Christmas Decorations at My House 2011

There are so many holiday home tours going on right now, I felt like I should take a day to do a post with a few pictures of our Christmas tree and some of the decorations I put up this year. I hope you like lots of pictures!

This is our main family tree.

It's real, and it's fabulous. T actually picked it out at our local Lowe's, and I love how full it is. What I do not like is the fact that getting lights on it caused me to have a psychotic break with reality that will forever go down in family lore. I ended up having to decorate the tree twice because of lighting issues. Words were shrieked out that small children should never hear, and I may or may not have contemplated tossing the entire tree through the front window.

At any rate, I love the tree now. It doesn't have a special theme. Just lots of ornaments that tell our family story.

Some are beautiful beaded pieces that my dad made for my Granny:

Some are preschool creations from my kids that I treasure:

Some are ornaments from my childhood and T's, including the hideous Big Bird Head Ornament, which is the bane of my holiday existence:

And a few are just fun ornaments from travels, Hallmark or they're simply pretty:

I did my usual "Charlie Brown" tree in the kitchen, complete with cookie cutter, dough, and antique chocolate mold ornaments. I also added my Framed Glitter Christmas Tree, some antique ornaments in an old jar, and a candle with more ornaments in an apothecary jar.

Our Family room sports its usual Nutcracker collection. My mom started it for me when I got my first role in the ballet years ago. I keep the large ones on top of my armoire, and the eleventy-billion small ones are on top of a bookcase in the dining room. I change up the levels with books and a little antique trunk.

The dining room is a bit of a mess, but I attempted to throw something together on the $15 sideboard I have yet to paint. I had an idea for a neat large framed piece to go on the wall, but haven't had a chance to work on it.

I love the girlie tree in the addition...lots of pretty jewel tones and snowflakes. And colored lights on the tree. I'm usually a clear lights kinda girl, so the colored ones are really fun. The tree skirt is made up of tutus from The Dollar Tree.

So there you have it. I kept things pretty simple...I didn't put up all of the extra fake trees, some of the garland didn't make it down from the attic, and I didn't feel like messing with many of the tchotchkes and making more clutter on top of the 846 Barbies that occupy our home. My Christmas decor is completely blah compared to so many of those beautiful homes you'll find on other blogs or websites, but this is how we roll this year. I actually feel better with less stuff floating around!

There's not much different from last year's tour, but if you're new, I hope you enjoyed seeing how we celebrate Christmas around here. Grab a mocha and some cookies, and let's visit!

Linking to Thrifty Decor Chick, Nesting Place, Michaela Noelle Designs