The Completely Non-Threatening, Unintimidating Christmas Home Tour*

Hey there.

It's Christmas.

I love peeking into people's houses when they are all lit up and the drapes aren't drawn yet.

Welcome.

I've lit the candles for you.
(It seems I went a bit overboard on the candles this year. Craving light and warmth, right now)

Let me shoo that puppy off the couch for you.

That's our beagle, Stomp. We got him for Christmas eight years ago, now.

He likes to pull the cushions down and nest.

I would say I'm not a big decorator for Christmas: but just look at this place!

I was going to keep it simple, but it got away on me.

It's overloaded.

Let's start with the faux fireplce. I'd love to have a fire, but it's really no big deal. I love our scholarly monk there.

ooh, just noticed that dust. Sorry about that.  I'll have to have a word with the maid.

The mirror on the mantle has been tucked away for over a year. I wanted to bring back a little sparkle--and bounce around what little light we have in the winter.

I made that sign a few years ago. 

My husband loves nutcrackers.

We have these amazing vintage wax decorations.

I picked up some gorgeous Christmas flowers from the grocery store.

I tried to get some poinsettas but I forgot them at work and someone bought them before I could get back to get them. After that, I didn't see any I liked at a price point I liked.

These ornaments are leftovers from decorating the tree. I put some hangers at the bottom of the bowl if you want to hang one up.

I wanted plaid pillows quite badly this Christmas--but I took a lesson from my fall pillow fiasco. 

I bought a set of napkins to make envelope pillow covers. But when I draped the napkins over the large pillows at each end, I felt overwhelmed. And I found that I really liked the navy with the grey--so I left it alone! Instead, I decided just to cover my center pillow. (I'll have a tutorial on that soon.) I love the little dash of plaid. 

I put the remnant in the tray on the coffee table.

My son made the gumball tree a couple of years ago for me.

The tree is a bit of a hodge podge. Very traditional with coloured lights, candy canes and a ribbon chain garland. My daughter and I made that, one year. 

My aunt Robin made the tree skirt many, many years ago.

On the other side of the room, above the TV, we have what my husband considers perhaps the most important symbol of Christmas. The creche.

Yep, you guessed it. My husband made the stable, oh, probably 17-18 years ago, now.

Whew.

Let's move into the kitchen and have some hot chocolate.
How's that for a simple hot chocolate station?

The secret is adding the marshmallows and a jar of spoons! The hot chocolate mix is pretty much a winter staple.

The table is super simple with a bowl of fruit and some candles and plants. I have become rather fond of Mr. Owl.

That's paper narcissus waiting to erupt from that mound of moss back there.

Let's take it into the dining room.

I got that plaid tablecloth at Homesense for $10.

It's hella cold out there.

It was snowing on and off all day.

It's Christmas time.


*or your money back!

Linking to the Nester's #ItDoesn'tHaveToBePerfectToBeBeautiful Christmas Annual Tour of Homes.

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Christmas Decorations Tidied.

I got rid of that red, gold and green chain garland. It just seemed loud and obnoxious to me.

I read Marie Kondo's book, The Magic of Tidying last week.

Ignoring all the odd bits (like objects have feelings and desires), her process for decluttering is helpful.

I decided to keep the Christmas cds with the tree as putting up the tree is the first time we want them.

Pick the object up, ask yourself, "Does this bring me joy?" Then, pay attention. How do you feel? Put it down in the keep pile or the toss pile, depending on your reaction.

The first page in this, my Christmas planner, tells me to buy Christmas cards and wrapping paper.

That is it in a nutshell. There's a procedure for going through your home (Kondo recommends starting with your clothes and then moving on to books and then other things. For obvious reasons, Christmas decorations are not a category.) She also advises you to dump everything you are considering out on the floor in order to force yourself pick up each and every item.

I didn't do that.

The newly emptied outbox is getting filled back up again.

But, I did go through each and every box.

I asked the question.

I got rid of two boxes worth of stuff.

And when I got everything back to its home under the basement stairs, I wondered how they had ever fit in the first place!

Not a Lot of Fuss

The front hallway has this old niche for the telephone. I like to decorate it seasonally--usually with a plate. Christmas cards hang from a mini- clothesline I got from the dollar store years ago.

I didn't want to decorate this year.

Some paperwhites by the living room windows--a first for us this year.

The living room "mantlescape."

Probably because I have been decorating since the beginning of October. The living room and kitchen look fabulous, though, don't they? I could not be happier. But have you noticed? Neither room really wants red.

The shelves in the kitchen get a silver charger and a snowflake plate, both in silver-grey.

Still loving white flowers. The green sparkly placemats on the table are another nod to Christmas in the kitchen.

And my son loves red. "It's not Christmas without red and green decorations," he told me.

Oddly enough, I did add some red to my bedroom.

The little bear belonged to my daughter when she was three. She decided to get rid of her stuffed animals recently and I rescued this one.

But, as for the rest of the house, my husband hauled out the tree and a few boxes of things and I told the family to have at it. Other than stringing the lights thru the tree, putting up the creche and putting out a few things, they really didn't do much.

The tree. I put on the old green, red and gold ribbon chain we made years ago--and then just a few balls. Nothing else--oh except some fake pine smelling sticks which are so awful I removed after about an hour. Actually, I only found about half of them so that corner stinks like a car wash.

That was fine by me. I arranged a few things, put some balls on the tree, and called it done.

A few pretties on the table in the dining room.

This is not "artful, minimal" no-fuss Christmas decor. This is just a few things from the boxes under the stairs. The things that seem to matter to us. The things that say Christmas, I guess.

Over the TV.

How is Christmas coming along at your place?

Outdoor Christmas Decor

This month, I am struggling with most of the blogs I visit and love. It's no particular blog--it's just this general feeling I have picked up that somehow to be blog worthy, it must be "pinterest-worthy." There's a message creeping through that our holiday décor needs to be inventive, imaginative, unique, beautiful and environmentally conscious. To me, it seems we're reinventing Christmas in order to have new things to show each other.

Nothing wrong with that. But, I'm not there. I'm just not. And I have no wish to be. Not this year.

For example, the humble Christmas wreath.

 

On a little internet jaunt one night, I came across it reinterpreted in fabulous and inventive ways. Clothespins! Embroidery Hoops! Even those made with greenery, ribbons and ornaments looked fresh and new. (The collection which I'm speaking about can be accessed here.)

There are some really wonderful wreath projects out there--and some unique and gorgeous Christmas decor--and they are just the thing if you are looking to infuse your decorating with something new and different--if you need a bit of something to get your creative juices flowing.

But from where I sit all this wonderful creativity is a choice, not a necessity.

You do not have to create beautiful, unique, creative Christmas décor. You don't even have to create simple, frugal, minimalist Christmas décor. You don't have to have any décor at all-- that's not what Christmas is all about. We all know this, already. I just wanted to remind us.

Many years ago, decorating for Christmas was a creative outlet for me. Before I married, I used to take great pains with wrapping presents. Nothing too far out there--but every single one had an artfully placed ribbon (sometimes two) and a bow. My first Christmas as a married woman, I made a popcorn garland. It was my beginning to celebrating Christmas with my own little family.

But as the years have gone by, Christmas has become less and less about me and what I want--and more and more about us, the family, the kids, and what, sometimes, they want. No one but me really wants to fuss. And so, over the years, I've learned to let it go.

My own wreath, an old fake form of wire and plastic simulating pine boughs, festooned with various picks my daughter found at Michael's seems, well, unambitious would be one word I could use.

My daughter loved the colours in the berries and the sparkle of the birds. So did I. I gave her the job of putting it together while I was at work, but she wasn't happy with her efforts.

So, I did it.

 

My husband and my son hung the lights one day while I was at work, too. As my husband drove me home one dark evening, he didn't say a word about it. It wasn't 'til we rounded the corner to the house that I knew they had gone out and put them up. It was a lovely surprise. My husband enjoyed the fuss I made.

Taken at 8am. It's too cold to set up the tripod and take a proper photo in the dark!

This is us.

This is how we have chosen to celebrate Christmas. The decorations are things we do together--and the "together" part is our challenge --and our choice-- this year.

The Christmas Manifesto

Family.

There's the four of us under this roof. Then there's my Mother and my nephew. And my daughter's friends. Some of my best memories of Christmas involve my daughter, a friend and me baking and decorating cookies in the kitchen. I think a baking party with her two best friends would be wonderful.

Together.

I love spending time with everyone all together, all at once. It can be tough, these days. Maybe this will be the year we finally read the Settlers of Cataan instructions and figure out how to play it?

Peace and Joy.

Of course. But it means more. It means--stress free. Relax. Take a chill pill. It means that anyone can tell anyone else: give me a minute. Let me calm down. I want you to calm down. I'm sorry. I'll get right on that.

please

Self-explanatory. With two teenagers who don't get along at the best of time, a Mom adjusting to working at a job, outside the home, for the first time since becoming a Mom 16 years ago, and a Dad who probably will work lots of hours everyday and without a day off a physically demanding job between now and Christmas eve, it will be a challenge to keep this family cheerfully doing things together in an atmosphere of peace and joy.


But, that's the goal.
Isn't it ever?

Day 29: Create Homes for Temporary Things

Do you work on projects and have them scattered about?

Or, do you stop yourself from working on projects because you have no place to keep them?

I used to do that.

Now, I have a sewing project basket here:

and some curtains I'm working on, here.

I need a better place to keep returns, though.

Have you got clutter because of temporary things?
Think about creating homes for them.

Christmas is coming. That's a huge influx of all kinds of temporary things. Not just gifts, (and the on-going process of hand made gifts, if any are on your lists) but baking items, pre-made food, part supplies, receipts, and so on.... If you think of places to put things, now, you'll have a much less cluttered Christmas.

ETA: You can catch all the posts in the series here.

'Tis the Season

Hello!

I have been quiet a while, I realise. Nothing serious. A bit of the winter blahs, mostly. Thank heavens the early Church decided to piggy back Saturnalia. I resisted putting up decorations until last weekend when the kids finally took over and got out the boxes and began anyway. My job has been to tweak and clean up, of course!

Confession: I have to thank the Nester and the hundreds of women who have linked up their homes decorated for Christmas. Seeing the links caused me to tidy up and photograph the house, thinking I would link, too. But when I started browsing, I wanted to decorate--more! So, I hauled out the boxes and added a few things here and there. You can't help but notice there's no theme: no colour scheme. There's no great thought or effort put into it--and, frankly, that's just the way I like it. It's cheery and it chases away the darkness (of every kind). As it should.

So, without further fuss, here's our house all dolled up for Christmas!
I hope it makes you smile.


Our front door:
(you've seen this before)

Welcome to the front entry (looking back to the front door from the stairs):

We used to have a cabinet underneath the mirror but I took it out to give us more space and I haven't regretted it for a minute.

A close up of our little Christmas Card Clothesline:

 

Plenty of room for more!

We have our tree in the living room.
Yes, one. The kids decorated it. My son wanted to do the traditional red and gold, my daughter wanted to use my blue and silver. They compromised and did both.

A couple of years ago, I thought it would be wonderful if we brought back a Christmas ornament from our summer vacations. This singing cowboy is from our trip to southern Alberta in 2010.

 Look who I found hiding in the branches?

 

I love a simple mantel. (Well, I love ornate garlanded ones, too--but to look at, not to make!)

That's our advent calendar to the right.

My son insists on turning the empty ones upside down to keep track.

Right over the TV we have our creche with the stable my husband made when my son was still a baby. We used to put little plastic animals in it.

 We'll be using the dining room a fair bit.

I gussied up the top of the Expedit. The ribbon holds ornaments the kids have made over the years.

 I kept the centrepiece simple.

My favourite angel adorns the china cabinet.

The kitchen didn't escape my new found enthusiasm either!

 I made these paper ornamements a few years ago.

The only thing I bought this year was this table cloth. Boy, is it busy!

And, I have to show you my favourite part of Christmas. Deep in the bowels of the basement, tucked in beside the laundry machines and the stairs, the best place of all. The wrapping station.

The place where all the magic happens!

Thank you so much for visiting! It's getting dark, let me turn the lights on for you!

 

(We're the only house with lights on our block. Is that sad, or what?)

 

 

Merry Christmas!

 

(and Happy Solstice! etc.)

 

Obviously, I'm joining the Nester's Christmas Tour of Homes.