Home Sweet Home - for the Holiday's

I love the holidays. I get overly excited to make a big batch of hot cider, turn on the christmas station on the radio, and start decorating our home. I have quite a few boxes of holiday decor. And, with each year, I add a few touches to it for an even more elaborate display. This year our home is a rustic winter wonderland at the lodge. At least, that is the overall look of it from what I can tell.

I really love our tree. With the abundance of woodland creatures, made from things like pinecones and bark, it really does give it that rustic feel. Most of the ornaments look homemade, from the crocheted ice skates to the mini bear duo, each one looks homemade. Last year I was lucky enough to find a really great tree skirt which pulled it all together. My ornaments came from either Target, World Market, Pier 1 or Macy's. We have plenty more ornaments, but we save those for our shorter, 3 foot tall tree. Unfortunately, we decided to not put that one up this year, so those ornaments were stored away. Once we move, we will have the space to display it.

In our guest room, we did put up our mini tree. This little tree is as old as Matt is and it still works! I made this a themed tree for Matt, with all of his airplane and Snoopy/Red Baron ornaments. I thought it was the perfect accent for our dormer windows and the lights are sparkly at night, which you can see from the street below.

The living room always gets an extra dose of holiday cheer each year, starting with our side shelf. I take down my fall owls and put up some holiday pieces to display among the books/knick knacks. I do not like a lot of clutter on the shelf, but a few small decorative pieces work perfectly. Most were displayed on my desk at work when I worked in the office.

One spot I tend to go overboard on is at our TV area. While this space is small, we utilize every corner, especially since we no longer have a fireplace. My garland, stockings and decorative pieces get scattered along the top. This is the time of year where the garland makes the TV channel hard to change, but other than that, it really does not get in the way too much. And, the stocking cap makes for a great Christmas party game, if by chance someone's head appears under it.

The Kitchen/Bar area get a few items of decoration, from tea towels to advent calendar but I still need my countertop space, so little decorations are utilized there. However, the bar is an exception. I do add a few lights, our charlie brown christmas tree and other tokens around. We have holiday cups, bottle openers and napkins that get exchanged out this time of year.

One of the best gifts we received from Matt's parents were these magic snowballs, which make for a really fun game this time of year, even without the snowstorm! When you throw them, they light up. It is a quirky and fun addition to our home and we love it. Taking down Christmas decorations at the end of the year is always tough on me, because I really enjoy decorating for the holiday's. I hope you enjoyed all of your holiday's as much as we did.