Decorating for Christmas

No better time than the eve of Christ's birth to talk about Christmas decorations. In preparation of the birthday celebration and Santa's arrival, we pulled out the green & red storage tubs full of goodies and got ornamental up in here.



I decided this was the year to replace the little wire hangers on our ornaments with real ribbon. It only took about an hour to string about one hundred yule-tide balls and I love the overall effect. Since all of our ornments match, I went with a thin white ribbon for all. If you have a more electic style of tree embellishment, then a variety of different ribbons would look effortless and less matchy-matchy. Either way, no more running out for tetnus shots the week of Christmas because of wire-jabbed fingers.



The number one thing on my new-to-do-this-Christmas list was copy this idea. C'mon, nothing says Jesus is born like a disco ball! And since Jeremy and I used much smaller disco ball ornaments in the past - it was the milk to my cookies and brought me a whole lotta good cheer! Of course our color scheme is different from the Cottage Living interpretation - more traditional colors with a very untraditional 'star'.



We placed the tree in the den this year instead of the living room. And it was my brilliant boyfriend's idea to place it in front of the window (I had it in the corner - what was I thinking?!?!). Now you can see the lights from the street - YAY! Yes and here is a fun Bower Power fact - guess how many lights are on our tree...give up?...no clue?...I did the math and it is in the neighborhood of 3200. Sort of overboard I guess. But this gives Santa from Atlanta no excuse for missing our house. It's the one on fire.

When we removed the curtains, the curtain rod just begged for embellishment. I found an old Southern Living At Home catalog that featured a fireplace with round ornaments hanging with ribbon. Thus our blinged out curtain rod. I kinda think it looks like musical notes. And I love the shadow it casts on the wall. Oh and if you ever need some southern inspiration - look at the SLAH catalog for a quick boost.



The naked fireplace was so bare before. Now it has some candlesticks, faux garland, little white and red balls of yule-tide, and black & white ribbon giving it an infusion of Christmas fun. I know what you are thinking...it is missing something. Alas, we have no stockings. The shame. We definitely need to order some this year - do I hear post-holiday shopping?!?!


Ornaments got scattered all over the house - but this was one of my favorite displays. Our white ceramic horse head got the holiday treatment with a couple jingle bells (mini disco balls) and a silvery ribbon necklace. A few ornaments in small glass vases and you have yourself a sleek, modern (and super easy) display!


The den's coffee table got in on the action with ornaments galore and a bowl of Christmas kisses (no mistletoe required). The starry origami ornament is too big for our tree - but just right on a tabletop. And when the morning light hits the disco balls in the big bowl - it takes everything in me not to bust a John Travolta move. Seriously - the whole room lights up like Studio 54! It's totally groovy :)


I think a couple elves got a hold of our giraffes...those sparklers are too funny! Look's like we have another Vixen in the house - and this ain't no reindeer! Meow!

Well, I hope that you all had fun decorating your house for the big day. I know (understatement ahead) we had a good time. During all our preparations, I still thought of you and your great holiday ideas. Some peeps like sugarplums - me, I like decor...so I have a few questions that I hope you can answer in the affirmative. Will Santa be proud? Are your stockings hung with care? Could your tree 'sleigh' me with delight? It is the greatest gift to spend time with family and friends - but a close second is a house full of reminders of this wonderful winter holiday.

Merry Christmas Eve!