Holiday Open House...(part two)

I'm back with the second part of my holiday tour. I have the decorating done, but the shopping isn't started. Not much to do this year. As I told you in a prior post, this year we are cutting back, like a lot of Americans. We're cutting back, but it doesn't change Christmas or the meaning of Christmas. This year has brought many changes for our families finances, but we have been blessed in many ways. Sometimes I need to be reminded of that.  sometimes we forget the many blessings God has showered upon us. During this season, with so many people struggling,  give thanks to God for your many blessings....

Now, grab a cup of coffee and enjoy the rest of the decorations from my house ....

The wreath is the same this year. I made the wreath. I taught a few classes this year on wreath making . Here's a tip for you... use and artificial wreath and once it's decorated, stick in some fresh greens. Your guests will think you have a real wreath on the front door. Once the season is over, remove the greens and replace the wreath next year with fresh greens.

 
I lit the fire for the first time and I had to show you a photo. Nothing says ,"Winter is here" than a cozy fire burning bright!



I added some Christmas decorations to the corner bakers rack in my kitchen. If there is a surface during the holiday, I will add a decoration to it!


I have lots and lots of family photos around my house. I've been told it isn't "PROPER" to have family photos out in the general areas of your home. NOT FOR ME....I DON'T CARE. I love my family and I love having photos, and lots of them. Here's a photo of the boys and their dad. Now my oldest son is 6'3" just like his dad and the youngest is 6'. They sure have grown since this photo. That's why I love having the photos. Photos bring back so many wonderful memories. The one with the children is a photo of me with my sisters and brother. I think I was 7 in the photo. The last photo is of my husband and I. I still think he is a cutie!!!
  
Brought out my santa plate. Just by adding some greens, berry picks, ribbon and poinsettias you can add some Christmas spirit to just about anything.
 

I had to leave my rooster out. I love roosters!



I always add Christmas decorations to my tables. Here's the hall table.
 
I added a strand of crystals to Santa's beard. Doesn't he look festive.

Oh here's another photo. More recent...It's our family photos from Christmas last year. More crystals were added to the candles.

 
The foyer table has Good Old Saint Nick! I added lights so there is a nice glow when the lights are low in the evening. Can't get away without another photo...This one, of my husband as a child with his family.

Here's a quick and easy Christmas accessory to make. I used and old book and tied some Christmas ribbon around the book. Add a bow and a glittered poinsettia. It's that easy. Oh another photo...This one is of some dear friends on New Years Eve.

I wasn't kidding when I said I have a lot of photos. My husband as a baby with his grandparents and a photo of his great grandparents in Russia years ago.

I added some green, berries and lights to the mirror. I love how you can see the reflection of the Christmas tree in the mirror. It's like having two trees in one room! Oh look at that...MORE photos.

The kitchen light is embellished with some greens and red Christmas ornaments hanging from wide ribbon.
 

The dining room is ready for Christmas dinner. I Made an arrangement for the table and added an arrangement on top of the china cabinet.

For some extra sparkle, I added some glass ornaments with different sizes and shapes and hung them from the chandelier.

 
The prism stars glisten and remind me of the first Christmas!

I hope you have enjoyed looking at my home dressed up for Christmas. It's my favortie time of year. Not just because of all the holiday decorations, but because of the true meaning of CHRISTmas. Chistmas for me, means love... The love my savior has for me and for you that he would send His son to be born in a manger. Christmas also means family and sharing the love with those special people in your life. I wish each and every one of you a blessed Christmas and a wonderful New Year.
 May Peace be your gift at Christmas and your blessing all year through!

Welcome to My Holiday Open House ... part one

Welcome to my Holiday open house. "Nesting Place" is hosting a Holiday open house party. I'm taking part in the Holiday Open house. So come on in and see what I've been up to. I don't know where the year has gone, and I got a late start with the Christmas decorating and now we can just sit back and enjoy all the lights. Come on in and let me show you what I've been up to for the past few weeks.
 

I love having a staircase so I can decorate it for the holidays. It takes quite a few hours to complete it, but once it's done I really enjoy it. I told my family I was cutting back on the decorating this year. My youngest son who is 16, said to me a few weeks before Christmas, "You're still going to do that THING that you do on the stairs, aren't you?" What he meant was the staircase garland. He said it was his favorite decoration. Well it's one of my favorite things and I enjoy it each time I walk up and down the stairs.

I love red and gold for Christmas and lots and lots of lights.

In the evening it has a wonderful glow.

Follow me into the main part of the house. I did cut back. We have two trees this year. The third tree is still in the box and that is where it will remain. I'm not going to put it up. Remember, I said I was cutting back! Well here are my two trees. One in the living room and one in the kitchen.

Here's the view from the foyer into the living room and kitchen....

Now you can see the mantel all lit up.

 

My kitchen tree has a snowman theme. With a topper that says, "Let it Snow". I like snowmen. They are so cheery.

 

I love to use larger Christmas accessories in my tree. Lots of ribbon and red bulbs top it off.

Lots more snowmen. You can never have enough!

 

Here's a snowman I made years ago. He is about 3' tall. He stands at the base of the tree every year!

 

Now for the mantel. I used my favorite colors again, red and gold. It works out well with the colors I have already in the room, and nothing says Christmas more than the color RED!!!

  

I added lots of items in the garland. Pine cones, gold ornaments, red and gold ribbon, glittered feathers and berry picks.

I always add my angel candle sticks to my mantel at Christmas. Angels are such a big part of Christmas and the Christmas story.

I have combined three different types of beaded garland to hang from the mantel.

Now for my big tree. It's been the same for years. I had some red and gold silk fabric that I just wrap around the base of the tree.
I always have a star on the top. It reminds me of the star that led the three wise men to baby Jesus.   This year I changed the top of it a bit.  I kept the star but added some gold fern behind the star.   Here's the top of the tree last year.
 

Here's the new look....

I have four large photos of our family in the tree. I have always used the same photos. You can see how young the boys were in the photo. My oldest was five when the photo was taken, now he is nineteen.

Here's the rest of the photos of the boys....

Yards and yards of ribbon and lots of gold bulbs and poinsettias cover the tree.

Eventhough I don't like winter, I do Love Christmas time. It''s such a wonderful time to enjoy family and friends. Thanks for visiting and stop by this week to see part II of my Christmas tour.  It's also Metamorphosis Monday  stop by to see more Christmas ideas...

 
Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold,

everything is softer and more beautiful.

Thank you Detroit Free Press a Little Free PR for the Holidays.....

 

I just can't get the smile off my face.  Today my business was the feature article in the "Life Section" of the Detroit Free Press.  A journalist for the paper who had seen some of my work contacted me this week and interviewed me.  You can view the article HERE.  The article was about Holiday decor and gives lots of tips on designing and making a custom wreath.  They used the front of my house for the photos.  The wreath above is the wreath that I created for my front door.  I always have a custom wreath hanging on the  front door to greet my guests. Here's one of the photos the newspaper used....

It's going to be a busy week, I'm planning an all day open house on Thursday. I have been creating items to sell and doing a bit of baking for the event. Stop by and visit on Monday. I'll  be taking you on a  house tour and sharing my holiday decorations with you.
Looking forward to your visit this week.  Remember to take some time to enjoy the Christmas Season. If you're looking for other creative Charistmas ideas stop by DIY Day at "A Soft Place to Land"!

A Christmas Tree Full of Memories

I wanted to share with you one of my favorite Christmas trees that I have in my house. It's a tree filled with wonderful memories.

It's a small tinsel tree that has photos of my husbands family and my family when we were children. I found some old photos and reduced them in size so that they would fit in these tiny frames.

I just placed the tree into the pot I recycled from my fall mantel decorations. I added some beads and iridescent shed to the top of the pot.

Here's a close up of some of the pretty frames with the old photos. I just love the pearls on the frame. That's my Mother in Law with my husband.

My mom had lent me a box of old photos. I had so much fun looking through them. I decided to scan all of them and make a CD for my two sisters and brother for Christmas. I'm still working on that gift!!

Here's one of the photos on the tree. It is from Christmas in 1961. The photo is of me with my mom and my younger sister, Renee. We are not even a year apart in age. My poor mom. She had four children in four years. She has the patience of a saint.

I love this photo. It is of my Mother in Law with my husband. I had to put this one on the tree!

Looking through the box of photos brought back so many memories of family and those people whom I love. This holiday take some photos of the special moments you share with your family and friends. Years from now you will look back at them with your children and remember the treasured times from this Christmas season. What's your favorite Christmas decoration?  Visit "How Sweet the Sound".  Pink Saturday has many bloggers posting about what is special to them.