Better Late than Never - Holiday Edition

I've gotten a few requests from people to see my Christmas decorations for this year.

Christmas was 2 days ago...

But, you know, I have to give the people what they want. So here we go.

The dining room table this year was much more subdued. I had a crowd over on the 19th and that meant I had to make room for food rather than decorations. But I did return to the bear under glass from last year, and added a hedgehog friend in the smaller stand.

I am pretty proud of the table runner this year - a pretty crewel number that I picked up at the William-Sonoma Outlet near Sterling, VA for a cool $10 (normally $80)

I made a little arrangement in my white "stump" vase...but it's really not photographing well. Trust me, it looks much better in person.

 

You saw my mini-tree in the den in my last post

And I got a new wreath for the front door...it's sparkle-city. 

But the living room is where the impressive stuff is. 

I bought these little white wreaths to decorate the house for our January 2008 wedding, they got put to good use again on our walls this year.

 Adorable ceramic owls from Hobby Lobby (one just opened near us!) These guys stay out all year, but the little rosemary bush from my cousin give them their own little tree.

The mantle/fireplace follows my standard "add more stuff" rule of holiday decorating

 Real antlers I found in an antique store - luckily no one pointed them out to the children at our party or else we might have had a "what did you do to Rudolf" situation.

And, of course, the centerpiece of Christmas - the tree. I went for white and silver this year. It was time for a change from the jewel tones I've used the last 3 years.

 

I'm pretty sure my mother has bought me every owl ornament in the tri-city area. There are 5 or 6 on the tree...one of which is an owl playing the accordion. Because when I think Christmas, my mind jumps straight to musical woodland creatures. Below is one of the more classy owls. 

 Adam and I do not go nuts with presents. 3 or 4 things from each of us to the other one. We try to keep it below $150.  Also, I took a cue from Sherry and John at Young House Love with my tree skirt - two sheepskins from Ikea. 

So, that's it this year. Actually, not true, we put some lights up outside the house, but it's way to cold/windy/dark for me to go out there and take pictures. Sorry kids. They're really not that exciting anyway, trust me. 

If you'd like to see my decorations last year (and the old fireplace...whoa! I forgot it ever looked like that!) you can take a peek here & here.