My House: Xmas'ed

This is our first California Christmas and since the weather sure as heck doesn't feel like Christmas, I tried to make my house as festive as I could.

Our Kitchen, dining, and living room are all connected, and really the only place we spend our time, so I didn't bother with the other rooms.

 

Honestly, scented pine cones may be the best spent money I spent on all of my decorations. They've kept my house smelling amazing since I bought them on Black Friday.  

 

Joel gets funny about decorations - thinking that they very quickly become tacky, so I always try to stay clear of any disney or cartoony themed items (obviously), and try to stick to classic shapes and classic colors.

  

I remember as a kid all of the Christmas decorations that my mom would put out. One of my favorites was a needlepoint pillow with an old time santa as the pattern so this year I finally picked up

 a Christmas pillow of my own from Target. 

 

Speaking of Target, that's where we got this 6' pre-light baby. I knew fake Christmas trees could be stupidly expensive, but we have huge ceilings, and a dinky tree just wouldn't cut it on our room. Somehow, I convinced Joel to come with me to Target on Black Friday - which turned out to be nothing at all - and we scooped up this tree for THIRTY dollars. 

 

I love this Vol's snowman we got last Christmas and since we haven't collected all that many ornaments, he sits front and center. Next week I'm hosting an Ornament exchange at my house with some girlfriends, and I can't wait to head out shopping for some. Plus, I'm on the hunt for a special puppy one in lieu of Roscoe's 1st Christmas.

 

 And my girl Natasha, shared the secret to perfect chalkboards.....wet chalk. It seriously makes the board in my kitchen look painted.

I love turning all of the lights off at the end of the day and just soaking in all the Christmas spirit. It really is the most wonderful  time of year.