Deck the Halls part one (the family, living and dining rooms)

I'm so excited to share pictures of our new home all decked out for the holidays. I've done a LOT of decorating in several rooms so I'm going to break this blog post up into two posts. Today I'll be sharing the family room, living and dining rooms and in the next day or two I'll share the rest of the decorated rooms along with the outside of the house. We are really enjoying the house all decorated and ready for Chrismas. This is truly one of my favorite times of year. I can't help but think of my Mom more than usual this time of year for many reasons. One is because of how many of her beautiful things that my wonderful Dad gifted to us after her passing. You'll see me referencing these things many times in this post.  Hope you enjoy the pictures and stay tuned for the rest!

Here is a pretty broad shot of our family room. I want to post a close up picture of the tree in my next post. We bought this tree new this year at Target. We went for skinnier then we typically like because it needed to fit in this exact spot so it couldn't be too wide. I think the tree looks great with all of our many family collectable ornaments from the past twenty years.

                                                                            A little closer up

...and here is my Mom's beloved Santa Claus collection. She LOVED these so much.

See the cute stuffed Santa sitting on the back of the chair? An old family friend and neighbor Dorothy made that. I just love that Santa. She passed away this year and Linda and Carrie if you are reading this...just know that I think of Dorothy everytime I see his little face with the rosy cheeks.

                                              here are a few closer shots of the Santas.

For those of you who have read my blog for several years now you know that this is Kate's Snowman collection. My Mom started it for her when she was a baby. Once Kate graduates from college, I will pass these on to her (and I'll miss them!) In fact 2-3 years ago I started buying 1 per year and have started my own collection as I've had a snowman collection in my home forever and I can't imagine not having it at Christmas.

These little guys fit perfectly in the built in entertainment center in the new house. (I'll be showing you Kyle's bear collection in the next post)

Here is a close up of one of the vintage looking ornaments I hung with ribbon from the mantle....and another shot of the mantle below.

I really had fun with this mantle this year. I bought the gold wire and tinsel trees at Home Goods and the glass votive candle holders at Walmart this year. The lighted greenery with irrridecessant fruit was purchased at Home Goods last year. The beaded garland that is swagged with the vintage looking red ornaments are from Walmart this year.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

 The little framed pic of Santa was Moms. It was the perfect item to complete the mantle arrangement. (thank you Kevin for digging through the box and finding this and knowing that it would look GREAT hung here!)

                                           Here is a broader shot of the living room.

I love the simplicity of a bowl with Christmas balls in it. I've had this bowl from Pier One for many years and the balls that match our living room sofa are from Michaels a few years back. Just picked up the gold balls you see here at Walmart.

Here is my sweet angel collection. My Mom started this for me just a couple of year before she died. I've decided to keep the collection going for myself. Last year I purchased the angel in the red dress and I'm on the look out for this years angel.

This vintage Santa print was done by Mom years ago at her Frame Shoppe. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. So totally what I love now. Funny too, because my Mom had such a knack for being the very first to love things that would come into style years later. She framed this and gave it to me over 15 years ago and I honestly did not love it until recently. Now of course which vintage being all the rage and with maturity I've come to love the vintage look. Sadly, she also gave me a vintage angel that was in pinks and light greens that I just knew I'd "never like". So like an idiot I sold it at a garage sale a few years back. What I wouldn't GIVE to have it now!!!!  Take that as a lesson to think twice about what you are letting go of!

In our entry way you are greeted by this nativity scene. The reason for the season!

              (the painting above is there year round...done by my Mom of a Mission in California)

Here are my Mom's holiday houses. We also have a set of houses and I usually combine them together, but there was not a good place for them in this house, so I decided to put out Moms.

                                              Here is a broader shot of the dining room.

..oops this is back in the living room. I've had this glass votive holder forever. It was a purchase from a home PartyLite party. What I love about it is that you can change out what you put in the bottom part. Shells in the Summer, acorns in the fall etc. Of course for Christmas gold balls work great.

                        This centerpiece on our dining room table was new from Michaels last year.

This built in buffet/cabinet area is beyong perfect for my little woodland trees. This year I decorated them in all of my Mom's bird, acorn and cross ornaments. I bought this gold tissue lame at Joannes and draped it into a"skirt" for around the base of the trees.

Here is a pic of my Mom in a frame ornament with an acorn on it. These trees are dedicated to her.

See the little gold bird peeking down? That was a gift from my sweet Mother n Law Jean this year.

                                                    a closer shot of one of the trees

another shot of the trees.

OK blog readers....come by again in the next day or two for the the rest of the house (the kitchen, bathroom and close up of the main tree) and outside of the house!!