12/13/09 – 12/19/09
It was finally time to do a little holiday decorating around the house. Every year I seem to do it a little bit differently.
I loved the look of the cranberries in the vase in the guest bath.
And Eric bought me these three nutcrackers to supplement the one I have from when I was little. These guys have a little bling to them though.
And this year, I decided to pull out some of the Christmas decorations I’ve made myself, like these pillows. I’m very proud of the Believe pillow I cross-stitched and then finished into a pillow.
My little Peace pillow that sits in the holiday card basket.
And of course I had to get out my Dickens Village. These little lighted houses make me so happy.
Another winter cross-stitch.
And it makes me happy to see the gifts for our friends and family under the tree.
I like to put all of my handmade ornaments together on one tree (we’ve been putting up two trees for a couple of years).
And Eric put a train around the smaller tree this year too. Now we have two trees and two trains!
I love love love the lights on the garland going up the banister, and the lights on the tree. Little white lights are all we use.
And somehow I ended up with enough time this year to make some handmade gifts. It was so fun spending an afternoon gift making! I hope to do it again next year. There was something just so relaxing and comforting about it, because I didn’t allow myself to stress about it or put pressure on myself to finish anything.
Last year I had bought the supplies to make little Christmas tree earrings for a few people, but never got around to making them. This seemed like the perfect time. And as you can see, I had a little forest of trees on my desk!
I think they turned out pretty cute!
And every year my friend, Julia, and I pass this friendship ornament back and forth. I’m always at a loss as to what to put in it the year I have it. But, this year I decided to make her a bracelet. I found these photo charms at the craft store, and I printed out some photos of her husband, their three girls, and the ocean (since they take an annual trip there every year) that she had sent to me and put them in the photo frames. I’ve blocked out the photos of them here for her privacy. But it was awfully fun to make, and I love the dark blue crystals I found to make little drops between the photos. You can see the friendship ornament in the shot too – it’s hard to find something that fits in there!
A busy week for me, but a fun one! And there’s more…
Christmas on the Square photos here.
Trains at Northpark photos here.
