I am always so excited for December to arrive and then find it totally unbelievable that it is December already. This year is no exception! Moma took Baby Bub back to my hometown the first of last week leaving me with 2 uninterrupted days to decorate for Christmas. This was perfect. I was able to go at my own pace and not worry about an extra set of little hands trying to help.
For the first time in this house I was able to actually decorate on a more of an adult level verses a college level. What I mean is that it looks like I actually put thought into what decorations were going where as opposed to just setting a bunch of junk out and hoping for the best. Here is a little collection of the high points. 
I have to say it was much easier to have a coherent plan after going through and passing along some of my collection to my sister. And I was able to really get down to the stuff that I really love. And I am sure I will be doing some tweaking as we get closer to Christmas.
For the first time in a long time, like maybe 2 decades, there is a live tree in my house! I have had an artificial tree that I bought myself 11 years ago. I am pretty attached to it- it has been with me and many, many roommates. It is on its last leg, I have to add strands of lights now because the pre-lit-ness is not so much. I grew up with my Moma, step-Mom and Grandmother all using artificial trees. Bub grew up with real trees- apparently. And has pestered me about a real tree since the first Christmas we were dating- and this was finally his year!
And wowza! It is a beaut! We will probably always have one now because I am just infatuated with it. The tree itself is just so pretty! And with the lights and ornaments- it’s very eye-catching. I did water it and I did add Sprite to the water- like 2 parts water, 1 part Sprite. That trick works for fresh cut flowers- why not a fresh cut Douglas Fir?!?!
Now, you may be wondering if I have lost my mind putting up not one but two trees with a 13 month old running amuck in my house… well, on the bottom two feet of the live tree I put nothing but shatter proof ornaments. And if the truth be told, the artificial tree is in my bedroom (former living room and location of front porch window). So, here goes!
Bub and I also decorate the outside of our house too. In years past we have just gone out there and lit everything that could be lit. Last year you could have done surgery on our front porch there were so many lights. And although that strategy is awesome in some ways, I am more drawn to the houses that actually look like they put some thought into their holiday lighting plan. (Are you starting to catch my drift?)
We have been talking about what we are going to do for several weeks but it wasn’t until this past weekend that we actually got the lights on the house. When we got the live tree, I raided the clippings bin and used those to create a garland across the rails on the front porch. I have to say, it is very effective!
I also have one small suggestion when it comes to your lights- inside or out— use timers. They are awesome! We have them on both trees and for our outside lights. With them you never have to worry about plugging in or unplugging the lights- they are worth every penny!
How do you decorate? Do you do follow the same plan of attack every year or do you switch up your theme from year to year? Do you put lights up on your house? Do you put up more than one tree?
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