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.

My Pinterest Inspired Christmas Door

Grams is hooked on Pinterest. I know that I'm not alone in this. Katy and I were discussing it today and she said "it's kind of like peeking in on someone else's style." I think she's right. We also agreed that it can be a huge time suck. Probably more than, dare I say it, Facebook. When I start looking around Pinterest, I'll look up and suddenly hours have gone by.

I've seen a few Pinterest Challenge posts around the blogosphere. The one that I can remember was by Sherry over at Young House Love. She made the cutest Christmas ornaments during the Fall Pinterest Challenge.

When I found this door on Pinterest, I knew I wanted to do something similar.

Source: southernfrieddreams.blogspot.com via Vicki on Pinterest

I wanted to replicate it, so I started shopping for the elements. I found the mesh at Hobby Lobby. It was affordable but I couldn't find a print like the one in the picture. Instead I bought a roll of white metallic mesh (which came from the bridal department) and a roll of red metallic mesh. The white mesh is 21 inches wide and 30 feet long and cost $9.99. The red is 5 1/2 inches wide by 30 feet long and cost $4.99. I used one roll of each.

I looked for the oversize ornaments in a lot of places in both Corpus Christi and Houston. Unfortunately, the only oversized ornaments I could find were from $4 to $12 each. I didn't want to spend that much so I started looking for an alternative. I considered several things and had decided on the idea of wiring a group of 5 or 7 ornaments in a cluster to use in place of the oversize ornaments.

Then I went to Dollar Tree where I found these beautiful glittery bells. In case you don't have a Dollar Tree where you live or if you've never been there, everything at Dollar Tree is $1. Seriously! I love Dollar Tree. So I bought three of each color and spent a total of $9 on the bells.

The red ribbon with green glitter polka dots is left over from my Christmas tree garland. I bought it three years ago. It cost me nothing this year.

I also used one value-size package of 3M Command small wire hooks. There are 9 in a package; and I used 7 of them. They cost approximately $8 at Wal-Mart. The Command hooks are awesome. It's the first product I've found that works on our vinyl siding without any damage. I will be buying some larger ones for hanging wreaths and other decor on the exterior of our house.

The only other expense was a package of chenille stems (previously known as pipe cleaners) which cost less than $2 for 100 stems at Wal-Mart.

Here's my finished front door. I'm pretty satisfied with how it looks; not identical to the Pinterest door, but inspired by it.

Total cost ... less than $35. Not too bad.

I was not compensated in any way by any one for this post. I paid for all the materials used in this project.

I'm linking this post the the Pinterest Make Me Challenge Weekly Link Up at Mummy To Five.

Hello ... I'm Grams and I'm a Christmas Addict

That's right, Grams is addicted to Christmas, specifically to Christmas decorations. Since the first year we were married, I have decorated my entire house for the holidays. At times I've been way over the top, covering virtually every space with decorations. I have ornaments for the bathrooms, Christmas linens for the kitchen, Christmas quilts for the bedrooms, etc. One year, I actually "gift wrapped" the throw pillows that go on my bed and sofa.

Since we married in November, that first Christmas was upon us before we knew it. We couldn't afford lavish or fancy decorations. So I made most of the decorations from Styrofoam, sequins and pipe cleaners. A couple of strands of lights and a few inexpensive glass balls made a lovely tree that first year. Grams spent hours pushing straight pins with sequins and beads into Styrofoam balls ... so much so that my thumbs were sore for days. I still have some of those ornaments. They are among my favorites.

That was the beginning of my addiction to all things Christmas. Every year since 1975, I have added to my collection of ornaments and decorations.

Feeding my addiction has never been a problem. At the job that I held for 32 years, we had an ornament exchange every year at the Christmas party. My bunco club also exchanges ornaments. When we travel, my souvenir of choice is an ornament.

When we had our children, I began ornament collections for them. Each one started with a "Baby's First Christmas" ornament and we added at least one ornament every year. When Katy married, one of her bridal shower gifts was a big box filled with her ornaments. And last year, I was delighted to present a box of beautiful ornaments to Marie, my new daughter-in-law, at her bridal shower. Accompanying both of these gifts were "Our First Christmas Together" ornaments.

This year, we'll start a collection for our little princess with a beautiful "Baby's First Christmas" ornament. Her Mom has already told me that she's enchanted with the Christmas tree. I can't wait until she comes to Grams and Grandad's house for Christmas.

We have used an artificial tree since Nick was born in 1981, because when he was little, he seemed allergic. A few years ago, when we had to replace our old tree, I was determined to get a tree with a smaller circumference ... something that wouldn't take up so much room. But when we went shopping, we just couldn't bring ourselves to buy a smaller tree. So, I still have a huge tree that takes a big chunk of my living room. But, I'm willing to admit that I love it. It even rotates on its stand. And considering that, since I passed the kids' ornaments on to them, it now has fifty fewer ornaments on it, I wonder how I ever fit them all on the tree.

In recent years, I've begun to realize that my addiction is out of control. I have so many decorations in storage that I couldn't possibly put them all out at the same time. There are boxes that I haven't even taken out of the closet in three or four years. But I do love unpacking my ornaments and placing them on the tree every year. I can still remember where I got each one. It makes me think about people I don't see any more, trips we've taken, and things that happened which are commemorated by special ornaments. I especially treasure the handmade ornaments that my kids gave me when they were in elementary school.

Grams is wondering ... is there a twelve-step program for Christmas addicts?