Holiday Home Tour 2013

I know I'm running behind on this Christmas post, but that seems to be my theme for 2013-2014.  I've been a little slack lately about getting things done and getting motivated over the holidays.  Anyway, just thought I'd share our holiday house tour photos... better late than never!

It's usually a tradition for me to get started with my Christmas decorating the day after Thanksgiving.  No Black Friday shopping for this girl... I would much rather stay home and hide in my pj's.  This year, however, I was a little behind.  There was a bit of a Christmas light fiasco while I was trying to put the tree up, and long story short, after about four strands of dud lights, I almost ended up not putting a tree up at all.  I did manage to get this book tree put up the day after Thanksgiving.  This was one of my Pinterest DIY must-dos and for once I actually finished a project I pinned!

It took every book that I had in the house, but it was really easy.  Just stack the books biggest to smallest in a circular pattern until your 'tree' is the height you want it to be.  Wrap some lights around it and put a topper on of your choice (optional) and done.  I used a cardboard star box that I got at Hobby Lobby for about $3.  I thought about cutting out a design in the box lid and putting a light inside, but then I got distracted by something interesting on TV and the rest is history....

Leon was a big help in putting up the lights.  :o)

I really wanted to put up my big, fancy, pretty tree in the music room this year, but our house is just too small for a full-size tree.  Instead I put up this mini pre-lit tree that was a hand-me-down from my Grandma.  It's midsection lights had blown out so I still had to wrap some lights around it, but it ended up working out okay.  Since this room is all lime green, turquoise, and blue, I thought my usual red & green ornaments would be a little clashy in here.  I decided to use all my white, crystal, and beaded ornaments instead and it turned out all sparkly and shiny and it was just the right amount of ornaments for the size of the tree.

I also put up my Christmas village in here, complete with my favorite decorations of all time - the Clothespin People.  These have been around since before me, and I've loved these ever since I was a little girl.  My mom and my Grandma made most of them, and then I added to them growing up.  They're still my favorite to this day.  

 

All this was done, but I still wanted a tree in my living room.  We have to keep the music room closed off most of the time because of a couple mischievous cats, so I wasn't able to see my Christmas decorations in here too much.  The big window is in here though, so I like to have a tree in front of that, and our living room set up is pretty full, with not much room for a tree.

I decided to get a tall, skinny tree that I could fit in the corner of the living room to make it a little more festive in there.  I got this 5' Alpine pre-lit tree at Hobby Lobby.   I think it tucked away quite nicely in there and didn't take up too much space. (Please excuse the eerie blue glow coming from the TV, I forgot to turn it off before snapping this pic.)  And it turned out to be just the right size for all my favorite traditional red & green ornaments.
 

 

Turned out pretty festive after all.  Daniel says I do way too much decorating since it's just the 2 of us and we don't really have anyone over, but hey, I like looking at it even if no one else gets to see it!

 

Since I have about a gazillion jars lying around the house, I decided to take another idea from Pinterest and make some of these village-in-a-jar things.  I had a blast doing these and ended up with a ton of them scattered all over the house.  I used cheap laundry detergent as my fake snow and got some little pipe-cleaner trees along with some extra greenery I had lying around to use for my evergreens, and then just used some old ornaments that came in an advent calendar for my miniature scenes.

 

   

I also made this Christmas card 'tree' on the side of the refrigerator.  In the beginning, I got mad at my luck with Christmas lights and said, "I'm not even going to do a tree this year!" and then in the end I think I ended up with at least a little tree in every room of the house.  What can I say?  I'm a sucker for Christmas decorations.

   

And then, just for cuteness sake, I have to throw in some pics of my Christmas kitties.  :o)

 

All this Christmas decorating wore them out!

Well, I hope you enjoyed my Christmas Home Tour, 2013.  Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!