O' Christmas Trees

 I wanted to join the fun party with Sarah at the Thrifty Decor Chick and share my Christmas trees with you!  I have a few and hope to add more next year!!  

First up is the tree in our living room.  It is filled with handblown glass ornaments from Poland and Germany, glass birds, and ornaments collected on our travels.  I have also hung some that Jemma has made!  We bought this pre lit 8 years ago and this year I had two big chunks of lights missing so I had to string lights.  Grrrrrrrr....  Jemma wanted the garland to go around, so around it went!  She helped decorate this year all on her own and I didn't even change or move many ornaments!  She had such a good time and it was a dream come true for me to have my child decorating the tree with me!  I just love it all decked out!

Here it is in all it's glory!  Ahhhhhhh... I love it at night!

Look at the little starburst from the lights.  I think those show up because I used a tripod with a slow shutter speed.  Neat!!!

My helper

During the day

I was laying on the floor by the tripod in a half crunch to get this shot, but oh, how I love it!

A few of my favorites...

The knight and his trusty horse

             

This Santa is my absolute favorite

Jemma loves all the birds and they mysteriously keep disappearing and reappearing on her tree!

Mr. and Mrs. German Santa

    

 This is one of Jemma's favorites this year as she loves the movie!

You always need a chimney sweep for good luck!

Another favorite of Jemma's especially since we are going to Disney next week for 

one Princess's 5 year old birthday!!!

Another night time shot

 

This is the purple tree in the office.  In my last house, we had a deep purple dining room and this tree went in there.  Now it resides in the bay window of the office.  Jemma helped decorate this one too!

This tree is filled with purple poinsettias, snowflakes, and icicles

 I have always had a fascination with British royalty.  I love all things royal and the story of Henry VIII is a fascinating tale of greed and selfishness.  The six wives of Henry each had their own story unfold and each played a vital role in the court.  I just love it!  Every time I visit London, they have Henry and his wives felt ornaments.  I always wanted them, but never bought them until my last visit.  I bought all of them plus Queen Elizabeth!  I put them all on a small tree in our room!  So fun!!

Queen Elizabeth

 Jemma's tree is an eclectic mix of ornaments that we buy for her every year, ones that she has made and ones that she has "borrowed" from the big tree!  Her room is a minty green.  I was taking these pictures quickly so they aren't true to color!  She also adds a piece to her advent scene every night.  She loves to add each piece where it goes!

I have garland around her canopy top.  She added the ornaments this year!  The picture of her sleeping was last year on Christmas Eve!

The tree in our foyer

Every year I take a silhouette of Jemma in the tree.  I just love them. 

This is what Christmas is all about.

My Christmas Kitchen

Today, I would like to show you my kitchen all gussied up for Christmas!  I keep it pretty simple as I like to have the counters clean and ready to roll out cookie dough for treats for Santa!

Santa watches while I wash dishes!  

I receive the Southern Living Christmas books every year and start pouring through them in October for new ideas.  A few years ago, I was inspired to make these frames.  I used letters from the computer, wrapping paper and $5 frames from Walmart.  I love them!

Someone in my family always gets me a Santa!  I love this cookie jar and the plate for Santa's cookies was from a student in my class.

These cute stocking tags were $1 at Walmart!  I used them for a little bling on the garland!

All the reindeer pull his sleigh...  

The green candle was made by a man in the area.  This is the Christmas tree scent. It makes my whole house smell.  They are the best candles in the world!

My kitchen table is set very simply.  We start using the Santa plates the day after Christmas. 

 They are so fun!  

The centerpiece is my advent wreath from Germany.  We light a candle every Sunday night for Advent. I bought this in the town of Seiffen, Germany were most traditional wood German things are made like nutcrackers and pyramids.  It is a Christmas wonderland town!  This church depicted on my wreath is based off an actual church in Seiffen.  It is the only octagonal church in Europe and every Christmas eve, the carolers leave the church and sing around the village.  The lead boy carries the star.  This is a  very special piece to me.

Santa's train sits on my half wall between the kitchen and the living room.  I am all about the fake snow this year for some reason!

A view from the kitchen into the family room.  I will show it tomorrow!

I am linking up with Vanessa at Southern in my Heart for her Inspiration Friday party!  Come on over and take a look!

Here it is in all it's "going to probably break" glory

Well, here it is.  It is pretty and I think it really looks like PB, but I shattered three ornaments while hanging it!  Aaaarrrggghhhhhh!!!!!! I wired all the ornaments to the garland so they are secure that way.  They are popping off at the cap where the little wire hook is.   I don't know if I should take the whole thing down and take them all apart or hot glue the dickens out each one to it's base.  Oh ladies... I could just cry!!!!  It is pretty though!!! What do you think I should do?

                               Pottery Barn                                                 Kathryn's Barn
  

Oh, here is a little shard of glass that I found AFTER I had vacuumed everything up!  Uggghhhh!!!!!

Should I take it apart or whip out the hot glue????  What would you do????

I am linking up with Kim at Savvy Southern Style for her Before and After Party!

Also linking up to Stories of A 2 Z with Beth for her Front Porch Party!

My PB inspired garland!

Everyone has seen this sweet home in the Pottery Barn catalogue!  It is shaped like my front porch and last year, I thought I could do this myself.  Time got away from me, but after seeing Susan do it at BNOTP, I knew I was going to do it this year!

18 feet done... 16 more to go!!!

What I didn't realize is that the majority of my ornaments are glass.  Can you say I am kicking myself in the tail right now.  Well... all I can say is... GOOD LUCK TO ME!   I am not doing it over! 

 We will see how it holds up!!!

Stay tuned!!!! 

My Mantle... Finally!!!

I finally got it where I like it!!!  I am joining Layla at her Mantle Party at The Lettered Cottage.  I was very unhappy with my mantle last year and knew I wanted to change it up.  I collect the Southern Living Christmas books every year and pour through them beginning in November.  I am always drawn to the mantles with heaps and heaps of lush greenery so I tried to incorporate that on mine.  I also went through just about every mantle on Layla's blog and was so inspired!  I especially love Richella's at Imparting Grace.  So I went about and gathered what I thought I might need.  I used a lit garland as a base.  Then I used some fresh pine garland to line the front.  I added the candlesticks, hurricanes (which I totally stole from Bonnie at Creative Decorating on a Budget)! and our stockings.  I also went into the backyard and cut pine sprigs to tuck in to give it some more fullness.  I have discovered that my mantle is too darn narrow!  I have a project in mind for the hubby to help me out with that!  I really am enjoying my mantle this year!  I hope you like it too!

I bought the candlesticks from Costco last year after Christmas. I got three of them for $8!

I think I am going to add some fresh pine above the picture!  I also have my eye on some big red flameless pillar candles at Big Lots!

These are the hurricanes I made with help from Bonnie!  I bought two vases and two candlesticks from the Dollar Tree.  I also bought 3 boxes of ornaments.  Total cost for these babies...$7!!

A view from my foyer

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!!