Christmas Tour of My Home

Now that all my decorations are up, welcome to the 2013 Christmas tour of my house!

Last year my dad hung hooks under the eaves of my house so I could easily put up lights on my own. It only took me about twenty minutes. He did help with the additional blue icicle lights, though! I love them.

When I first set out my deer (in the top photo), only the torso was lighting up. My dad said he'd come back later to work on it. The next night, I was backing out to go somewhere and noticed that the whole deer was aglow. I called my dad to thank him, only to find out that he hadn't done anything. The deer healed on its own. Christmas miracle!!

Here's this year's Christmas wreath! Inspired by this pin (and then this one), I saved paper towel rolls for months, then cut them, hot-glued them together, and spray-painted the whole thing gold. Once the wreath was dry and set, I glued on the small ornaments (from Hobby Lobby) and hung it with ribbon. It's not exactly what I envisioned, but I'm still happy with it. I just wanted a change from evergreen this year.

My interior decorations are simpler this year. I wanted to add some garland or lights to the mantel, but worried that the cats would somehow yank it down and break everything. So this is as good as it gets. Even though it's not perfectly arranged, it makes me happy to look at it!

This Photoshop job of me and my siblings with Baby Jesus is already legendary in our family. Someone (either my mom or sister) decoupaged it onto plaques and gave one to each of us. It's one of my favorite Christmas things. The ceramic lamps are Lenox, both gifts from different people several years apart. And I just tied a holiday bow around this bird to make him festive.

I scored this holiday dish at my clothing swap, and it's the perfect accent to my Yankee candle. I put it all on a Christmas cloth from India. (Don't mind the weather station, it stays out year round.)

I like to mark my travels with ornaments (and refrigerator magnets), so I bought this gold-plated aspen leaf in Steamboat Springs to remember my time there. I thought of my Gathering friends as I hung it on the tree.

Meanwhile, the cats are extra adorable at the holidays.