Can I Decorate Yet?!?!?!

So, it's no big secret that I love Christmas! I mean, I L.O.V.E. CHRISTMAS!!!! It's been my favorite holiday since I can remember. I love everything about Christmas...the weather, the music, the movies on TV, the food, the decorations that make your home feel so warm and inviting, and the wonderful time with friends and family and the memories made. Every year, I start itching to decorate a little earlier than the year before. This year, it is taking literally every ounce of will power I have to not have my decorations up now! I don't know why the "itch" is so bad this year. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I have a few new things this year and I'm anxious to get them up and enjoy them. For instance, last Christmas my mom got us all new ornaments and accessories for our tree. Thank you mom!!!! I mean, she got it ALL! I mentioned to her that I wanted to redo the tree with browns, golds, and bronzes. Well, she got just about everything Belk had in their "Aspen" collection, which is just what I was picturing. I have more ornaments than I can count, ribbons, branches to stick out of the tree, etc. I am SO excited to give our tree an overhaul with the new things! The past few years I've been putting a lot of reds and silvers on it, which I like but I really love the look of the browns together. Our tree also goes in our dining room, which has those same tones in it so this will look much more cohesive. I AM all about cohesiveness, after all. I wish I had a picture of the collection, but I will definitely be putting up pictures after the house is decorated this weekend, I MEAN....in a few weeks!! ;) Our house isn't the most Christmas decoration-friendly house. It doesn't have those awesome little nooks and spaces you can put cute little things. It doesn't have a beautiful banister that is perfect for pretty lit garland. It doesn't have a space for a huge real tree that makes your house smell like Christmas (although it might if we mounted our TV over the fireplace, but we thought about it and I didn't like the way it looked). I usually do the tree, a centerpiece on the dining table and kitchen table, put out some cute things in the kitchen, decorate the mantle and maybe a couple of other tables with some greenery or something. We also usually put lights on the bushes outside, a small wreath on each window, our nice one on the door, and a small potted lit tree outside the front door. I'd like to decorate the roof-line and possibly the border of the front door in lights this year....if I can talk the hubby into doing it. ;-) We'll see about that one.

Another thing I am really excited about is our new stockings! I liked our old stockings but they are very traditional and I wanted something a little more modern and fun for the mantle. Here are the new stockings:
I got them from Ballard Designs. This of course is the picture from their website. I've gotten two so far, and will go back and get a third once we find out what we're having and decide 100% on a name. I got ours monogrammed, which is free, and I want the baby's to match the color and font exactly. I also got one for the dogs to share:
I love the red and green along with the little leopard print at the top. It's more of an apple red and a not quite lime green. I really like that combo and I think it can be fun and elegant if done appropriately. It will all be pretty simple. I plan to get some simple green garland (the kind I have now wouldn't go with this decor at all), prelit, of course, and preferably battery operated to avoid the unsightly cord (WHICH we have now!) and tuck red and green ball ornaments all along it. Then on either side of the mirror above the mantle, I want to put a couple of simple red cone trees. You wouldn't believe how hard these are to find, but I'm determined that I will somewhere!! I've thought about possibly making some myself with some materials from Hobby Lobby. I'm usually a firm believer in the philosophy that less is more...except for things like money of course! HA! ;-) So, I plan on keeping it pretty simple and letting each little accessory speak for itself and they'll all come together to make a really nice Christmas mantle. Our mantle is the focal point of our living room(aside from the big TV in the corner beside it) so I'm really excited about how it will look.

I can't wait to get started...and yes, I will possibly get started this weekend. I'm just not sure how many more ounces of will power I have left!! I will post pictures when it's all said and done, and I hope you do too!! I love to see everyone's home at Christmas!

I hope you're all having a great week...Hump Day is almost over and Friday will be here before we know it! We're going to Christmas Village on Saturday with the parents and I can't wait. They have lots of vendors there and it's a great place to get gifts, decor, and pretty much everything else. I haven't been before, so I'll tell you all about it afterward. I mentioned that I love Christmas, right? ;)