Christmas Decor Done

Grams spent yesterday cleaning house and finishing up my Christmas decorating. By the end of the day, both knees and hips were hurting. When it was time to make dinner, all that was left was sweeping and vacuuming. I didn't get those finished so, those, along with laundry, are on today's agenda. I'm also planning to spend some time sewing a Christmas dress for Our Little Princess. That seems like an ambitious to-do list. We'll see how far I get.

Here is a short recap of the Christmas decor. I added a wreath to the front door. I think it was just the right finishing touch. The glittered "joy" was purchased at an after-Christmas sale last year it's just chipboard and glitter. I paid one dollar for it and it also included two glittery Christmas trees.

Our Christmas tree is quite an undertaking. I've collected ornaments for our entire married life so there are hundreds of ornaments. Grandad helped me decorate it this year. We put White Christmas on while we decorate and sang along with all the familiar songs. Decorating the tree has definitely become more of a challenge for me in recent years. At 5'1" decorating the top of the tree requires a stepladder for me. Grandad decorated the top of the tree while I unwrapped the ornaments and decorated the bottom of the tree.

I photographed the tree with three different kinds of lighting and camera settings. I'm such a novice photographer, but the photos are each very different and I think they give you a pretty good idea of the way the tree looks.

Then I tackled the fireplace. I made two big poofy bows with the metallic netting that was leftover from the front door. I covered the top of the mantle with an artificial pine garland that I use every year and added the bows to each end. I used a removable decal on the front and I nestled a wreath upcycled from felted sweaters. The glittery Christmas trees were in the same package as the glittered "joy" that's on the wreath that's on the front door. Right next to the fireplace is our back door which has a window. I replaced its usual curtain with a folded tablecloth in Christmas colors and added another glittered chipboard purchase from last year's after-Christmas sales. It says "Happy Holidays" and also came with the two snowflakes that you'll see in the picture. All the glittered pieces are hung with fishing line so it's invisible.

I feel so much more prepared for Christmas now that I'm done with the decorating. Tomorrow Grandad starts his vacation. He'll be off until the day after Christmas. He and I will do a marathon shopping day tomorrow.

For today, I need to go start my laundry and make my second cup of coffee.