"All Christmas trees are perfect!" -Charles N. Barnard

       Christmas is in full swing.  All I listen to is Christmas music, and I am eating more than I should.  I've been gift wrapping although I've yet to finish my shopping! The house is incredibly festive with all of our decorations up.  We burn Yankee Candles all through our home, and it smells like heaven.

       We have decided that our family has the tradition of being different every year.  Meaning, we really don't have any traditions. We don't have a specific way we decorate each year.  Our decorations used to be very traditional, but they've morphed into the more aspen/woodland/Scottish styles. Here are a few snapshots from our decor this year! 

       The only semi-constant in our house is the tree. We use the same tree and ornaments each year.  We made the switch to an artificial tree several years ago. Our ceilings are 12', so buying a live Christmas tree that would fill the space was becoming very expensive. This one has been perfect.  This will, however, be its last year.  Seven years is quite impressive! Whenever I look at our tree, I think of that part in the film, You've Got Mail, where Meg Ryan is decorating her tree in the Shop Around the Corner. 

        "It’s coming on Christmas, they’re cutting down trees. Do you know that Joni Mitchell song? I wish   I had a river I could skid away on. Such a sad song. And not really about Christmas at all, but I was thinking about it tonight as I was decorating my Christmas tree; unwrapping funky ornaments made of popsicle sticks and missing my mother so much I almost couldn't breathe." 

       It's an incredibly sad passage, but I can't help but think of it when I look at our ornaments.  They are a mixture of popsicle sticks, globes from each place we've visited, and family heirlooms.

       We keep a mixture of holiday sweets on our buffet in the living room.  It's a dangerous thing to have meringues, truffles, cookies, and candies so easily available, but we balance it with oranges and other fruits.  That makes all the consumption neutral, right? These plates are a sample of our collection. The Merry Christmas plates in the bottom left corner are from this year's set of Target decorations, so if you're interested, they're probably still available! 

 

       These angels have long been one of my favorite decorations.  We placed them on top of the liquor cabinet this year with fresh greenery and some wooden tree figures. 

       Oh, here's a bonus picture. Probably the last year I went and saw Santa and actually looked cute while doing it. I wish I could post more/better pictures, but I just simply don't have a camera for it.  Looks like I'll be using the good ole iPhone for a little while longer! 

       Do you have any decorating traditions?