Quick Home Holiday Touches

I really scaled back on the amount of holiday decor in the house this year. But, I have a touch of Christmas in nearly every room...it's just not smacking you in face as it has in previous years.

Enjoy a peak at my holiday home!

I couldn't resist decorating that little princess tree for my vanity. Who doesn't love Disney princesses and Barbie?!

Another Christmas Tree!

Last year Mr. Mel and I went away for the holidays and decided not to set up any Christmas décor. This year has been a lot of fun and a lot less pressure than I usually feel. Maybe doing this every other year is the best way to keep it fun for me.

The second tree this year is in the bonus room upstairs. We spend alot of time up here so I like to have decorations going on around the holidays.

This year's tree is my good buddy the 7' (unlit) tree I've had for many years now. The cost of this tree was a significant investment at the time and the quality shows many years later. Nothing against discount or big box store brands, but this tree is truly beautiful and so well made. Well worth the money...even if I do have to string lights on it.

Again, the storm before the calm wink wink.

Lots of colour going on with this tree...which makes me smile. I went with shades of gold, turquoise, red, green and purple. A few touches of whimsy in the form of a purple owl and a tutu wearing hippo, and it's complete!

I honestly don't think I could fit one more ornament on this tree...it's stuffed full. While it may not apply the rest of the year, at Christmas time MORE is definitely better!

I Love When it Looks so Festive 'Round Here

Ok, Ok, I know I;m a few days late...but time has a way of  getting away from this chick these days.

No lie, folks. I begin to plan my Christmas tree themes/colour schemes in early October. A tad obsessive, yes. I get so inspired by all of the beautiful trees and decorations out there in the blogosphere that I can't help myself.

This year is bittersweet for me. It will be the first Christmas since my mom passed away and I will miss our little traditions, most of which revolved around obsessing about our Christmas trees!

My mom just loved the attention I gave to my trees, and it revved her up to beautify her own tree. Every year we'd go ornament shopping and hit up all our favourite out-of-the-way boutiques and shops, always spending far more money than we intended to. My mom would not-so-subtly gather intel on the theme I was working on and buy ornaments that matched, then "surprise" me with them at the end of the day. I always knew what she was up to, but she enjoyed doing it so much I couldn't bear to ruin her fun. She'd take home her own new treasures and carefully select the perfect place on her tree for each of them. It was always an awesome day, and I will miss spending it with her.

Onto happier thoughts....

This year's main floor tree is new; a 7 1/2 ft flocked tree from Martha Stewart. I've wanted a flocked tree for a few years now so decided to finally go for it.

I have never done a tree in blue, and decided it was about time. My sister often does her tree in shades of blue and I am always struck by how pretty it looks.

In the interest of full disclosure, this is the scene when I decorate a tree.First, approval by the kitties, then the massive sort. Mr. Mel typically makes himself scarce for this process, as my OCD goes into full effect!

Almost 500 decorations, 5 hours (plus or minus another 30 mins to vacuum up the flocking that was everywhere)...and this is the finished product, I hope you like it. My only regret here is that I should have used a ribbon or garland. But, despite that, I am so happy with my blue tree!

 

And for my mom, a memorial angel...

Christmas Decorating 2011 - Part 2

The second stop on our little tour is the upstairs Christmas tree in the bonus room. I used my black pre-lit tree in here again this year. I switched up the colours and decided to use white, silver, crystals and red.

Here we go.................

It's kind of hard to tell, but as well as some silver and red geo mesh at the top of the tree, there is also a white feather star.

 
I am so happy with this tree! It's really festive and not typically what I would use as colours. Gotta love those trips out of your comfort zone!

I tackled the banister next. I use artificial green garland and build it up with lights, ribbon, mesh and ornaments. Most of my garland is el cheapo and can look a bit skinny. Adding to it beefs it up and makes an inexpensive garland a little more luxe! This took me a total of 45 minutes...I think that's a record! I had a great time creating those wreaths, I even had a few extra to give away. I also indulged Mr. Mel's love for multicolour lights (gasp) and I have to admit that I love them!

I was well on my way to getting the house done, and then it happenned...BAM! An old back injury came back to haunt me and I was out of commission...just like that. I was so frustrated. So, with limited mobility for the past few weeks, I only managed to dump glass balls into every container I could get my hands on and put out a few other random decorations. Certainly not what I had planned, but it'll have to do for this year, health comes first!

This Santa stands about three feet tall and he's one of my favourites. I received him as a gift from my mother-in-law when Mr. Mel and I were just dating, and I also love that my kitty, Butterball, has licked the coating right off one of those fake berries! It makes me smile every year when I see it.

I also couldn;t resist putting up my little Disney Princess tabletop tree. It's impossible to have a bad day when Cinderella is smiling at you each morning. Over the years I've picked up some mini cupcake ornaments and Martha Stewart floral glass balls that are super cute.

Whew! Now that that's done, it's time to snuggle up with Mr. Mel and the kitties and reward myself with a cup of hot chocolate.

Peace out, and have a wonderful Christmas, everyone!