Decorating for Christmas

I'm not much of a home decorator, nor will you ever see our home featured in Better Homes and Gardens, but I just have to say...

I love our house at Christmastime! 

Sometime during Thanksgiving weekend, we break out our Christmas boxes from the attic and bedeck our house in Christmas splendor and today's post will give you a little tour of it all! 

Our beautimous Christmas tree!    We bought a real tree the first year we were married, but when Glen sneezed his way through that Christmas season, we knew we were destined for a lifetime of artificial greens.  This tree has now seen 16 Christmases in our family and is looking strong for the 17th! 

This heart-shaped ornament was a wedding gift, that reads "Our First Christmas Together 1993".  It's not really my style of decor, but it holds a place as one of my favorite ornaments nonetheless. 

The snowflakes were mostly made by my Grandmother Hepworth (and later supplemented with some storebought ones).  They're my very favorite feature of our tree and they make me smile each year when we cover our tree with them. 

Here you can see a glimpse of our mismatching stockings, including my awesome left-handed one I've had since I was a baby.  We've talked many times about getting matching stockings for the whole family, but each time the suggestion is heartily rejected by certain members of our family (both male) and so our mantle with personality remains intact. 

Here's a close-up of the Nativity on our mantle.  One my siblings brought it back for us after a Jerusalem study-abroad trip there.  The stable was a $5 consignment store find, which complemented it perfectly! 

An even closer close-up, so you can see some of the beautiful detailing. 

Here's a Nativity that my sister AnnaLisa made for us in the style of a Finnish nativity she'd seen before.  I love that it's hand-made and totally unique! 

Here's a little Nativity one of the kids made...

This is our kid Nativity--the one I don't mind if the kids play with.  It's cute, mismatching, and sturdy (just like me). 

 I think that the word JOY sums up what Christmas is all about...

Here's the porcelain Christmas tree we got as a wedding gift.  It's lost the star and a few lights in the 18-years we've had it, but we're thrilled that it's long enough to be a part of each year's Christmas decor!

Another wedding present that just makes me smile...

The Mary and Joseph figurine are another gift from Jerusalem, while the Silent Night cross-stitching was from Glen's mom.  I'm not sure if she made it or not, but it's been a part of our Christmases for 18 years now!

and I'm not quite sure what's wrong with this Christmas elf's tongue, but I find him strangely debonair and I hope he won't mind if I pinch his cheeks and keep him around for a while.  :)