My House is Christmasy

Here is what I managed to throw together for Christmas decor this year.  Yeah, it looks almost exactly like last year.  Sue me for not being that creative or making any crafts.  

I put one of our old window sashes on the piano for a makeshift xmas card and stocking holder.  I think I may keep it there after the holidays, too.  It's slightly crazy.  It looks much better in person. 

I love how the candle lights up this silvery tree.  I like to stare at it during stupid tv commercials.  When I'm not blogging, of course.   

Our tree is pre-lit, and one strand of lights blinks on and off.  It is maddening.  It's actually a problem with a bulb socket, I may do a post later on about the trials and tribulations of trying to fix it.  But don't hold your breath. 

And here is how it looks while the strand is out.  I'm sure you are fascinated. 

I need to give a close-up to the ridiculous Pier 1 pickle that I won from the lovely Lindsay.  It really is a scream!  Too bad my red hoodie got reflected in the ornament....

I went a little 'crazy' and added some teal ribbon to the banister this year.  And snowflakes.  I'm such a Christmas ninja.

NINJA SNOWFLAKES.

Now all we need is some Baileys and movies on demand.  Who's with me??

**I just realized the only part of the living room that didn't get 'Christmased' is our fireplace mantle.  Yeah, I'm totally backwards.**

It has begun

Christmas mania, that is.  Otherwise known as the time of year I get ulcers from worring about living up to my reputation as a 'GOOD GIFT GIVER'.  The 'GOOD GIFT GIVER' status is a very hard thing to maintain.  Sometimes I think I overshot it in the beginning, and now I have nowhere to go but down.  Also, Shaun has this annoying habit of only buying things for himself at Christmas time buying whatever I got him for a gift before I can give it to him.  Annoying, right?  Maybe this post will be a subtle hint to knock.it.off.  Ahem. 

So, this is the first year that we were really gung-ho about getting Christmas decor up in the house.  Maybe we were both trying to distract ourselves from our recent super-big purchase of a Tempur-pedic mattress (to the tune of 3 THOUSAND bucks - hello, ulcer!).  In about one hour flat we had our pre-lit tree up and decorated with aqua, red, and brown ornaments I scored at Hobby Lobby for a few bucks a package.  Seriously, is there anything better than Hobby Lobby's 50% off sales?  No, there isn't.  Throw in the fact that my mom scored us our $300 tree for around $40 from JCPenney's clearance sale last January, and this is going to be a pretty frugal xmas decorating extravaganza.  Here are the highlights:

Behold the beauty of our tree.  Please.  I must toot my own horn on this one, I did good.  It also looks amazing from the outside, I'm so happy with how it turned out.  I was lucky enough to find that ivory polka-dotted tree skirt at TJ Maxx for $25.  I really hate cheesy tree skirts, this one is cheese-free, froufrou-free, and perfect. 

I feel guilty that the only action this piano gets is being used as a surface for decor...I really need to get it tuned.  Is that pic too dark to see?  Here, let me turn the light on to better appreciate the 'hurricane of doodads':

I know I said I don't like this kind of stuff, but I guess I make an exception for Christmas time.  Sue me.  With that in mind, please say hello to the prettiest little sparkly trees I've ever seen:

It's like they were made for my front hall, at least that is what I tell myself.  I also have more sparkly ridiculousness on our mantle, but Shaun wants me to wait on taking a picture until we get stockings (yeah, I'm shocked he even cares)...so it must be a serious relationship if we are getting stockings together, right?  Not serious because we're engaged, but because he wants stockings.  Yeeeeaaaaaah.   

Thankful

That my wonderful moms (mine and Shaun's) brought ALL the food to my house for Thanksgiving this year. 
That my mom also brought her famous Sangria and the red napkins on our table because I forgot where the rest of my brown ones were.  (We found them later)  
That the Packers won again!
That I don't have to go back to work for three whole days!
That my pajamas have an elastic waist.
That all sorts of cute holiday movies are on tv in rotation.  Elf!  Home Alone!
That me and Shaun are happy and healthy.
That I have such a great family.

And here is my table, plain and simple as predicted in my previous post: 

It was loaded with goodies, and we had such a nice time.  I hope you all had a wonderful day, and Happy Black Friday shopping to everyone!

'No pine cone' zone

When it comes to holiday decor, I suck.  Everyone out on the home/decor blogs is doing all these glittery, bling-bling, leafy, pine-coney decor posts, and I just can't get into it.  I really don't like clutter or 'tablescapes' because I'm a practical girl.  I get annoyed when I can't fit platters of food or see my guests across the table because I've got bowls of pine cones, tree branches, or gigantic glass hurricanes filled with doodads in the way.  Or when I have to take a swiffer to these things when they aren't on the table.  Don't get me wrong, these things can be really beautiful.  I just don't like spending time on beautifulness that isn't also functional and useful.  I think that is why I (and the man, actually) have a crazy obsession with candles and buy them by the truckload.  I also have a major aversion to fake greenery, leaves, potpourri, vines, etc.....see the 'swiffer' comment above. 
We are hosting Thanksgiving again this year, and again my table will look a lot like this:

Check out the old chandy, molding on the walls incomplete, china cabinet doors MIA, no rug, etc.  I guess my dining room has come a long way since then!  This table setting may seem boring, but at Thanksgiving I don't really need anything more than plates, napkins and a little candlelight.  Oh, and silverware.  And the food!  And some wine.  And ice cream.  And pumpkin pie.  Preferably those last two will come together.  Yummm

Last minute scary

This is what last minute looks like:

I got inspired by Mrs. Limestone and decided the day before Halloween to put a little spook on our front porch for the trick-or-treaters.  I could never go all out like she did, but this is not bad for a $2 bag of spider webs, two $5 skulls, a red light bulb and 20 minutes.  It looks really cool at night!

I could've done a better job with the webs, but I got impatient.  Hope you are all having a great Halloween!