It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

[homescribehistory]

Sorry Eperot, but Thanksgiving dinner is now over and my lights are now powered on. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

[Nicholas]

Its different when you have kids, as do I, even though they are all over 18.

I kept it simple, don't feel like Chevy Chase in "Christmas Vacation" this year, don't feel like falling off the roof....

[Jeepnstein]

Got my exterior lights almost done. We also do a little tree on the front porch just for the extra light. LED's are sure the way to go. The football pennants and football helmet doodad are stored away until next year now.



I usually sell five or six of those Nativity scenes every year. I got the template back when an old guy at our church was constantly going on about how there were no affordable ones available. He was a wood worker, too, and was always making something for someone. Maurice was a kind and gentle soul and I miss him terribly every time I put one of those things in someone's yard. His life story was just breathtaking in his capacity to express love and generosity.

ETA: I got a pic of the little tree. That is the extent of our decorating. I may do luminary candles along the walks on Christmas Eve if the weather permits.

[Eperot]

I can't go the LED route. It's good old incandescent bulbs for me. Nothing matches the natural warmth and color. LED's, even in "warm white" always look fake. I've got clear C7 bulbs wrapped around my pine roping and by next year, a candle in every window! Yay! It will have only taken 7 years.

[SouthernLady]

Sorry if I started this thread too early for some of us!

I loved that story about the man who made the manger scenes. My grandpa did something similar.

[Don M]

My son & I did our usual simple outside decorations, wreaths & spotlights to illuminate the front of the house & barn.

[jharkin]

Ok, now its December so here we go. I just wish it actually felt like December outside !!

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[Don M]

Very pretty & good looking!

[homescribehistory]

Looks great!
Ditto on the weather. I'm not saying I want it to be 0 degrees and I know I'll be yearning for this type of weather when one of those terrible days comes, but 70 degrees is too much for this time of year.

[SouthernLady]

Victorian mistletoe ball hanging from ceiling light (I just had my church's youth group at my house tonight for a Christmas party--it was renamed the "hugging ball" ), natural-looking pine garland over the mantle, mini-trees by the mantle, candles in front of the old mantel mirror at the ready (again, I just had a bunch of kids in my house--these candles did not get lit tonight!), pomanders in my Victorian bowl on the center table with cloves (smells heavenly), matching garland on the staircase with handmade red bows, more pine and berries stuck by oil lamps and on the piano. And Joy inspecting everything before the guests arrived. Oh! Yes, a fake poinsettia plant inside my coal hod in the fireplace, which is holding the ash dump down to keep the little mices from coming to visit... I would have a real one, but being poisonous to critters I passed on that option. Please overlook the plastic bag on the spinnet desk. Last second decorating...


The chestnut mantle decorated simply with a magnolia garland I made myself, as well as dried fruits, cinnamon sticks, nuts, and cranberries hanging from the center. Sugared fruits in the bowl on the table.


Buffet decorated with a magnolia wreath my sister made. What's left of my cranberry punch and hot chocolate sits on the tea cart. The kids really loved the hot chocolate. I made it from scratch, and none of them had ever had it that way before. Some of them asked me if it was the same hot chocolate the McCuistions would have had at Christmas. They were so sweet. A few of the siblings that were at my house tonight come from a family of seven kids. I asked the group of 20 how they would like to live in my house with nine siblings. The family of seven were blown over that nine kids grew up in this farmhouse. It was a lot of fun to see their eyes opened up a small bit to life on a late-1800s farm.


Since I used a lot of the counter space for food, I kept it simple in the kitchen as well. I found an idea on Pinterest for a candle centerpiece and twisted it around a bit. My neighbor let me clip some berries and evergreen, and I tied them to my antique Ball jars with twine. I added epsom salt to each jar along with a tea light.

There's my Papillon, Joy, again... camera hog... She's such a sweetheart, and quite the social butterfly...


I was pleased with the result.