Today is when I share with you that I have a slight addiction to Christmas ornaments and decorations. To the fact that over the years, I have amassed such a collection that at the most I have had five trees in the house. New trees were needed simply because I had so many ornaments that I wanted to display.
Over the years decorating for Christmas has always been fun for me as I love to design and decorate. We’ve typically had open houses or parties and that always gives an incentive to pull everything out. Today I want to share a little of our home along with some of my favorite and memorable items.
The front hallway contains one of the favorite wreaths I have made. I love the bronze and gold colors. In addition to actual Christmas trees, I’ve also acquired Christmas trees for my tables.
I consider our living room the more formal or fancy tree as it includes more gold and bronze ornaments and of course another Christmas tree!
A few weekends ago I held a brunch for several friends and decorated the table in red, white and green.
For the tablescape I included vintage ornaments I inherited from my Nanny. I’ve considered making a wreath with the ornaments but am reconsidering and may only use them for display.
These cute stockings included gifts for each of my guests including hershey’s kisses, and a candy cane.
I didn’t leave the buffet table out in regards to decorating. The bronze pinecone tree is one of my favorites and typically sits on the dining room table when we don’t have guests.
Our family room tree is our largest tree and includes both sentimental and colorful ornaments.
Happy Birthday Jesus is one of James’ favorite ornaments. It’s a great reminder of the season and I love the How To Get To Heaven discussion.
And every southern tree has to have some monograms!
Our kitchen tree started out as a small 3 foot tree on our counter at our first home but after a few years of discovering adorable cooking related ornaments, the tree size had to be increased. This tree was originally my Mom’s and it fits perfect in the smaller space as it is narrow and tall.
We have a variety of wine glasses and more Starbucks coffee cup ornaments than we need!
On my baker’s rack, I’ve set up a Night Before Christmas Shelf. This includes a book that James has had since he was little and an ornament that my Nanny gave me when I was five (I remember shopping with her at the department store McAlpins , now Dilliards, and asking for it). It’s not a fancy ornament but full of memories.
In addition to Christmas trees, we’ve collected a variety of Santas and I haven’t photographed our team tree decked out in UK blue and all types of sports related ornaments.
During my Mom’s illness and during my first year of grief, I decorated because I felt that I needed to. It was normal and as many grieving individuals do, I needed normalcy. Last year, due to a vacation and not having plans for a party, James and I decorated the outside and hung stockings but did nothing else. Although I missed the decor, I was tired and chose to not push myself.
The decorating I have done this year is nothing like I have done in the past. I’m uncertain if I will ever return to the days of decorating my chandeliers and draping garland down the banisters. I share this as I hope anyone reading this who is dealing with their own grief and losses will realize that we do view the world differently after a death. It does not mean we can not still enjoy, it simply means we view from a different perspective.
Finally, for those of you who I have been communicating with after my more things than I need post, I made the decision this year to let go of a full ( large size) bin of my snowmen collection. This was a collection that I have not used in almost 6 years. Following the question if it brought me joy, it no longer did and I realized it needed to go.
Hoping you are surrounding yourself with Christmas items that bring you joy!
Joining Emily’s Grateful Heart Monday as I am so grateful to be celebrating the Christmas season.
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