Like I said yesterday, our home FINALLY looks like Christmas! Growing up we never put up decorations until mid-December because my brother's birthday is on December 13 and Mom always made a point to separate the two. I was not a huge fan of it when I was a kid, but I understand her reasoning now. However, as an adult I have put up decorations shortly after Thanksgiving every year. Sorry bud. Part of the reason I do it early is with my basketball schedule I never know when I will get a free weekend. This past weekend with Eric hunting turned out to be the perfect opportunity! I will sit back and let the pictures do the talking.....
This is my new centerpiece. I got the idea from this
pinterest pin I saw a few weeks ago. Giant jingle bells, weird giant crystals (not sure where I got them), wine glasses, mirror plate (leftover from our wedding), and silver bead garland....BOOM. I am in love with it!
You got a sneak peek of the tree yesterday. As pretty as themed trees are, they are just not my style. I am a one tree decorated with ornaments that mean something to me kinda girl. I can pretty much tell you where all of the ornaments came from, including the red and silver balls I use as "filler" ornaments. They were the first ornaments I purchased when I was in college when my roommates and I had a Lady Hawk tree in our apartment. =) In 2009 we started a dated ornament collection since that was the first Christmas we were engaged. Every year we've purchased and ornament on whatever vacation we go on. 2009: That was the year he was in Kuwait so we didn't exactly have a trip, but how cute are those reindeer?! 2010: Starfish sunbather from Jamaica that we got on our Honeymoon. 2011: Lobster from our trip to Maine. 2012: Ceramic bear from our trip to New Mexico. 2013: ??? I have not purchased one yet for this year. I am planning on picking one up in Memphis when were there over the holidays since we've gone several times this year. Some of my other favorites are the wedding cake bell ornament my parents gave us and the invitation ball I made a couple of years ago our of one of our extra invitations and leftover ribbons from our wedding (
tutorial here).
The mantle is one of my favorites. Stockings have always been one of my most favorite parts of Christmas. They were the first thing we saw on Christmas morning and always the first thing we went through since the contents was not wrapped and were usually overflowing! Over the years I've lost mantle space to the tv being hung, and then more space this year from putting up a larger tv, but I made it work. So far Eric hasn't complained about the 2 snowman nutcracker heads covering part of the bottom of the tv. There's plenty of screen to look at so I don't think he'll miss that little bit covered up. =)
If you haven't noticed by now, I have a slightly large collection of nutcrackers. As a little girl I was OBSESSED with the Nutcracker Ballet. I had and still have a VHS video of the Bolshoi Ballet performing The Nutcracker and watched it at least once a year (probably more). My grandparents had a nutcracker (the 4th one from the left on the step of the mantle above-he's dressed in a blue coat) at their house and I would dance around with him and pretend I was Clara and that he was my prince. One year I got to take him home with me and he, along with the music box nutcracker standing on the green cart on the top shelf of the bookcase above, started my collection. I've received one for Christmas every year. I haven't counted them in a while but I probably have close to 50. There are 28 in the pictures above, but I also have several nutcracker ornaments as well as nutcracker place card holders, so yeah I might be considered a nutcracker hoarder.
So that's what Christmas looks like at our house. I have a few wreaths up and I hope that once Eric gets the outdoor decorations up I will be able to show them to you. Our outdoor decor is a work in progress that we add to every year. Hopefully one of these years we'll have it down.
So bring it on Christmas, the Cagles are ready for you!
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