Showing posts with label Christmas decor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas decor. Show all posts

Monday, November 16, 2020

Christmas Decor 2020

I totally meant to have this post up last week, but my computer has been so weird and I've been having a hard time loading pictures from my phone to my computer, so I think I've finally managed to get everything in the post and can now officially share my Christmas decor for this year!


I found this pretty wreath at Christmas Tree Shop a few weeks ago when I went shopping with my mom. I didn't know it when I bought it, but this totally set off my decorating style for this year. My living room is completely a woodland theme and I LOVE IT. I never really thought about it as I collected my decor but it is a woodland theme and I think it looks so pretty. I am pretty obsessed with it and think I will continue collecting items for this theme as the years go on. 


Last year I placed Christmas ornaments inside this vase but so far I have left it empty. I may find something to put inside but for now I'm enjoying the simplicity here on the kitchen counter. 


I still love this little bear I've had for years and here is one of my mini flocked trees.


My mom bought us this snowman set of salt and pepper shakers last year at Christmas and they are very cute. I'm not sure we will actually use them for salt and pepper but they look cute sitting on my counter!


Just like last year I put my garland on the top of my kitchen cabinets and decorated it with picks and flowers from Walmart. I didn't put the lit garland up there this year it's just very plain and it really brings some more Christmas cheer to the kitchen. 


I have a few sets of Christmas dish towels but here is one set hung up on the stove. I have a slight problem with collecting dish towels so I am not allowed to shop for them anymore. We have a whole drawer full and that's only because I donated a ton when they didn't all fit in one drawer. 


I love this little reindeer! I bought him last year and I think he's just the cutest. 


This is the only area where my living room is not woodland theme. This little elf was in my grandparents house growing up and my grandma let me take him home with me. I always smile when I pull him out. 


Same Christmas pillows as last year, I might need some more Christmas pillows....


I love my little houses that I picked up in the Target dollar spot! They were $5 for the set and I just love how they look with my little flocked trees. 


This reindeer is new this year too. He came from Christmas Tree Shop and was a total impulse buy. I cannot say no to cute animals. 


More garland on these kitchen cabinets.


Here is the snowman cookie jar that my mom bought us last year, he matches the salt and pepper shakers and doesn't hold anything but looks super cute on the counter!



I initially brought up the Christmas tree I bought last year (and had in our office last year) but it looked so huge and ridiculous in our small living room I decided to get a small pencil tree. This one was $79 from Walmart and I of course went with a flocked tree. I absolutely love it and it allows us to have Christmas spirit but still have our living room be mostly useable. 


Someday we will be able to fit a huge tree in our living room, but right now it's really not a possibility. The tree skirt is new as well and is also from Walmart. 


It is a very small tree but right now while it's just the two three of us we really don't need anything huge. 


Sophie doesn't really care about the tree...or any of the decorations. That was a little shocking to me, but I am thrilled that she is living everything alone.


Are you all decorated for Christmas? I need to do my outside decorating, but I am pleased with the inside so far!

Wednesday, November 4, 2020

Outdoor Christmas Decor Inspiration

 I know, I know. Halloween was less than a week ago and not everyone is ready to jump into Christmas. I am totally ready however and am starting to gather inspiration for decor. I want to get everything ordered that I need and make sure I am ready to go.

Last year I decorated pretty minimally outside and used some cheap pre-lit garlands on our handrails and the same on our mailbox. This year I want it to look a little nicer since I have had time to think about what I want. I know I didn't do much for Halloween and truly want to make up for it with my Christmas decor.

Here's what I'm thinking...

                                                                            Source

I would like to get some nicer pre-lit garland to put on our new fence. I think it will look so nice against the white! I just need to find garland that looks nice, is pre-lit with a battery pack, and doesn't cost a million dollars. Let me know if you find anything!


                    


 

We have a very small area to work with at our front door. It's very narrow and we can't place too much on the steps or we won't be able to use the front door. I bought a wreath a few weeks back that I will be putting up. I am also trying to think of decor I can place along our walkway since that is a new feature this year.  Someday our boxwoods will be large enough to wrap lights around, but right now they are still tiny and would look silly. 

I'm also thinking about doing either just lights or a lit garland to frame the doorway, that is something we could definitely incorporate.



I am planning on decorating our mailbox again this year but I'm hopeful I can make it look a little nicer this year! I have something similar to what is in the picture above that my mom bought for us. Last year I wrapped a garland around the base on my mailbox but it didn't match at all. I still want to use the top part but will be on the lookout for other ideas for the base. 

What do you do to decorate for Christmas outside? I am wishing I put in window boxes this summer because they would look so nice! I will definitely continue to scour pinterest for decor ideas but it's hard when most of the pictures are huge houses with big front porches! I keep dreaming up my big house that we will build someday! I will keep on wishing for it, and my big front porch!!



Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Ornaments That Tell Our Story

Can you believe that in one week it will be Christmas Day??? Where has this month gone?

So today I just wanted to share a little bit about our Christmas tree. 

I know there are a lot of Pinterest worthy trees out there and I constantly consider having one that just looks pretty in the future but I couldn't have a Christmas without my ornament collection. Our ornaments tell our story. So I wanted to share a bit about the ornaments we have collected over the last year to add to our tree and why I love collecting ornaments so much.



My mom and dad gave us this Mickey and Minnie wedding ornament for Christmas last year but this is the first year we've had it on the tree. I think it's so cute and as a Disney lover I'm thrilled to have it. We have a few wedding ornaments but this is one of my favorites!

Next up, we collected an ornament from each island we visited on our honeymoon. I have been collecting ornaments on our travels for years (even before I met Tim) so we made sure to find an ornament at each port.


Our ornament from St. Martin, this was a typical ornament we found on all the islands. Although we did try to switch it up a bit and not get the same type everywhere. 



In Antigua we picked this one up. See what I mean with the similarities? Sometimes it was hard to find other ornaments though.


San Juan, Puerto Rico, this one is textured and was clearly hand painted. 



I love this beach chair ornament from St. Thomas. I think it's my favorite one out of all the honeymoon ornaments.


This turtle from St. Lucia is really cute though!


We picked up two "ornaments" in Philadelphia last month. The first isn't technically an ornament but a keychain however we will use it as an ornament to remember our time in Philly. Keep this in mind if you are interested in collecting ornaments but are having trouble finding one in a certain location.


We had no trouble finding an Eagles one for Tim to bring home though! I don't mind because our tree has plenty of Patriots ornaments on it too. Dual alliances in this house.


Rachel and Ant gave us this ornament and it's so sweet to have our First Home ornament! I love how an ornament can mark the importance of a year.



I also picked up a new Harry Potter ornament after Christmas last year. I can't help being a nerd!

Now let's take a look at some of the other significant ornaments on our tree...



Our wedding invitation ornament that I purchased from OurGlassOrnaments on Etsy.


This reindeer came from my trip to France


This sweet ornament was carved by Tim's grandpa.


Here is our Disney ornament from our trip back in 2017 (that sounds like a very long time ago..it must be time to go back!)


This is our ornament from our first apartment that I bought from MommyGotTalent on Etsy.


Almost every one of our ornaments tells a story, there are very few that I purchased just because they looked pretty. While I may have one of those Pinterest-worthy trees one day, I promise that somewhere else in my house will be a tree filled with all of my travel ornaments, all of my landmark moments, and of course filled with Disney characters and Harry Potter. 

Side note: How many Belle ornaments can a girl have before she has too many Belle ornaments??



I will keep collecting because although I always talk about decluttering I am truly a collector at heart.


Also, I am thinking that someday I should get either the Disney train or the monorail to go underneath the tree.....

Have a great day everyone :)

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Our Simple Christmas Decor 2019

Good morning! Today we are talking about our simple Christmas decor for 2019! Since adding Sophie our golden doodle puppy to the family this fall we've had to be very careful what we leave out. I want to keep our decor fairly simple because I have to corral it on our counter when we leave her home alone so it doesn't get destroyed. She is very interested in everything as puppies always are! 

Let's start outside...


The former owners left a garden flag and stand so I thought I would buy flags as an easy way to decorate outdoors for the holidays. I love this little truck with the Christmas tree in the back. I purchased this right on Amazon and it was only $10. There are a ton of different garden flags on Amazon so if you are looking for an easy way to decorate outside this is it! 


This pre-lit garland was also purchased on Amazon and was $25 each. I purchased a few of these and although they don't look the most natural during the day I really like how it looks at night.



I pulled out our decorative pillows. The two bigger ones I believe are from HomeGoods and the small teal one was in the dollar bins at Target a few years back.


This table has been pretty much empty with Sophie around but she doesn't seem to bother this Keep Calm and Wait for Santa sign. 


This little tree came from Target last year in after Christmas sales. 


Here is the start of our garland, you'll see the finished product in a moment.


Here's my Harry Potter POP advent calendar that Brittni gave me as a Christmas gift this year! Follow along on Instagram (balancingonmytoes) to see what's behind each door!


I decorated this plug in garland from Walmart with picks and poinsettias from Walmart. Next year I will put a battery operated garland up there. 


This side has one of the battery operated garlands from Amazon that I shared earlier.


Our tree is set up in our extremely messy office! We can't trust Sophie with it while we aren't home. I ordered this on Michaels when trees were majorly discounted! I had to fluff the branches up a bit but it's a really well made tree and I love how it looks!


Just a good girl and her first Christmas tree!



These little bottle brush trees came from Walmart this year and they are something small that I think look great on our ledge between the kitchen and living room. 


Here are pictures of our completed garland!


I added a garland around the window to block the cord a little bit and I think it turned out very festive.

It's so fun to decorate a new house, but I am ready to come up with even more ideas next year when we can have a bit more out! ( I hope)

Tell me about and show me your Christmas decorations! I want to know what you are doing to decorate your house.