I hope you had a great Thanksgiving! We spent much of the time hanging out in our jammies at home. It’s really what we all needed after a busy couple of weeks and right before we run the gauntlet of Christmas parties, concerts, and other holiday happenings.
Initially, we were planning on heading out east to visit family for Thanksgiving, but decided to stay home due to my healing shoulder. We ended up having Thanksgiving dinner with my friend Cheri and her family. It was an amazing meal and a wonderful time with friends. It’s just what you want Thanksgiving to be…good food, football, board games, and even a blanket of snow outside.
We also took the time to get our Christmas tree up and added some decorations to the living room. I’ll add a few more decorations here and there, but I’m going to primarily focus on just the main living areas this year and keeping it simple. Christmas decorating involves a lot of lifting and work overhead, both of which I am limited from doing.
Jeff brought all of my bins up from the basement, put up the tree, and helped with the decorations that I couldn’t arrange on my own (like the ribbon and poms). We also had to string up our Christmas tree this year with fishing line, so our new kitties don’t climb it and knock it over. (I’ll tell you about the kitties in another post.) I had to laugh at the picture below, though, because it’s a little obvious where Jeff tied the fishing line! I didn’t even notice until I was developing the photo. I’ll get him to fluff that, so the tree doesn’t look like it’s wearing a little corset up top!
I also decorated the mantle using some artificial greens from my stash and the small sprigs and clippings from the table. We actually use this table, so I had to dismantle the pretty tablescape after a couple of days.
As I did with the table, I used a mix of faux greens to get a nice textural variety. I also used the wool dryer balls again! They really are great stand-ins for snowballs. And I wove some battery-operated mini-LED lights through the greenery.
On the tree, I used ribbon, ornaments, floral picks, and lights that I already had, but I added a few wood snowflakes (in-store only from Walmart.)
On the sofa side table, I put a small artificial tree in an antique crock and added this pretty gold and glass lantern.
I kept it simple by filling it with some mini-pinecones and a white pillar candle.
And, I haven’t added them in, yet, but I bought two more green and white sweater pillows to put in the living room. The price is now down to $9/each and they add the perfect Christmas touch! I know I’ll use these year after year.
I’m planning on baking some gingerbread houses this week (Cheri’s going to make them with me and help roll out the dough), so I’m looking forward to that. I am also hoping to get back to my normal blog post routine (4-5 posts/week) and start oil painting again. While I’m still limited, my shoulder and bicep have healed enough to be able to do more than I’ve been able to do over the past couple of months. (My, time flies!)
I hope you had a great Thanksgiving weekend!
Lovely! But your idea of toning things down and mine are very different!
So funny! yes, well, usually every room gets decorated and this year I’m just doing the living room and eating/kitchen area.
When I first saw the white balls I thought they looked like dryer balls-I was right ?. Very creative.
In our Winner’s store in Canada (a TJX store) in the toy dept. you can buy a bucket of fake snowballs!!
And you can add essential oil to the ball to make it smell nice too?
As always everything looks wonderful. The details make such a difference;)
Lovely! I over the past few years went from having a themed tree to collecting ornaments each place we visited so my what I used to call Macy’s tree is now way more eclectic I started getting rid of ornaments that matched and just used kids art and special ones we picked this year we added a succulent ornament because we added a lot of succulents to house every year it is different but makes it fun as a family remembering each and everyone as we hang them so maybe not a showstopper but very special to us, your Use of greenery is always so lovely it looks real! So glad you are healing well I am missing the group !! Have a wonderful Christmas season!
You do so much, and all the time. I believe God was telling you to simplify and enjoy.
wow…. just beautiful!!!!! Merry Christmas
Everything is so pretty!
I am so happy for you that you got kitties!! I look forward to your post about them. I have been a cat mom for years.
Dryer Balls!!! Who knew! I love them!
And as always, I love your home and how you decorate it.
I love the little village under the tree….what is it. Is it something that is available to purchase somewhere. reminds me of something we had when I was little, but got lost when my parents moved. I love the fishing line in the pictures. It reminds us you are human.
I had to look very hard to see the tree support in the photo. (& only because you mentioned it).. The decorating is so beautiful, the eye doesn’t see it.. Great job!
It’s a wood village tree collar from Balsam Hill.
I got my sweater pillows yesterday. I love them. Thanks for the heads up about them.
Always such a treat to see your decorations. But I do have one suggestion – light the wicks of your candles and then blow them out. Here in the south, displaying a candle that has never been lit is bad luck!
Janice, I had never heard that before….had to Google it and got a LOT of differing superstitions. Very interesting!
Oh my gosh. That was my thought exactly! I always light my wicks. I wonder how this silly superstition got started?
After your reply, how many of Marions readers will go around their homes and do that very thing?
So funny! I had never heard that. In photoshoots, you generally either have the candle lit or a new wick. If you photograph a unit wick that has been lit, it looks like a little black dot in the photo.
Happy belated Thanksgiving to you and your family Marian.
Your decorations for Christmas are like a big warm hug. Just love dropping in to see what’s new and inspiring. Glad to hear the shoulder is healing and you are feeling better.
Can’t wait to hear about the new members of the family!
I’ve been painting and stripping furniture today — I think we are going to start the tree tonight – which usually motivates me to finish the rest of the decorating. Things will change a bit from Thanksgiving to our gingerbread day!
So glad to hear you are on the mend! Your Christmas decor, paired down or not, looks beautiful, and your Thanksgiving day sounds lovely. Keeping things simple, at times, is so freeing, isnt it?
Enjoy the moments!
Beautiful. You have such good taste. I just ordered 4 of the Fair Isle pillows from Walmart. What a great bargain at $9 each. Thanks for telling us about them. Merry Christmas. He is the reason for the season.
Glad you are feeling better! I am finding I love the simpler look of natural greens, pine cones, and candles….all is calm….all is bright.
So pretty! I also would love to know what you use around the base of your tree, it looks like thin cut sets of little houses.
Thanks
It’s a wood village tree collar by Balsam Hill.
We have a very young cat…So thanks for the idea about tying the tree off! I was terrified about coming home to Christmas tree massacre! Yes, the fear is real!
Yep, with cats and small kids, we’ve always secured our tree with fishing line. I also didn’t use glass ornaments this year just in case!
How utterly beautiful everything is! The tree, the mantel, the table, the stockings, everything! Marian, what a warm, cozy, and enchanting home you have created!
Those wooden village scenes can often be found at Tuesday Morning. I have purchased several of them at that store.
Is that your friend’s dining area? If it’s yours, it looks different to me. Anyway, it’s very charming. 🙂
Is the photo of the dining table your friend Cheri’s? You didn’t say, but it is very pretty, and I love that the outdoors is such a part of the setting!
Glad you are mending well!
As always, looks great!
So warm, inviting, and oh so christmas!
Ah!! I have been using the dryer balls for decoration the last two years!!! They look great. I also use some (other ones) in the dryer!!!….They work GREAT!!! Faster dry times and no wrinkles.
Beautiful tree and i love the kitty beds you made. Merry Christmas to your family!