Christmas Is Almost Here... Are You Ready?

For me, the holiday season has already been full of parties and good cheer, decorating, and making Christmas gifts for friends and family. We threw away our old fake tree at the end of the last Christmas season because I was tired of trying to make all the lights work at once. Not that much to ask for, is it? Silly me. So, we ordered a new tree from an online outfit that is well known. Ten days later the tree arrived with the box seemingly intact and we I trusted that the tree was fine as well. I will admit that Mr. Snooty asked me if I'd checked the lights and I simply pooh-poohed him. The tree was brand new and retail price.

Fast forward a few weeks and I finally had Mr. Snooty bring in the tree for assembly time. Once the three pieces were out of the box and on the floor I realized that the last time we'd bought a tree was the DISPLAY tree at Lowe's, which was already assembled AND fluffed. Uh-Oh. Okay, so fine, it will be some work but it'll be fine.

Many hours and scratches to my arms & hands later, it seemed I'd barely made a dent. Only then did I deem it necessary to watch the instructional video. Yup. That's right. Another *faux pas* by Moi. So, I plodded on along and did the best I could, promising myself to do it right next year. (Uh-Huh. Like next year I'll be younger.) But, I'm actually pleased with the outcome.

Then came time to turn on the lights. All lights were working except one small section of the middle part. Swell.

I ended up taking it apart and fluffing from the bottom section up. It really does make sense to watch the tree tutorial. Who knew? After that process, this was my final product. Not bad, really.

I had to make a decision to either get the tree decorated or send it back while waiting another 10 days to receive a new tree. I opted to keep and decorate the tree so we could enjoy it for the holidays, and I added an additional strand of 100 lights to that section. The cycle of adding lights begins again. I must be crazy or old. Oh wait. I'm old.

Anyway, I've been trying to gather the energy to put up the outside garland/lights. So far, I have the front porch done, so enjoy. This might be all you get.

Last picture is of what little I've done on the outside. Maybe I'll put up the dining room and living room lighted garlands outside and maybe I won't, but it will still be festive. And at least I finished the front porch and the tree, if not much else.

Merry Christmas and Cheers to All! Here's our Christmas picture from 2013. Might as well add it, right?

Stick A Fork In Me... I Think I'm Done!

I could be delusional but I do believe I'm at last finished with my Christmas decorating... and I did a LOT of decorating this year. Well, I did a lot of decorating for me, who seldom changes her methodology. This year I've been inspired by all the amazing and wonderful decorating blogs that I am, without doubt, becoming obsessed with of late. Sadly, my replicas of the the projects I see on these blogs always seem to fall short, with an occasional perfect outcome. That's always a nice surprise, right?


 



For several projects I had to actually pull out the *retired ornaments* trunk and made good use of many of those items. See? I knew I shouldn't throw all that away yet. You just never know, right? Okay, maybe that's just me.

Why is it that every year I can't remember what decorations I did the year before? I think it must be God's way of making sure we *change things up* every year. And actually, this is the first year I realized that Christmas is my most favorite holiday of the year. Yes, I'm slow like that. But, I adore Christmas and love decorating for it and every time the hubby says "Oh, let's don't do it this year", I want to strangle him! What does he mean by *let's*? I always do it all anyway. At any rate, I'm so thankful that I took digital pics of everything the last few years, which means I have a visual memory book. Score! I just wish I'd taken pics of how I rigged all the outdoor lights but you can bet that I took them this year. Instant memory, thank you!


 




I made an *antique looking* cake stand by hot gluing an antique transferware plate onto an old Teleflora glass candlestick. Then, I filled the plate with strands of gold bead garland and added a few bulbs from the Dollar Store. It makes a very elegant display, don't you think?

In the middle of the same parsons table I used a wreath that my family complained about when it was on the door. So, I don't expect any complaints about my use of it here. I also added hunter green candles in brass candlesticks to the center of said wreath, for dimension. 




Next, I gathered all of my glass candlesticks as well as a few sterling candlesticks and grouped them by different heights, adding glass ornaments to them. I really do like the way they look. Oh, and I'd also made a sheet music miniature Christmas tree that I added to the bulbs.


 

The tree is mostly decorated but I have yet to add the gazillion chandelier crystals, which I'm strongly considering passing up this year. I finished the outdoor decorations last week, with the new addition of a pair of 4' pre-lit trees that I hot-glued ornaments to (the wind blows hard here in West Texas), which took a major amount of patience to do.

So, it's really quite amazing that I even stuck with the whole decorating thing, but I did and now I'm more than pleased. Christmas just isn't the same for me if I don't have all my favorite things around, not to mention the new things that make me smile. I do try to buy several new items every year (so I can retire the old, tired pieces slowly), which are always a surprise to find.



How is your holiday decorating going this year?


Stay tuned for my handmade patchwork quilt ornaments that I've fallen in love with as well as my holiday table setting and my new porch Christmas trees....