Deck the Halls

I had originally planned to post this a week or two ago, but life has been non-stop since Thanksgiving and it totally slipped my mind until this week! If you remember my other decor posts (Halloween & Thanksgiving), then you can probably guess that Christmas is my big she-bang when it comes to holiday decorating. I don't even think I have a gazillion decorations or even that my stuff is super amazing, but it lights my face up every single year when it is all set up. I'm like a kid in candy store when it comes to Christmas :)

So we will start with the outside - this is mostly the handiwork of my husband!

Our front door - you can also see the net lights for our hedge & the icicle lights from the roof

These candy canes line our walkway & they were a new addition this year...so cute!

This mini tree stands to the left of our front door - I added a few decorations to spice it up

This wreath is the best part of our outdoor decorations. For one thing, it's huge & rocks my socks. But most importantly, my aunt made it & she is the queen when it comes to decorating wreaths (or really anything). I asked her a few years ago to help my naked wreath, we went shopping for supplies & then she put it together. Amazing-ness, I tell you!

Now onto the inside!

Our living room table - pretty simple with red candles, snowflake candle holders, a giant etched vase & some cranberries, acorns & glitter mini ornaments as fillers

We have a double sliding glass door that takes up one wall of our living room so I threw on two lighted garlands & added extra lights (in red, white & green) & a bow on either side.

On one side of our bar counter, I have some candle holders featuring Santa, gingerbread men & red scrolls (all from PartyLite) & more acorn/mini ornament filler.

The other side features more candle love in the form of trees & a gingerbread house!

On one side of our tv - Mrs. Claus & a crystal Christmas tree

And on the other side you will find Santa & a crystal angel

And finally, our tree! This year we got a real one (which smells amazing, by the way!) & our theme is red, green & white. Whimsical & fun. Growing up, my mom always decorated our trees in a glamorous, chic way & I loved it! But the Hubs & I decided to keep it more traditional in regards to our colors...even the wrapping paper matches!

A special decoration gets added every year in the form of a Mickey ornament to commemorate how many Christmases the Hubs & I have shared together since getting married. It's a tradition we started year one & since the family goes to Disney right before Christmas every year (check my post tomorrow!), it makes it convenient to get an ornament personalized for that year & try to alternate between red, white & green ornaments.

Can you find any of the Mickey ornaments in the tree photo above?

So that's it! The Kelly household in all it's Christmas glory! Isn't it pretty?! :)

If you are a blogger & you have a post with your Christmas decor, I would love to see it! Leave your link in the comments below!

And don't forget to take advantage of the 50% discount for your first JewelMint purchase, courtesy of the MBA Seattle team! Details can be found HERE.

Harvest Decor

I don't have much when it comes to fall/harvest decor for the Thanksgiving season (one storage bin for Thanksgiving decor vs. six storage bins for Christmas decor...um yeah) but I did want to share the two main components that I actually MADE myself! Last year at this time, I was solo for a week while the Hubs was in Nicaragua on a community service missions trip with our church. With the downtime, I came up with some craft projects as I noticed my fall decor was lacking. I did these both in a matter of two evenings and while I wouldn't consider myself the best DIY'er, I was impressed with what I came up with!

My living room tablescape!

(with the candles lit)

These white pumpkins were marked down on clearance after Halloween, so I grabbed them at $1 a piece. I found rust colored gems and stuck them onto the pumpkins in several lengths and then added the same gems into votive candle holders. I had the leaf tea light holders and then added some acrylic leaves all around.

My front door wreath!

This was another result of an after Halloween clearance sale. I purchased a plain green wreath (the same found on typical Christmas wreaths) and an assortment of fall floral and berry stems. Most of these floral stems were about $1 or so and all complimented each other in similar colors of purples, oranges and reds. I simply removed the stems from the flowers and berries and then used a hot glue gun to attach them to the wreath. I laid out the largest flowers first and then filled in the gaps with the smaller flowers followed by the berry stems. I just love it! Again not professional quality, but pretty nonetheless!


Do you have any fall decor that you made yourself? I would love to see it!

Our Not so Spooky Casa

I thought I would share some of the Halloween decorations that we have set up at home. Like I mentioned before, I'm not really into things that are scary and dark, so my decor approach is pretty simplistic - jack o' lanterns, spiderwebs and all things pumpkin!

Enjoy!

(lighting up our hallway at night)

(these lanterns were originally purchased to be outside our front door last but I brought them in this year & added them to our kitchen bar counter)

(the other side of the kitchen bar counter)

(end table in living room)

(second end table in living room)

(cute little face on the bookshelf)

(coffee table lights)

All items were purchased from Target, Bath & Body Works and Partylite.

Halloweenie

The Urban Dictionary defines "halloweenie" as someone too scared too decorate for Halloween. Yep, that makes me a halloweenie.

October sets the stage for all of the upcoming holidays, beginning with Halloween. I'm not really a fan of the dark and scary stuff that Halloween brings (like goblins, ghosts and skeletons), so I tend to decorate with a 'happier' tone. Pumpkins, scarecrows, spiderwebs and even glitter (yay!) make a presence at my house.

Here are some inspirational photos for a not-so-scary Halloween...

I love this table decor for a dinner party - the combination of metallics, candles & festive colors keep it chic for the adults.

This is perfect for the doorstep or entranceway!
The silly faces on this pumpkin topiary make it fun for the little ones!

The bright colors used here are fresh & modern for a party!
I love the use of glitter and lace!

I love this wreath from Target! It's sold out in my area, but I bet this could be a DIY project!

Personalize your pumpkins with dots and stripes!

Stencil on spiders or other Halloween themes onto candle luminarias for a moonlit glow!



See anything you might re-create for your Halloween decor?
Is this 'happy' decor your thing or do you prefer the scarier scene?