Christmas Traditions - The Decorating

Ahhh decorating...it's a love/hate relationship with me.  I hate the hours of work lugging box after box after box in and taking down every "usual" decore to replace with the Christmas.  I'm dirty, my hands are ripped up and I'm tired, BUT I LOVE the finished product.  There is really nothing better than the twinkle and the sparkle of all the lights and the shiny decorations.

Today I'm linking up with one of my favorite RL friends over at Denton Sanitorium.  Go ahead, check her out...you'll love her, then you'll follow her, then she'll have even MORE followers than me. hahahahahaha  I love this game I play with her.  It amuses me.  But, I digress.

As a kid, I don't know how or when, but at some point, decorating the house for Christmas became MY thing.  I would put on Amy Grants Tennessee Christmas (still my all time favorite Christmas album) the day after Thanksgiving and I would dutifully walk up and down our stairs (all decorations were stored in the basement) at least a bazillion times to retrieve and put away. (lest there be an uproar, there was SOME help from siblings.  But I sort of told everyone what to do).  I insisted on every single thing being EXACTLY the same every year.  I am a creature of habit.  I like tradition and I tend to stick with it.  You can imagine my heartbreak when after we were all out of the house, my Mom sort of squashed all my beloved traditions and pretty much stopped decorating the house.  She does a very subdued version now, which is lovely....just, not the same.

Anyway, as it is in my own home, I found how I like things and they stay the same.  I have small collections of snowmen (I just LOVE them), angels and nativities so I display them in groupings.
My Entertainment Center "collection" is among my favorite things.




I honestly don't know WHAT I will do if I'm ever without this entertainment center.



 

Each and every piece on the shelves have stories of where they came from, who they came from and what they mean to me.  My Mom is a Nativity collector and has them from all over the world.  She has some truly beautiful pieces to be sure.  The two most prominent sets I have came from her, one from Mexico and one from Honduras.  I really love them both.

I love looking at each of these decorations and the memories that they bring.

Next I cover the top of my piano with what I call my "old fashioned" Christmas things.  Some of them came from my Moms house, where I always put them on top of the computer desk.

Again, each piece has such sentimental meaning to me.

Then there are new things.  When we moved in here, it gave me opportunity to find new ways to decorate, and I realllllllly love these:

These happy little balls of  "joy" hang above my kitchen table, with matching balls that hang from my windows.  So simple, and yet so cute.  They make me happy everytime I look at them.

Ok fine, so here's the deal...I just love it ALL when it's done.

our house is not big, in fact, it's rather COZY, but it's so perfect for us.

And everyone that comes in for the first time, especially at Christmas time

always says the same thing.

It's so warm and festive and cozy in here.

I had to do a closeup of those sweet little ugly Mr. and Mrs. Clause mop dolls.

I made those when I was probably 19 at a church activity.

I was so proud of them, and they were part of the decore in my parents house for years.

They've seen a lot of abuse over time.

I know they're ugly, but they are MY tradition.

And those Deer were a tradition from my Moms house as long as I remember.  My mom had a set, and then she had one made for each of us kids.

I love them.

Of course lastly, there is the tree.

Which I have decided to talk about in a different post, 'cause I want to talk about ornaments and the traditions and sentiments they imply.  I'm wierd like that.

Ahhhh, come to think of it...for all my complaining, I really secretly LOVE it.

The Holly and the Ivy,

Allyson