Deck the Halls

  

Last weekend we had an Open House. If you haven't read our House Story, you may want to check that out first. We were blown away by the response, but had a great time. I spent a lot of time the previous week decking out our house for Christmas. This is early for me, but it's nice to have it all done. Here's a few glimpses of what I managed.

In the photo above, I swagged fake greens and white lights along the railing all the way around the porch. The porch has planters that hang so I covered the metal with more fake greens and added a large bell, ornament and star. Everything on the planters were found at my local dollar store.

I also added the old-fashioned canning jars. I put some green "gems" in the bottom and electric tea lights in them. I found the lights and gems at the dollar store as well. I was surprised how long the lights lasted! They went for about three days!

In the garden area in front of porch I added candy cane (red & white stripped) solar lights. Each window on the front of the house also has a battery operated candle in it. 

Once inside, I added this drop-leaf table right beside my piano. I covered with a piece of green fabric I had laying around. On top of it is a wooden planter box with scented pine cones piled in to it along with some fake red berries. That's also our Jesse Tree with some of our ornaments on it. It will get really full as we continue on our way towards Christmas. I also found a cute printable online and printed and framed it adding it to the table.

My piano got really decked out. On top is a Christmas runner made by our Pastor's wife. It was a birthday gift last year. Another planter box is on top full of fake greens. On one side is a real poinsettia and on the other is a pretty light I've been dying to start using! It looks great on the piano. I also have our Advent candles on the piano. 

This set of shelves has our nativity set right on the top. The second shelf is "every day" knick-knacks." The third shelf holds my miniature clock collection and the fourth shelf has our Advent boxes. I was wondering if the boys would remember them tucked away on the shelf. It's not been a problem. Chocolate appears to be pretty motivating for them!

My nativity set is pretty special. It's handcrafted by my mom. She was very much into ceramics back in the early 1980s. I remember going to the shop with her. She went every week - sometimes letting us kids even pick out something. Each piece has her signature smiley face on the bottom along with the date - 1983.

I had some extra glitter stars from my outside decorating as well as fake berries. I like how this turned out. I tucked a few things here and there throughout the house. 

  

I had a set of old-fashioned type lights and when we pulled them out of the boxes, we found one was broken. I ended up unscrewing each light bulb and putting them in to a large vase. I did a similar thing with some small glitter balls I bought. And lastly, I had some silver bells that ended up in an extra canning jar. I like the effect of each one.

I had some extra large ornaments that I added to the chandelier in the dining room. I think it looks neat and adds a nice festive touch to meals.

My largest Christmas collection is my village. This is the first time in a long time I've had this many pieces out. It started as a whim, but the first year we were married, my hubby bought me one for my birthday (December 3rd). Each year since then, he'd bought me a new one. Occasionally he does forget, but the next year he'll gift me two. The only thing I wish I had done from the get go was write the date on the bottom. Some have it, some don't, but I do know the church was the first one he bought me.

Yup, even the moose antlers got a bit of holiday cheer added to them! It seemed like every night my hubby would come home and I had added a little something extra to this spot. I almost did some lights, but decided against it.

Overall I like how things turned out. I always dread putting it all up and taking it all down, but I so enjoy it while it's up.