Top O' The Holiday!

Christmas is my jam. Me and Christmas are likethis! Hubby gets Halloween and I get Christmas. I love all of the love and cheerfulness in the air around the holidays - except for that cranky old bag that just cut in front of you in line at Target... Coming off of the Thanksgiving tryptophan, you're thankful focusing all that's right in the world and hopefully can keep that thankful high through the holiday chaos.

Maybe it's because I thrive in chaos, but I love the holidays. Yes, I get just as stressed out as the rest of you, but the stress is for your family and friends, two of my favorite things! My next favorite thing... DECORATIONS! We live in condo that's just over 1,000 square feet and we have three giant crates of Christmas decorations, and somehow it grows each year...

How did that get in my cart?!
I don't know but it looks really cute over here!

We are linking up with these fab holiday linky parties this week, mostly because we have a not-so-secret obsession with Centsational Girl and all of her DIY fabulousness. Plus, it gave me an excuse to hurry and put up all of our Christmas decor! We even got a tree Sunday night! Woohoo! We are a family of real trees, in case you were wondering. Although, I actually said out loud while we were decorating the tree "Hubby, what if we look for a fakey when Christmas is over and they go on sale?" to which my loving husband replied "Do you want a divorce?". Ha Ha! I know...I can't believe I said it, but now that we have a very mobile crazy kid, any way I can make my life easier and less messy, the better. But nothing beats the smell of a real tree. I'm sitting in my living room typing this and my noble fir is like heaven in my nostrils.

Anyways...on to the goods... We sadly don't have a fireplace in our little condo, but we treat our Ascend bookcase like a mantel for the holidays. I love this bookcase and love that we've managed to make it grow with our family.

The toys had to stay, of course.

A little closer.

And a little closer. I am especially stoked about the cool foil snowflake that Hubby suggested we pick up while at, where else... Target! Hey, for $5...you really can't go wrong!

After pulling out our decor and laying it out, that blank spot on the wall was bugging me. Perfect place for a foil snowflake if I don't say so myself! If you don't know about the 3M Command Hooks, then get out from under the rock you are living under because they've had commercials on TV for a while now. Seriously, probably the greatest invention ever. The first year we moved into our condo, we saw them and also bought over sized ornaments and hung them from the ceiling with these hooks and some fishing line. I had knee surgery that Christmas, so it was a nice thing to gaze at while I was immobilized on the couch for a few weeks. Ever since, we have a stash of these hooks on hand because you never know when you might want to hang something fun from your ceiling!

I love my cool little reindeer. I bought one from the store where Lani, Hubby, and I (and a few of our other friends) met and worked, and then Hubby made them a pair shortly thereafter. They are very similar to ones at Pottery Barn, but I can assure you I didn't (and would probably never) pay $149 each for them.

Here's one more angle for good measure.

The stockings & their holders are placeholders for now. Hubby and I got our initials ones for our first Christmas as a married couple. They don't make the same ones anymore so we couldn't get a matching one with a W for Will last year. And he also got a random stocking holder... I'm holding out until we have our next kid to replace all of the stockings and holders so we all match. Maybe I'll get crazy and make them...We'll see.

I am also really proud of myself that 90% of the stuff we decorated with here was from our existing stash. The only new things are the foil snowflake and the two little ball ornaments on my house plant, but those are from a few other things I bought for a project I'll post a little later in the week. Woohoo for crafty decor! I actually did two projects. I LOVE the one I just finished...cannot wait to show you! Here's a hint...snowballs in wreath form... oooooOOOhhhhh!!

What are your favorite holiday decorations that you make sure get put out every year? Do you have a color scheme or do you change your scheme often? I love seeing how everyone decorates for the holidays!

Pop on over to Hooked on Houses to see other inspirational holiday decor!