It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I love this time of year! Family, the big dinner, eating anything and everything that makes you feel good, oooh eggnog!!!, seeing the faces of family as they open their gifts that Santa brought..........but one other things stands out to me as well. Decorating for Christmas!

The tradition starts off with my daughter and I assembling the tree. Yes, we have a fake tree every year. I don't think that I've ever had a real tree. And while a lot of people prefer them and can't imagine Christmas without them, it's just not what I was raised with. And let's be totally honest....

I'm way too OCD about our tree to not have the ability to mold the limbs in just the right way!! Yes it does mean fluffing, fluffing, fluffing...but it's all worth it when you can move the pieces around to hold that special ornament in just the right way.

Once we get the tree up and fluffed to perfection...it's my husband's job to string up the lights. Just as he has no patience to assemble and fluff...I have NO patience whatsoever to put on the lights.

And once he gets the lights just so, my daughter and I jump in and decorate with all the ornaments that we've collected over time. Although most of them are store bought simple colorful balls, we do have a select few that have special meaning. And to me, that makes them stand out even more. But the best part of the whole tradition, is to complete a task with my daughter year after year that she loves. I love seeing the plastered smile on her face the whole time we work together. This year I got a little choked up and had to pause for a second just to give her a great big hug. I stopped to let her know how much I enjoy decorating the tree with her every year, as well as making sure to let her know that I know she will have her own wonderfully decorate tree of her own someday.

Some people may not share this tradition with their children, and that is completely fine. But for me, as long as she's in my house, she will always decorate the tree with me. And as long as that happens, I will love it forever.



A friend once told me that this blanket reminded her
of Freddy Kruger.
I can't help but to think of that every time I take it
out of storage. But it's one of my favorite things to
see in the house around Christmas.
Plus it's oh so soft and comfy!



This wreath was a happy accident.
I had a plain greenery wreath, box of candy canes,
leftover ribbon, and poinsettia flowers leftover
from years' past decorations. Combined together
they became a fun, whimsical holiday wreath.



Here is another self-made wreath. It's simply a wreath form from Dollar Tree,
 2 packages of red garland (50 feet each), newspaper, tape, and ribbon to hang on.
a $4 price tag...sweet!!

Second only to the tree, the bow above our tv is one of
my favorite parts of all the decorations. The fabric covered
canvases are everyday decor, but needed a little "Tjuzs"
as Carson Kressley would say. Using a thumbtack, I pinned
the ribbon directly to the canvas. LOVE!!!!!!!!!



Not sure if you noticed, but I did not include a picture of the tree I was gushing over at the beginning of the post. You know that OCD I mentioned....well it applies to pictures of it as well. I took all the above pictures during the day today, but really want to wait til it's dark enough to use only the lights on the tree as light for the picture. It seems to make the tree look more magical and pretty. So that'll be a post for another day.

How WILL you stand the wait? ;)