Less than 8 days till Christmas. I’m not ready to say goodbye to December. Feels like Christmas week comes and goes so quick. We wait all year for this magical month full of festivities where traditions are made, baking cookies are a must, big families gather together, the food makes our hearts and belly full and before we know it.. it is all GONE! It is certainly my favorite holiday and the one I hate to put away when it involves taking down the tree and all the bright and shiny decor that comes along with it. This year we started our decorations early and by early I mean very EARLY. It was Halloween week and we had a Christmas tree up already. And I have no regrets we have been fully enjoying it. And with the year 2020 has been we all needed a little JOY!
December always brings exciting new things and also another year for my baby girl Elyse, who recently turned 8 this month. Cannot believe she is eight now. Seeing her grow these past years have been a blessing and true gift to me. I look at her and think, “where did my tiny baby go?”, and I am now more mindful of what Christmas means to me. It couldn’t be more true as to why we celebrate this holiday.
JESUS IS THE REASON
Jesus is the reason for this season. His love, hope, and faith on us all. I truly believe in the power of Christmas. The ability to open our hearts and love one another, bring hope to the ones who need it the most, and finding our way to renew our faith during this joyful season.
I have learned over the years and since becoming a mother that Christmas is not about the material things, the gifts, nor who has more. No it is none of those! But the innocent faces we see on Christmas morning like this. The genuine happiness they receive is pure magic… and no its not just about the gifts, its about his presence and how we are given this opportunity to make it special for the people that we love.
CELEBRATING JESUS
Makes me think of how my parents felt each year on Christmas Eve, the night before Christmas we all gathered to pray and sing lullabies and Christmas songs to baby Jesus as we hold and kissed him around the Christmas tree. These are the memories I carry from my childhood and what I wish to pass on to my kids in the future. The traditions my childhood holds onto is celebrating Jesus Christ before our evening family dinner and before we exchanged and opened gifts.
This year I was extra thankful for my family’s health. We had a tough end of the year in 2019 with my mom being diagnosed with lung cancer. But she came out stronger than ever and still fighting through recovery even more now with this pandemic. Sometimes the holidays can be stressful and get the best of us. Bad times make us appreciate the little things that are actually the bigger things. My only wish this year again will be for a healthy family to celebrate with. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas, surrounded by family and loved ones and find the simplicity of what this holiday is all about.
HOW DO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY CELEBRATE THIS SEASON?
And for now sharing all my Holiday Decor
Here are a few of our Holiday decor, it is going to be hard to put it all away in a few weeks. We keep it until after Jan 6 which is Three Kings Day.
When it comes to decorating I think having a color scheme or theme helps me resist all of the pretty distractions I find as I’m decorating. There are too many temptations this time of year, and if I want a cohesive look, I know I can’t have all of them at the same time in one place.
As you can imagine, I do love shopping for holiday decor, so I also hit up some of my favorite places for holiday decor.
They include but are not limited to:
- Burkes Outlet
- Hobby Lobby
- Kirkland’s
- Michaels
HOW I DECORATE MY CHRISTMAS TREE:
I want to work on a detailed post for next Holiday season to go in full detail. In the meantime I wanted to give you some information right now that can help you already.
As with the rest of my decor, when decorating my trees, I start with a general theme or color scheme. This year it was all about Gold. In recent years it’s been a color scheme between gold and red.
Here’s the order I follow:
- Set up and fluff tree.
- My tree is pre lit so no added lights
- Add ribbon.
- Add large ornaments (to complement the small ones)
- Add smaller ornaments
- Add floral tree branches (I find them at Hobby Lobby to make the tree look even move fuller)
- Add the tree topper. I always go with a large ribbon bow
