Wednesday, December 23, 2015

A little Holiday tour

Hi and welcome to our little Christmas home tour. Christmas is so magical.  I love the natural décor and the lights.  Garland makes everything look so beautiful. I prefer thing pretty simple and natural. I get a little anxious with too much stuff going on. 
 
Because I pay attention to Instagram and some bloggers out there...I began to panic when it was over a week before Thanksgiving and everybody was already "decorated" for the Holidays!  Boy, was I behind! We were out of town for Thanksgiving and by the time we retuned home and got settled...there was a lot to do. But I had to take a deep breath and realize that is ok..we all have to do things at our own pace and it really varies for me from year to year. It is kind of nice to enjoy the process of it as it evolves.   While I have some decorations that keep coming out from year to year..I like to collect some new pieces each year to mix it up a bit. Also, I love to bring in the natural/live elements which obviously have to be bought each year.
 
We placed our Christmas tree in the foyer this year.  It is an abnormally large foyer so it works well for a Christmas tree and I love that you see it when you walk through the door as well as from outside.  We have an open floor plan so you can see it from most rooms, too, which is pretty special.
 
 
 
Of course, I had to deck the deer head with a wreath.  I know some people have opposing views on taxidermy.  I love animals and I would never hurt one.  But, my thoughts, are that I do appreciate their beauty and this guy is so handsome that I could not pass up on him.
 
 
I added little live wreaths to just about all of our mirrors and some windows.
 
 
This is one of my favorite views in our home.  This is from the foyer looking into the dining room.The lighting is just so good in here.  Again, you will see wreaths, a cute little fake flocked tree from Homegoods that I added this year and a fun bucket from Anthropologie that it sits in.  I move it around everywhere as you will see in the photos!! The faux fur sheepskin is also from Homegoods.  I really need to go grab some more of those.  It is so cozy and stylish and looks good everywhere!

 
I layered real and fake garland about everyplace possible.  It instantly says "Holidays" and lets "celebrate"!
 

 
 
 
I love this cute little "Merry Christmas" banner that I bought at our church gift shop.

 
I kept it pretty simple in our kitchen adding just a few little Christmas trees.  I feel like there is already too much stuff in the kitchen this time of the year...cookies, Gingerbread houses, etc.  that I have to have some quiet areas.
 
 
I do, however, love the garland that is on the barn wood as you walk into the kitchen.
 
 
 
Back to our Christmas tree. We went with a flocked one this year and I am hooked.  This may be our new tradition.  It is so peaceful and it really looks like snow.  This is about as close to snow as we will get since we live in San Diego.  The faux fur tree skirt is from Home Goods.
 
 
I had the white feathers and wood stars already.  I really wanted it to be simple and pure.  I bought a box of ornaments from Home Depot..shocker..I was impressed.  They were so inexpensive and look really nice.  The silver and gold really make it look "pretty".
 
This is the first year that I have had a "big girl" tree.  And, I must admit it feels so good! 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Not, to worry, though the kids do not feel left out.  They have their own cute little tree that is perfect for their size. They were not super happy about all of this change at first.  Both of my kiddos had near breakdowns at the Christmas tree lot when we let hem know we were getting a flocked tree this year.  What we thought would be pure excitement nearly turned into tears. Thank goodness, the sadness did not last too long and these two were pretty happy to bring home their own little tree and start decorating.
 

 
Nights during the Holidays are so peaceful..that moment when it starts getting dark and you turn on the Christmas lights...it is so magical.  I picked up the little copper lights on the antlers below from Anthropologie this year...they are so cute and I am sure they will be on sale after Christmas.  I will definitely be picking up a few more.
 
 

 
I also picked up these pretty little copper/gold pots below from Anthropologie and added some baby fir trees to them.  I layered our dining table with some garland, copper lanterns (a gift from a dear friend, also from Anthropologie) and some natural branches and greens in the clear vases.


 
 
I hope you enjoyed this little Christmas tour of ours.  May your Holiday season be joyous and bright and filled with lots of love and happiness! Wishing you a beautiful Christmas from our family to yours! xo, Paige