Don put the wreaths - with brand new bows - on all the windows outdoors, Santas are distributed all around the house and the christmas dishes have been brought out of the pantry to replace the every day dishes.
Some years Miss Kitty would help us with the lights . . .
And some years she liked to help open presents - we miss our old lady . . .
Decorating the house up brings back sweet memories - like when our kids would sing christmas carols for us . . .
And sometimes those pesky bears would get into a lot of mischief . . .
The biscuit wreath is on the coat closet door. A friend and I made these when we lived in Kansas and our kids were in early grade school. It just wouldn't be christmas without it.
Memories of many christmases past - this was our tree one year, I think the year I was in 7th grade. We placed each of those strands of icicles one by one - it took hours.
Some years Lori would bake pretty cakes . . . and delicious too . . .
I have lots of Santas (more about them another time) - these Santas in the china cabinet are making the peace sign with their little green gloves - oh so cute!
Two Santas - they change where they stand each year. But they are always on duty, watching over christmas.
So the holiday season starts - have you put up any decorations yet?
We've done some but I'm not doing as much this year. Usually, I have so many decorations that it takes me until near the end of January to UN-decorate. This year, we are leaving for a nice, long vacation on January 15...so I need to have the house totally undecorated before that time (and still allow time to get ready for the trip). I will miss not having all the things out this year, but....I feel it will work out better this way. I enjoyed reading your post. This is the first year without our dog, Pepi, who was rather an expert at unwrapping his own gifts and gave us a laugh each Christmas morning when he did that. He is missed, too!
ReplyDeleteYes, I have the Christmas Village up. Love the Santa's in your hutch. Are you showing pictures of the outside lights? Enjoy the week.
ReplyDeleteYou did a fast job on your decorating. No decorating done here.
ReplyDeleteOh it's so exciting to start seeing everyone's Christmas decor going up! Even your header is so festive looking! I have only the single strand of icicle lights so far, will get to more soon! ~Lili
ReplyDeleteEverything must be looking wonderful. So much work. Love all the lights on the tree and the idea of lots of Santas everywhere.
ReplyDeleteI've never quite got used to the American tradtion of decorating for Christmas straight after THanksgiving! In UK it starts earlier than it used to but it is still early December before the first ones start appearing. Mine will go up somewhere around the 10th I think and I'm among the earlier ones. It's lovely getting everything out and remembering Christmas's from the past though I have nothing from my own childhood unfortunately not even photographs.
ReplyDeleteI love Christmas!!!
ReplyDeleteA wonderful post Jo :0) I love seeing everyone's decorations, especially since I don't have to do the decorating or even worse the putting away LOL.
ReplyDeleteCrispy
I am such a lazy sod about decorating..we will put the tree up next weekend...I have a just finished UFO I'm going to turn into a tree skirt today :) If I can get tarot or quilting into the subject I'm all in ~
ReplyDeletehugs, Sharyn
Isn't it nice to have it all looking so 'merry'!!
ReplyDeleteEverything looks beautiful ! We haven't decorated yet , soon I hope.
ReplyDelete~ Blessings ~
What a festive post! We did our decorating last weekend, and the house feels even more warm and cozy than usual. Looking forward to seeing more of your Santas.
ReplyDeleteI guess you could say I've started... I bought an artificial tree at a garage sale a few weeks ago, so now I CAN start earlier :) I don't have to worry about this tree drying out from the woodstove. But I am mailing out gifts to our kids earlier this year
ReplyDeleteI can remember putting those tedious icicles on our tree as a kid too! Yes, one.... by.... one
I also wanted to comment on your beautiful Christmasy header, How very festive!
ReplyDeleteLovely assortment of photos. Christmas decorations are done at our house - yay!
ReplyDeleteJust getting started here...outside lights are up. Santas and bears will be ready soon.
ReplyDeleteMiss Kitty was a grand cat. Miss her too! If you remember, I indulge in cats...have 5 now!
Loved your tree and decorations when you lived down the lane! I have one of your little painted bear ornaments! Precious!
OMG - I love your picture of the tree from your youth - it looks like ours did. We had to put the tinsel on 1 piece at a time. I don't use tinsel on my trees, I don't think many people do anymore, but it did make the tree look extra sparkly.
ReplyDeleteOh I do love to look at Christmassy stuff. My sweetie says we could put up the tree on the 24th....he's a grump about it all. Most men are I do think, but having said that, we are doing it next week when one of the grandkids can give a hand.
ReplyDeleteI do love all the old decors... brings back memories and the old wreath...blow off the dust and put er up I say!
Nice Christmas traditions - thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteWe have a Christmas wreath on the door, but I must confess, I have kept it up all year. Our AKA DIL made us all wreaths last year since she was so short on money. She put purple picks in our wreath. I like it so much I have kept it up all year. We also have a large Christmas wreath on the fireplace that has been there for a few years (all thru those years), too! I also bought a darly Annabelle Lee Christmas tree elf. The lights on the tree actually light up! Too cute!
ReplyDeleteI loved seeing all your Christmas decorations. Thank you for sharing your photos.
Thanks for coming by to lift my spirits
ReplyDeleteDiane
I love the way the holiday decor brings back special memories of years past. Sorry you do not have your sweet kitty anymore. Our cats like to "help" with the decor too. I'm just hoping they don't climb the tree or we might end up with the tree crashing to the floor.
ReplyDeleteOh, is Christmas around the corner? I guess I'd better get going.
ReplyDeleteI loved seeing your decorations.
A wonderful post! Love your wreath there!!
ReplyDeleteWhen the kids were young, we always looked forward to decorating the house for the holidays. One year we only decorated using things we made. Of course, we would sing Christmas carols and drink lots of hot chocolate with marshmallows as we decorated. It was a solid month of family time.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I think I see Ben in your picture of the kids singing Christmas carols. LOL
One year I made several of those "biscuit" wreaths. That was when calico fabric was so popular and everyone was into quilting. They were really beautiful...I made one for my son's teacher and she mentioned it every time she saw me. Balisha
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