It’s beginning to look a little more like Christmas…

So I’ve spent the majority of the past few days FINALLY getting all the fall decorations put away and the Christmas ones set up.

I did the mantle yesterday…

I usually do a lit garland on the mantle, but decided to put my Willow Tree nativity up there instead this year. Mainly to keep it out of Hadley’s reach…

…But also because I love it :) My Dad and stepmom give me a new piece every year for my birthday.

I’ve had the supplies to do this PB-knockoff moss monogram for months now. All the decorating motivated me to finally get it done. (Moss sheets hot glued to letter - both from Joann’s. Burlap ribbon from Michael’s.) James was gone, so it was only by the grace of God I was able to get the mirror down, hang the monogram, and put it all back without killing myself.

I adore Knox’s first picture with Santa! I hope we get one just as good with both kids this year.

I got our stockings on Clearance last year. I love them but I’m so irritated they botched the monogram on Hadley’s. I dropped the ball on returning it so I guess I‘ll just have to deal with it for a few years.

                  

Today was cold and dreary. Perfect opportunity to stay at home in jammies and finish decorating our tree. The one we put up before Thanksgiving…

I’m very methodical about how I decorate my tree… I separate and crinkle the branches, do the mesh ribbon, hang the star, and then the ornaments. We have a giant box of what I like to call “filler ornaments” that we got at Sam’s. They are in the red/green whimsical theme of the tree. I hang the big filler ornaments first (wrapping the hooks around the branches), then do our family ornaments, then fill in any holes with the smaller filler ornaments. So yeah… It takes me a while.

I usually decorate the tree by myself because I know how I like things. But Knox was so excited about it this year I didn’t have the heart to tell him he couldn’t help…

It may have taken me twice as long, and I may or may not have spent nap time rearranging ornaments… But this proud little face makes it all worth it! And truth be told, I even enjoyed it. He is at such a fun age right now. He’s really grasping things so everything is new and exciting.

This little helper, however, remained pent up… It only took her an hour to break her first ornament. Thankfully the majority are shatterproof!

I actually limited the amount of decorations I got out this year. Mainly because of Hadley currently being a mess ;) The mantle and tree are our main focus, but here’s a peek at a few more things…

Most of my knick knacks I put on these ladder shelves. There’s no rhyme or reason to them, and I know they don’t all “go”… But whatever! I put the kids nativity there so Knox could play with it, but for the most part it’s out of Hadley’s sight/reach.

A few others went in the kitchen…

I got the idea for this “ornament tree” the other day from Pinterest… I had a cupcake stand and I had plenty of ornaments to spare. Great idea!

I keep this centerpiece on the kitchen table. I filled the bowl with spiced pinecones, and I’m going tomorrow to pick up a red candle. The green one just isn’t cutting it.

We got our first Christmas card today! I use those and the kids’ artwork from school to decorate our cabinets.

The advent calendar hangs on our pantry door.

I wasn’t sure where to put this nutcracker… So he now guards our coffee ;)

This little reindeer sits on our stairs.

Hadley was hysterical when she first saw this Santa. I guess because it’s almost as tall as she is, she just gave it a frozen stare-down for a solid minute until she could figure out what it was…

She now knows he is “Santa” and he says “Ho-Ho-Ho!” I need to get her on video doing that. SO cute!

I also got my front door decorated yesterday. I picked up some more mesh ribbon (Sam’s) so I thought I may try my hand at a deco mesh wreath…

I was wanting to add something more to it - ribbon, ornaments, floral sprays… - but I felt like everything I tried only made it look worse. So I just came to terms with the fact that I have no affinity for floral arrangement and hung it anyway…

I doesn’t look too bad once it’s hung. Kind of gives me the itch to paint the door black though… :)

That is pretty much it for this year. James is in trial this month so it looks like were foregoing the outdoor lights. Kind of sad because Knox would have loved it…

We’ll have to go all out for him next year :)

*Linking this post up with Kelly’s Korner Christmas Tour of Homes!