Christmas Decorations

Since my parents couldn't visit for Christmas, my Mom asked specifically for a post of my Christmas decorations. So here's the tour, Mom.
We'll start in the back of the house with the mantle. It got busier as December went by with the addition of 6 kid crafts.


I absolutely adored two of them. They were made at preschool with just one of the teachers taking aside every child individually and helping them to use their finger prints to make snow, the cardinal body, head and in some cases a tree in paint on slices of tree branch. Then the teacher added the fine details and strung them with baker's twine. These were the kids' Christmas gift for mom. Aren't they wonderful! Here's Emmett's:


And here's Carson's:


This painted bird was another of the items made and brought home from preschool.


In the dining area, red berries abound:


This was a favorite find in the post-Christmas clearance last year.


In the kitchen. Bits and pieced on the counter, an advent calendar on the window sill and what Christmas kitchen is complete without Christmas cookies?


On top of the cabinets.


I love the lights on top of these cabinets and they made the Christmas balls sparkle! Sadly, the string I had wrapping the garland burnt completely out after one too many single bulbs went out without replacing, and that strand had been on there for years. So I just climbed up there and laid a new one over the top of the garland and it sufficed for this year.


This is part Christmas, part an aside. In the hall there's another wreath because I have an addiction to them and a 3 picture frame with pictures I took last year seen HERE. The aside is: look, Mom, at the fun new big picture frame on the skinny wall facing the stairs.


I had these decorations last year but didn't do anything with them and this year it dawned on me to hang them from the entry light, and I love how it turned out! It's too bad the picture really loses the dimensions to it.


And finally, the Christmas tree. And the chair that will hold Santa's cookies and milk. Which was already seen in the Christmas post. Over on the end table is the black iron stand I told you about that was holding a large glass vase with purple and silver mini ornaments until the boys broke it. sigh. Travis cleaned up the glass and just stuck the ornaments on top of the two other hurricanes holding candles and I forgot to rearrange that before taking this picture. On the bottom of the coffee table are Christmas books for the boys to enjoy, which they did regularly. In the windows are the ones we'd rather didn't get destroyed by frequent boy abuse, most especially Santa Mouse, but were read for bedtime nightly.


And there you have it.