Our Tree... Still looking for the right tree topper.
I have little elves that help me decorate.
And others that play around in the tree.
We all love the unique ornaments we've recieved through the years. ASU ornament from my parents.
From Grammy Sue and Pop Pop.
Pine cones from we picked with Lala & Papa Joe.
This beautiful Silver Leaf (it's a real grape leaf) from The Pence Family... The star is also a paper star I made a few Christmas's ago.
Our first snow globe from The Lopez Family. I love it!
Last years Christmas cards.
Presley had a small tree in her room but it broke. This year I surprised her with a 5 ft tree for her room.
This year I got Mark a big chair for Christmas (an early surprise)! Until now we've had a small (beautiful) amish chair I had since college. I loved it, but it was always hard for Mark or anyone over 6 ft. to sit in comfortably...
I wanted to share a few ideas I had for decorating. You may be on idea overload from Pinterest, but these are just things I feel are easy and work for me. I've tried a few Pinterest projects only to fail miserably.
1. Random decorations. I love having a Christmas tree theme so I struggled on how to use ornaments we received as gifts. Once Presley was old enough to start grabbing ornaments I started hiding them in near the base of our tree. This kept her from taking them and breaking them. Finding them has turned into a fun game we still play... I do wish I figured this out before the first few were broken!
2. Use objects from your surroundings or travels. Everywhere we go Presley comes back with treasures and I do too. On our trips to the beach we have sea glass, sea shells and sometimes sand. On our trips to the mountains we have pine cones and drift wood. Oh and rocks from every where, just haven't found a way to decorate with those! I digress... Where was I... Oh! We now have pine cones from Payson, Rancho Santa Fe and San Francisco! They are apart of our memories and apart of our decor (with a story). Not to mention free and seriously prettier than anything I've seen in a store.
3. Photos from Christmas Past. I place these images through out the house during this time of year. It's an easy way to to send your heart and mind back to the previous years. One of my favorite photos is of my nephew Dominic and myself, he must of been 7 or 8 months old. Looking at that picture I can remember that day vividly.
4. Children's Art. I really go crazy with all the art Presley comes home with. When she was little I decided I would only keep the art that was made for the holidays. I knew I could use these year after year and not just have stuffed in a overflowing drawer. Plus I think you'll enjoy these in the future.
5.Old Holiday cards. So it seems that I'm not the only one that has a hard time getting out my Christmas cards in a timely fashion. I love to display them but some years I get them and a week later it's time to take down the decorations. I also never wanted to toss them but didn't know what I'd do with them. Now I keep them and use them for decorations the following year. So from day one my card area looks full and colorful and I love to see how my friends kiddos have changed from year to year!
6. Homemade decorations. Crafts are something I've always loved but not everyone does. So make them simple! Stay away from Pinterest! I made the garland on the tree from burlap and string. I make a simple paper link garland in the past (in college and once with Presley). I made red paper stars a few years ago, when our tree didn't have enough color and I'm still using them! I've used paper snowflakes and origami boxes out of maps to cover white lights. None of which I saw on Pinterest but all things I learn to do as a child, sometimes I did have to YouTube to teach myself again!...
Whatever you do have fun! And if you have any rock decorating ideas please share.