I love this time of year! This winter is shaping up to be my busiest yet in terms of work, but even with long hours and a house in total chaos, we've found time to start decorating for Christmas.
I'll admit that our renovations had me licking my wounds a bit. There was even a part of me that thought we might be better off skipping the holiday decorations until next year when the house is in better shape. Luckily, Corey insisted and it turned out that a little holiday decorating is exactly what we needed!
So, I'll show you the pictures, if you'll promise to excuse the unpainted walls and messy, unfinished rooms in the background.
First, we decided that the vintage candy dishes and apothecary jars we've been hoarding for the wedding will serve as fun accessories to bust out every Christmas. Also, this way we don't feel guilty for not putting them away. They look festive filled with scented pine cones.
They may look even better when filled with chocolate!
Our outdoor lights are up and we decorated a wreath. I'll post about our outdoor decorations later but the neighbours all think we're total keeners! ...Little do they know how many years we've been waiting for this little house!
The tree us up! We found an inexpensive artificial black tree but we may have a real tree in the future. Corey and I always find agreeing on holiday colour schemes to be a challenge. He likes plenty of colours (especially traditional red and green) while I would be happier with a monochromatic theme. We always end up compromising.
If you ignore the hideous room in the background, it's not a bad tree.
I bought some black sparkley fabric to serve as a tree skirt. The gifts also make it look more festive.
Corey and I are actually quite modest when it comes to gifts. We like to wrap things nicely, but for the most part, our gifts to each other are things we actually need like thermal socks and a new cutting board. Over the past few months, when we've purchased something we needed, we've often decided to wait and wrap it for under the tree. This way, it feels like we have tons for presents but we know we haven't gone nuts.
Our pièce de résistance is that box with the blue bow. It was too big to wrap but it's something for the house (the family room, in fact) and we're very excited to open it.
Have you started your holiday shopping yet? Personally, malls sort of freak me out at this time of year. I always find that the music and hustle and bustle feels festive for about ten minutes... then I just feel overwhelmed and I want to be curled up at home reading a book. It makes me want to do all my holiday shopping online.
Are you ever surprised by some of the crazy products out there? While shopping for gifts, we came across this sexist gem below.
Now, I have nothing against girls learning to clean, but I should point out, that this was in the girls section, with no male alternative toy. The gender stereotyping felt a little gross. Also, when Corey and I have kids one day, if they want to clean, they can pick up a real broom and dustpan. There's plenty of real dog hair and dust for them to sweep up at our house... No imagination required!
