Christmas Tour of my home!

Welcome friends! Today I'm linking up in a couple places! Amber's Friend Makin' Monday post this week is a Holiday Tour of Homes. Plus, the well known 'Nester' is hosting a Christmas Tour of Homes 2009. So I'm posting once, linking up twice! Are ya ready for a whole slew of photos??








This is perhaps one of my favorite things about Christmas time. Every year since my oldest was a baby, my mother in law has made an ornament with the child's photo and the year on it. When the girls were really small my Mother in law did all the work - but now every year the girls help make them and they give them to us on Christmas Eve. I was going to simply put them on the tree but I decided against that - I wanted to see them all lined up so you can see how much the girls have grown and changed over the years. I attached some greenery to my curtain rods in my kitchen/dining area and did one kid on each curtain rod. I can't wait to see what they've made for us this year!
Here is Hope's ornament from last year ...


OK, here is our Christmas tree in our living room ... This 'Joy' ornament is by far one of my favorites ... I'm definitely a person who likes to choose Joy and this ornament is a great reminder!
A prevailing theme in our Christmas decor is Snowmen ... we have them everywhere! How did this get started? When we first got married we had no Christmas decor. And I remember going to look for Christmas stuff and thinking that I sort of wanted to avoid Santa themed stuff. So, somehow I came across some cute snowmen and loved them and that got my addiction started. In the years since then I have stopped buying any more snowmen, but it seems that everyone who knows me always seem to find more and more snowmen stuff and buy them for me! My ever growing collection is getting too big at this point!



The tree lit up at night ...
Our hutch in the living room is covered in ... you guessed it - snowmen! My nativities are on the lowest shelf ...


We added lights and it looks pretty all lit up at night!
Here is our 'faux' fireplace ... haha - don't you just love that fancy word for FAKE?! Anyway, I don't care, I treat it just like it were a real fireplace ... I have a lot of greens, berries and pinecones on top with a row of pretty taper candles in back. I love my big mirror too ...

This are on my coffee table - my daughters MADE these for hubby and I for our Anniversary this year ... I really love them and think they did a fabulous job!
In my bathroom I have more snowmen and some yummy smelling candles ...
Also in my bathroom above the toilet I added some snowmen pictures to these shelves ...
And on the toilet are some baskets filled with potpourri, cinnamon sticks and pine cones ...
Spanning the area over my kitchen island is a mitten garland I made this year - more on that in another post - it says 'Merry Christmas' and is one of the first things you see when you come in my house ...

Above my stove in the kitchen ...



My kitchen table. I have fancier tablecloths and will have a fresh flower arrangement for the big day - but for the everyday I have this cute plastic tablecloth and my jars on the table ...
I was excited to find stuff to fill these - Christmas potpourri, pinecones and Christmas shred ...



And that's the end of my tour! I have often thought about starting all over again and going for a more simplified, elegant decor - but then I look around my home and see all the special things that I've collected or been given over the years and I feel such a sense of comfort and joy in those things. I love when the girls and I open the Christmas bins each year and with every item we pull out we ooh and aah and say 'oh yeah, remember this?!' ... Christmas memories and traditions mean so much to me - I may not have the fancy decor like in the magazines - but I have memories to last a lifetime!