I did something this year I don't recall ever doing before. . . . I decorated for Christmas before Thanksgiving. I was in the mood, it had been a challenging year and I just decided to do it. However, I couldn't get around to posting the results until today.
I have a 6 foot tree, pre-lit, that I wasn't especially in love with last year. However, I have a 3 foot one that I've had for ages. To me, it is the prettiest shaped artificial tree I've ever seen. Usually, it goes in my bedroom with clear lights and clear crystal-like ornaments. This year I decided to use it as my main tree - it takes up less space and I just love it. The downside is that it isn't pre-lit. It's one of those do-it-yourselfers but with a long string of lights and some tweaking, it looks lovely. At least I think so. Most of my original tree ornaments weren't too oversized for the tree and others, I hung on the wall. I'll show you that in another photo.
I still need to fix a tree skirt for it though.
My Mitford village is my pride and joy. I have the complete Hallmark collection of the buildings but I found them little by little, mostly on E Bay. So, I have some in the 'Spring' collection and some in the 'Winter' collection. The Winter ones come out at Christmas and the Spring ones are out the rest of the year. Along with the buildings I also have the Mitford Collection of Snowmen. It makes me smile everytime I look at it.
I have since added two votive candles to the scene.
My nativity set sits on my dresser in the bedroom. It was painted the Christmas season before I entered nurse's training so it's up there in years. The interesting fact about this is that I bought the set as cold ceramics which only needed to be fired once and then painted. Except that I did it the wrong way around. I painted them first and they really looked nice. Then I took them in to be fired only to be told that they would lose all their color in the process. So, I got to paint them again! They've held up well and only the angel is no longer with the display.
Next to the nativity is my mother's Little Drummer Boy doll. This one was her favorite and she kept it out all year long. It is an Ashton Drake doll, no longer made and has a music box inside.
I used to have a large collection of snowmen but in moving, I downsized a bit. The ones left I have sitting on two of my bookshelves.
One of my favorite little figurines I bought many, many years ago in St. Augustine on a weekend trip with my husband. I use it as a paperweight on my desk.
My table top decoration. Black bears in Tennessee!
Even the TV and lap top screen got the Christmas treatment.
My cozy fire is courtesy of
You Tube. Another of my snowmen, sitting by the tree is a gift from a dear friend. He lights up although you may not be able to see it from the photo. The ornaments hanging on a piece of lace over the fireplace are ornaments that were too oversized for the tree.
And of course, there's the laptop.
The cute kitty looks a bit like Apollo but this isn't my photo. It's simply a wallpaper I found.
I also like to leave a disclaimer with any post of mine that has photos. I am not the most gifted photographer so I hope you can see these okay.
I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving. Mine was spent with my son Mike and daughter in law Steph. Stephanie is a fantastic cook! I ate and ate and then brought leftovers home and ate all weekend. Mike and I talked Disney World as we often do when we get together. There's some talk of trying to shoot for a week there at the beginning of 2025. How much fun that would be!
We're four days away from beginning our December festivities. So far, I have three get togethers on the agenda - a Christmas party with my church small group, the annual Christmas breakfast with our pastor's wife and then the pastor's annual Christmas party.
This year, I'll be reading one chapter of the Gospel of Luke every day beginning December 1st. which brings me to the last chapter on Christmas Eve. God's most cherished and greatest gift to mankind - His Son Jesus. Emmanuel - God With Us!
Have a blessed day!
