloomed right around Christmas time, so beautiful– the flower and the girls!
Real poinsettias and pomegranates, they lasted for ever as well.
Our old countdown calendar. The girls were updating it (with a dry-erase marker) whenever they remembered. We might have been stuck on day 14 for a few days in a row.
Christmas music on the piano. Sonia and Phoebe participated in a Christmas recital at their studio, they both did great.
One of the kids’ school holiday project. I display all the good ones, and all the “not so good ones” stay in the storage bin. Are you the same way?
Added Ikea lanterns to the kitchen island.
A couple of sock snowmen keeping watch on the holiday baking. Do you see the cookie tins on the right? All our holiday cookies fit in *just* these three bins (plus buck eyes in the freezer). A world of difference from previous years when we’d have triple the amount of cookies (more on that in part 2).
The furry trees and the little gold reindeer were the only new purchase. I wanted to add something to the mantel with a “winter forest” feel to match the painting.
Just about enough space for all the stockings.
This gingerbread house has seen better days and it is heavy and bulky to store but we like it a lot.
I put a stack of kids’ holiday art in a basket by the tree. Love going through them every year.
We put all the Christmas books we own on a coffee table. Some classics, some new and silly ones. Phoebe’s reading is getting fantastic, which I couldn’t be happier about.
It was cozy and festive. The pillows and the stuffed animals are starting to show signs of love, I’ve had them for over 10 years.
My office area. I put some tree clippings on the shelf and called it done.
This is the most of it. I am glad I finally went over all the photos and put them here. It’s a challenge to come up with different ways to decorate when you use same old stuff year after year so I’ll use this a a reference next year.
Do you try new things every year or reuse the same decorations? No matter what your decorating style, I hope you had a festive and cozy Christmas with your loved ones!
We reuse the same decorations for the most part. I like to use red, green and gold and so I liked your red and gold. It looks like you had a lovely, cozy Christmas. I love all the pictures of family you have among the touches of Christmas.
Thanks, Judy! Yes red, green, and gold always feel most festive to me. And I guess we are getting attached the old decorations, there is history behind each one.