Deck the Halls...

....with boughs of holly.....Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la!  We have been "officially" on vacation for 4 days now.....and I'm LOVING it (except for the 4 1/2 hour car repair escapade yesterday).  I'm starting to finally feel like my house and mind are ready for Christmas.  There are still so many things left to do before my parents come fly in on Saturday morning, but I feel confident that it can be done!

I thought I would share some of my Christmas decorating....some of it is made (with ideas stolen from other blogs or from ideas I found in magazines) and others are traditional store-bought festiveness (we can't do it all, now, can we??).  :-)

First up....the tree.  The tree has been an adventure this year.  Since we travel every other year, we decided a couple of years ago to go ahead and purchase a pre-lit tree.  Good idea, considering you have to find someone to make sure your tree is watered while you're gone.  It's also a good idea when 2 out of the 4 people in your house are allergic (and I mean REALLY allergic) to the pine trees.  Good thing we live in the Pacific Northwest, huh??  Well...when you buy these prelit tree, no one tells you that the lights can go out and it's virtually IMPOSSIBLE to find replacement bulbs.  Needless to say, our tree came out of the box this year with 1/4 of the lights out.  :-(    Other than the lights mishap, I LOVE our tree....each ornament has a meaning...I love taking out our ornaments each year...it brings back so many memories of how we got the ornaments (I especially LOVE looking at the ones the boys have made throughout their elementary school years). 
 

This next picture is of my new-ish piano.  Joshua has been taking piano lessons for a couple of years now and has been practicing on my old Casio keyboard that I got when I was in junior high.  So this summer, we buckled down and purchased a 1920s upright grande.  LOVE IT!  It's sound is phenomenal....not to mention the color is fabulous.  I've had so much fun getting back on the piano myself and playing again.  It's also fun to decorate....

The next picture is a close-up of a few items on top of the piano.  The Santa and his elves are creations by my dad.  He's an incredibly gifted artist / retired art teacher. 

Next up are the mini Santas my dad made for me.  In the background is a Pinterest-find.  I love the Christmas Bible passage on this picture.  You can find it on my Christmas board on Pinterest.

 

The next pictures are of my fireplace / mantle / banner.  I made the banner using my Cricut.  For the circles I used the Birthday Bash cartridge.  I cut the banner pieces at 4".  I used the Alphalicious cartridge for the letters...also cut at 4".  For the reindeer, I used the Create-a-Critter cartridge.  I cut the reindeer at 8".  I added red stickles to his nose and a red sparkle to his collar.  

 

The next picture is a project I found on Pinterest, as well.  I just loved it and knew I wanted to make one...I ended up making 5.  :-)  I found the 8x8 shadowboxes and vinyl saying at Ben Franklin craft store.  All I had to do was add the vinyl to the front of the glass, find some Christmas paper I liked, which for this one was some red music paper I had on hand, and add some jingle bells.  I love how it turned out!

This last picture is a Christmas tree made out of spools.  I actually saw this idea at Ben Franklin.  All I needed were some wooden spools, wooden stars, a little brown embroidery floss, strips of Christmas paper, and a little hot glue.

 

Well....I think that is all for today.  I'm hoping to get some more baking done tonight and post a few more things tomorrow.  Fingers crossed!  I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!