A Jolly Holiday

Christmas Decorations
12/15/2007

We've been busy at my parents' house decorating for Christmas this year. They always host our extended family on Christmas Day, so we take great care and joy in decorating the house for our family and ourselves. Since my house can't be decorated this year, I decided to share pictures of their house.

Christmas Wreath on the back door. One of my sisters made this a few years back.


Sideboard in the Den. We really didn't do much in this room, but this little, over-lit Christmas tree with its big huge bow sure is cheerful!


Kitchen tree. The Quilt on the wall was given to my mother by my grandmother years ago. This tree is a favorite of the kids and young at heart. Check out the next picture to see why:


It's decorated completely with play food! You know, toy kitchen type stuff. This really is a fun tree. You can't help but smile when you discover the surprises hidden in the branches.


Dining Room. No tree in this room this year. Instead we decided to focus on the mantel and decorate with silver. We have a LOT of polishing to do...


Living Room. This is the Family Tree. It's decorated with the old-fashioned big bulbs, white minis, colored minis, and every decoration the 5 of us kids have ever made. This is where Christmas morning happens.


A better, centered view. Check out the angel on top. We had to help her out a little bit this year. Might I add that this tree is VERY bright from outside.


Living Room mantel. It hosts the collection of Santas, a silver/snowy Christmas tree, and a manger scene. This is where we hang the stockings with care.


Ah, the study tree. The physical tree is new this year; the one we used to use retired. This might be my favorite tree. It's meant to be a more masculine tree, since it's in the Study. It's decorated with all natural materials and birds.


Another view from inside the room.


A close up of the birds and ribbon and ornaments.


The topper. I won't divulge any secrets. But this tree is very nice to contemplate after a long day at work...


The front door is still in progress. Half of it is up.


The Hall tree, covered in fruits. This tree is really pretty, too. We haven't finished with the Hall decorations, including the lights. They still need to be tweaked a bit.


Close up of the heavy, beaded fruits.


Hall, looking from the front door. The staircase has gold lame swags and draped beads. We like to change this one up every year. You can see where the Hall tree lives, on top of the sideboard.


View looking up. This staircase takes about 5 hours to decorate all by itself. Which is why we haven't finished the Hall decorations, yet.


A view from the halfway point.


And looking down... We're all very pleased with how the staircase came out this year. Even more so because it was totally and completely improvised.

We're almost done. We lack only a few touches to the hall and of course, packing and re-storing all the decoration boxes. And the major clean-up before family comes.

I'll leave you with two beautiful poinsettias that my mother received 'just because' this year. We're going to find them a home, too.

I hope everyone has a bright, happy, and magical Christmas this year!