Holiday Pictures!

I thought it might be fun, if anyone is interested, in sharing holiday pictures? I always enjoy seeing what people have done with their homes to help them celebrate the holiday season, and thought that some of you might enjoy the same.

We finally managed to finish the decorating, and most of the shopping (online - so much easier!). And tonight we'll be celebrating the first night of Hanukkah. It's the first time in two months that there's been any space to just chill, and boy have we needed it. As I finished straightening up this afternoon, I shot this picture of a corner of our living room. I plan on curling up in this chair with a good book, two cats, a blanket, and perhaps an adult beverage. It's rainy and gloomy here, and I can think of no better way to spend the afternoon than reading by the glow of the tree.


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Hey Nukediver, this is a terrific idea. I haven't done any decorating but am starting today myself. Your afternoon sounds wonderful!

What an excellent idea. We are in the middle of staging/preparing our home to be put onto the market for sale so our decorations are minimal. (mostly just the tree) and a few exterior trimmings. A week ago the kids helped me to decorate it.

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This, though not composed very artistically, was my favorite picture, with my eldest lifting his 15 month younger brother to place an ornament in just the right spot! Zuri and I made applesauce/cinnamon ornaments (which aren't on the tree in this picture) so we have that fresh baked apple pie thing going on in the olfactory sensory department. Since last week, we have painted the living room and a stairway, and of course, the picture behind the tree has been removed.

This year I finally embraced our decorations. My family didn't celebrate Christmas when I was growing up so my traditions started once I became an adult. When Rocky and I married 12 years ago, all of our decorations were handed down from his family.

I
hated
them.

Mixed in with a few visual treats, most of them were the "tacky" in my eyes. Each year we decorated the tree I wanted to do away with those ornaments and select new ones representative of my tastes, personal style, and our new traditions. Of course I never acted on those feelings, but they were strongly there. This year, the kids and I dressed the tree while Rocky worked on other projects. As I removed each ornament from storage and in turn gave it to a child to display on the tree I realized, that through time we have collected "our" ornaments. Some are poorly handmade, some are clearly kid crafts, some are purchased from special trips/ventures, others have been gifted to us by relatives. But I now have ownership in them all.

Though it won't make it into any magazine, the old and new ornaments work together with the beaded garlands and lights to bring about the our perfect tree. Every day when I light the tree I just stand back and take in the memories. I'm so glad to have given the process time, because now I finally appreciate it.

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Originally Posted by dorayme

Though it won't make it into any magazine, the old and new ornaments work together with the beaded garlands and lights to bring about the our perfect tree. Every day when I light the tree I just stand back and take in the memories. I'm so glad to have given the process time, because now I finally appreciate it.

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And your picture captures this sentiment perfectly, I love it!

This is such a great idea! Everyone has such beautiful trees.
We are newly married so this is our first Christmas and my first real tree. We selected our tree from a little farm near our home (we live in New England). Our parents sent us ornaments from our childhood and we are using our old stockings. We installed an orange fairy/elf door next to our fireplace too. The only thing we don't have, yet, is a tree topper- but we hope to find one in the near future!
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@nsh—I love your Eames chair.

I love this idea; thank you, nukediver, for starting this thread. It's such a treat to be able to see everyone else's holiday traditions, no matter how old or new they are. I love that cheery fire in your living room, nsh; and I want to curl up next to your tree with a good book and an adult beverage, too, nukediver. As for you dorayme, although it's exciting to be changing houses, it doesn't sound like a lot of fun to be painting and staging it for sale at Christmas! I hope you are able to enjoy the holiday despite that.

It's foggy and drippy here today, and an unseasonable 76 degrees: ugh. I grew up in the Midwest, mainly (we moved a lot), so I like it cold at Christmas, and right now the lights from the tree are heating up my living room so much that I have the windows open and the ceiling fan on! We drove to a local farm to get this tree over the weekend; I love the smell of fir throughout the house. And like dorayme, my decorations aren't going to win any prizes either. Many of them were made by son when he was growing up, or by me for his various childhood enthusiasms: dinosaurs, mutant teenage Ninja turtles, Star Wars, and of course dogs—this family is all about our dogs. There are several Newfoundland ornaments on the tree, a couple of Big Dogs, and even a St. Bernard for our late lamented Shiloh. Other ornaments were given to us by friends and family, and there is even a tiny Mrs. Santa that was made my late mother-in-law; it hung on my husband's Christmas trees when he was growing up. It's those links with the people we love that make the tree magical, in my eyes.

Plus I'm delighted to have my neck collar off after surgery so I was actually able to decorate it myself. It took me longer than usual, but it was wonderful to be able to do it.

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Painting, landscaping, decluttering, and depersonalizing isn't any fun, but it's nice (for me) to see some areas of our home that had fallen into the trappings of being chronic collection spots get cleaned up and organized. Its also nice to see our home from this new perspective. Our financial priorities have been focused in other places than our home for a long time. Taking the time and money to bring it to a higher potential is inspiring. It's also nice to dream about the home we have picked out and all of the plans we have for it.

We list on Wednesday and my fear is the showings. It's hard to keep things picked up and clean with three kids, even harder when we all are in the house all of the time since we homeschool. The last 6 months I have been working to train the kids to clean up religiously after they are done. It's still a constant battle.

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Originally Posted by ncb4

Plus I'm delighted to have my neck collar off after surgery so I was actually able to decorate it myself. It took me longer than usual, but it was wonderful to be able to do it.

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What wonderful news, Nancy. Your tree looks terrific--but probably not half as terrific as you must feel to be regaining mobility.

Everyone's trees look so great! We won't be getting ours until next week sometime, but at least that will allow us to think of where to put it so Hector won't crash into it when he tears through the house.

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Originally Posted by dorayme

Painting, landscaping, decluttering, and depersonalizing isn't any fun, but it's nice (for me) to see some areas of our home that had fallen into the trappings of being chronic collection spots get cleaned up and organized. Its also nice to see our home from this new perspective. Our financial priorities have been focused in other places than our home for a long time. Taking the time and money to bring it to a higher potential is inspiring. It's also nice to dream about the home we have picked out and all of the plans we have for it.

We list on Wednesday and my fear is the showings. It's hard to keep things picked up and clean with three kids, even harder when we all are in the house all of the time since we homeschool. The last 6 months I have been working to train the kids to clean up religiously after they are done. It's still a constant battle.

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As a fellow homeschooler, I completely sympathize. We always have a variety of projects going on, and there is often quite a bit of "creative clutter" in our home. I shudder at the thought of keeping it ready for showing. Good luck!

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Originally Posted by Badger

We won't be getting ours until next week sometime, but at least that will allow us to think of where to put it so Hector won't crash into it when he tears through the house.

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Ah, yes. On two separate occasions, two of our Newfs have managed to get themselves tangled in the light cords (snoopily sniffing this Outdoor Thing that their silly People insisted on bringing in the house) and pulled over the entire tree. And on those rare occasions that a cat has adopted us despite those giant black beasts, I've frequently found said brave cats nestled in the branches of tree: breaking a few glass balls in the process, of course. So now I have three bells that I hang strategically on certain branches, so I can hear it when someone—Yukon, I'm talking to you—gets a wee too curious.

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Originally Posted by dorayme

Painting, landscaping, decluttering, and depersonalizing isn't any fun, but it's nice (for me) to see some areas of our home that had fallen into the trappings of being chronic collection spots get cleaned up and organized. Its also nice to see our home from this new perspective....
We list on Wednesday and my fear is the showings.

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It is a good feeling to clear out the clutter. But I don't envy you those showings either. Growing up, my family bought and sold more houses than I care to count as we constantly hopped around the country. I can remember as a kid how much I hated being forced out of my house when the realtor came by with a prospect, but of course I never thought of it from my poor mother's point of view. She would really empathize with you, dorayme: she had four of us to run herd on, and shoo out of the house. Then of course there were the dogs, too, who had to go... I hope it all goes smoothly for you. Do you have plan for where you'll go with the kids when you have to vacate for a showing?

Nancy, firstly, I'm so excited for you to have your brace off and be at this stage of recovery. You have been in my thoughts and prayers.
To answer you question about where we will go, we will probably go to the library or park or the children's science museum in Charlotte that we are members at. Thankfully the weather hasn't gotten too horrible out of doors here yet. We will all probably benefit from the vitamin D.

Lazy me, never quite got around to taking pictures. Perhaps next Christmas, lol.