Xmas Tour with Pics

Welcome to my house!! Pictured above is our front porch....a very small front porch; more like a stoop! I twist artificial evergreens around the post with clear lights and hang a flag from the flagpole. This "Joy" one stays up until Christmas week when I replace it with one that displays the 3 Wisemen and says "Wise Men Still Seek Him". On Christmas Eve, I replace that one with one that depicts the Nativity. I LOVE decorative flags!! I sometimes have various mini ones in my flower gardens as well.

This wreath on the front door (which we rarely use, as everyone who knows us well, knows we go through the garage to the side kitchen door where there is yet another wreath!) was made by a local Boy Scout troop. So...thank you to a church family (thanks, Benita and son!) for telling us about these fresh pine wreaths at such a reasonable price!! (her son helped make the wreaths!)

This grouping of fabric trees is one of my favorites! I bought them from a little country store.....I like to display them here on a stand in my family room, all winter long. Everyone knows how much I love evergreen trees....from pine to scotch pine to balsam!!

Here are the stockings hung from our staircase since we don't have a fireplace!
From left to right: Claire's, Courtney's (handmade by Grammy T who made each one with a theme!), Faith, Dave (we decorated ours when we were first engaged..you can't see it but we glued and sparkled our names at the top and Dave's also says "Joyeux Noel" since I am French and like to write things in that language!)

This beautiful collection of boxes are ones that I won at Dave's company Christmas party last week. They are filled with goodies from Harry and David Company!! All kinds of chocolate! I think they look delightful on the piano top! I also currently have them as my FB profile pic!

Isn't this decorative pillow just darling? I saw a similar one for ALOT of money in a very upscale store.....but....didn't want to pay $60 for a pillow!! So....I happened to be in Target last week and here it was for only $11.99!!!! This will live on our living room couch all winter!

I made this centerpiece this week for our dining room table. It looks like a huge glass container but is actually a plastic one that I keep full of sea glass from Buzzards Bay. For this Christmas season I added the Cinnamon Stick candle....it is so pretty at dinner time with the light sparkling off the sea glass. And if wax drips down, no big deal...I'll simply replace the sea glass with fresh pieces the next time we are at the beach house! :)

This little wooden tree is one I have had for many years. I bought it at a Vermont country store and I call it our "angel tree". Only various angel ornaments go on this tree in the corner of our dining room. The bottom angel with the teal color was handmade by my mother-in-law. The angels with the horns were given to me by a young girl who used to babysit for us when my oldest daughter was a toddler.

ARGH....this pic was cut off! Well, the same girl who gave me the angels has a mom who used to be close friends with us (they have since moved and we lost touch)....knowing that I was really into my career as a special ed prek teacher, she bought me Christmas blocks that spell out the phrase "Merry Christmas". This is also one of my fave pieces!! Underneath the shelf, I like to hang this simple country style wreath with real jingle bells!!

This is near our light switch to the dining room.....I like the phrase "Peace on Earth"...again, a simple decoration with a bit of whimsy!

This year I did something new in the kitchen. I took my metal cookie cutters and taped gold ribbon to them (I have 6 but am only showing 2 here) and hung them from the overhang above our kitchen sink and next to the window.

This little wall quilt was one I bought at another country store. It hangs in our front entryway. Again, I tend to keep this up until about March.

This hangs near our kitchen door next to the coat closet. This is absolutely one of my fave pieces. My dear friend of many years gave this to me as a birthday gift a few years back......each year I tend to find a new place to hang it. I like that the snowmen can stay up until March. (thank you, Erin!!)

This little decorative pillow is one that sits on the back of our loveseat in the family room. Simple but cute...stays up all winter long!

A Shaker Shelf that I decorate according to seasons. Shelf this month holds an Christmas Pine scented candle, the word "JOY" with each letter depicting Joseph, Baby Jesus, Mary. and a ceramic pitcher of evergreens and white berries. The cream star hanging also has a little plaid bow with cranberries. The other 2 items stay up all year round. The pot holder is one I purchased in Lancastor County at the Amish Farm and Homestead Museum!

This is my centerpiece for coffee table in family room. This is a courting candle in a cream holder with greens and cranberries. The plaid cloth is one I picked up at a local discount store for only $2.00!!

The top of our garbage bin: a pine scented candle in tin holder and a bowl of pinecones from the Adirondack mountains with cranberries tossed in.

Another country store purchase that hangs between our sliding glass doors in family room.


Thanks for taking the tour!!

Do YOU have a favorite room or decoration you like at Christmas time?? Feel free to share!!