As promised, below are some photos of our gorgeous Christmas decor that we put up on Sunday! This post is mainly for those family members and friends who will never be able to make it this way within the next month, but have asked to see our decor. However, I hope everyone enjoys this post regardless of the reason you are reading and following along today.
Before we get started, I wanted to share that I have linked up with Kelly's Korner blog for the Christmas Tour of Homes. If you have a little free time I would encourage you to check out her blog and all of the gorgeous home decor from fellow bloggers who have linked up, too. (This is my first link up party to try-- I am hoping to do it correctly!)
Luke 2:14: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
Romans 15:13: "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. "
We purchased everything from either Target or the Martha Stewart Christmas 2012 Collection at Home Depot. We set aside some time to decorate everything Sunday evening while enjoying a little Christmas music. It was a nice way to unwind after a tiring yet wonderful Thanksgiving, while also trying to gear up for the week ahead. This was our first time to decorate for Christmas together and although it was different for us both, it was truly an enjoyable first experience. Tony and I are looking forward to many more years of decorating for holidays together!
At first, I was not too crazy about the idea of having a real tree, but Tony insisted. When I was young my parents bought an artificial tree with lights already on it when they were first introduced at Lowe's. Ever since, we have always used that same tree each year. I have never been a huge fan of real trees since they make such a mess. However, since this is Tony's absolute favorite time of year he has let me do as I pleased with decorating and I in turn allowed him to have the final word. So, we bought a live tree. He said it smells really good (And, I have noticed it does), which was an automatic consolation for me due to my recent candle obsession over the Glade holiday scent collection. Anyway, we will see how long the tree lives and how much of a mess it makes. I hope it will at least live until we hit the road yet again for Christmas visitations. If it lasted until New Year I would be very impressed!
The tree with decor turned out really well given the limited space that we have for its presentation. When we first brought it home Saturday night we were somewhat apprehensive about its size since our study room is not very large. We were able to do a bit of maneuvering with our furniture and have completed dedicated the study to Christmas for the next month.
I definitely agree with the fact that no matter what tree is picked out, it will look larger once inside versus when it was outside. Although our ceilings are 9 feet, we thought it would be best to go with a tree that would be 7-7.5 feet. I was determined to not bring home a "Charlie Brown tree." I was determined to find a tall, full tree. We found a tall, full tree but also noticed once it was inside that it looked a bit egg shaped. We did a little shaping, cutting, and turning to make it look better. I am not sure if the view on the other side of the tree is as good as ours. :)
A smaller tree might have been better because of space, but we certainly made this tree and its size work well. Overall, we are very pleased with our tree and little home decor. At midnight on Sunday we called it a day and decided that our little home certainly felt like Christmas!
The photo below shows a few of my favorite ornaments we have purchased. I mentioned this in yesterday's post, but I am going to say it again: If you are a 2012 newlywed there are precious ornaments at Bed Bath & Beyond right now specifically for couples from the Lenox 2012 Wedding Collection. The ball ornaments can be found at Village Jewelry & Sports in Butler, Alabama, and at Lazy Acres Farm in Chunky, Mississippi (Both have Facebook Fan Pages which will allow you to order online, if interested).
I am pretty sure that these ornaments can also be found at most generic gift stores in many areas or hospital gift store, as well. I am hoping to have our wedding date painted on the back of each ball as soon as I can unwind from school and find a little free time. All the hometown Brides reading from Choctaw County that got married in June- You must check these ornaments out, ladies! :)
We were not paying attention when we positioned and nailed our stocking holders on the mantle so they are very off centered, but we were okay with it. It was about 11:00 pm when we were working on the mantle so we decided to let it be. Try not to judge. We know it looks terrible. :)
The photo below shows our poinsettias and coffee table decor. The gorgeous poinsettias I went crazy for in Home Depot. I saw the coffee table center piece idea on Pinterest.
I used a few extra ornaments from our tree decor and filled a square glass candy dish that was part of our candy table decor at our wedding reception. I think I may doctor the center piece up a bit with more ornaments and ribbon at a later date. I would like for it to have a more of the "wow factor" without being over dramatic.
PS- The Yankee Candle was on sell at Bed Bath and Beyond for $7.49. This size candle it normally $18. If you are looking for a wonderful holiday scent I would recommend the Pumpkin Pie or Apple Cinnamon. Go check them out!
Click HERE if you would like read about the hanger and all other projects the owner of Frankly Me creates and paints. She is very creative! You can find more pictures showcasing her gorgeous projects and wonderful talent on her Facebook Fan Page, as well.
The photo below is our Christmas card hanging area. This part of our decor is the only thing that I feel as though is not perfect yet. My study room is separated from our living room by a set of french doors. I thought it would be neat to hang the cards along the edge since the door cannot be closed since the tree is so large.
As you can tell, not much time or decor was put into this space for the cards. I had hoped to make something similar to the photo below on the right from an idea that I saw on Pinterest. For now, I guess I will continue to hang the cards along the door ledge. Once I have more free time after finals I plan to doctor this space up a bit.
The photo below shows our outside patio decor in our little slice of paradise. Although it is not much, Tony was determined to put lights outside. We ended up with two extra strands of lights and he did not want to store them early. He opted to create a little bit of Christmas decor outside for others to see when driving by. We live in the front of our complex so as you drive in our building is one of the first you see. There are many others in our area that have done the same thing. Last night I had to drive to campus for a meeting and on my way back in I made sure to check out our Christmas tree through the bay window. It and the patio decor looked absolutely wonderful! (We plan to drive around a little closer to Christmas to see other lights so I hope to share those at a later date!)
Although our decor is not much compared to others, I truly hope it will all last depending upon where it is stored. As of now, I we do not have as much decor as other families, but I think it will come with time. We are very blessed to have been able to start our own collection of Christmas decor. For now, we are very content and thankful newlyweds in our little Christmas home.
Decorating our first Christmas tree is one more thing to mark off the bucket list! We were both thrilled to go to Lazy Acres to find and purchase our very first Christmas tree. It was imperfectly perfect for us in more ways than one. Contrary to many, buying your first Christmas tree can be a very sentimental purchase. If you are like me, you may have shed a few tears. As our tree was being loaded into the truck I could not keep it together. Something came over me and it was all I could do to hold my tears back. Needless to say, the tears flowed and I had a grin a mile wide on my face.
Buying our first Christmas tree was such a precious moment for me. Tony eventually said, "You're gonna have to pull it together, now Kalyn." It took me a few minutes, but I composed myself and just praised Jesus in that moment. Being sentimental has become an understatement for me. I am so thankful that we have made it to this phase in our relationship and obviously I can no longer hide it. We are sharing life, love, holidays, and so much more together. This chapter in our lives has been the absolute best chapter yet, and I cannot even imagine all the Lord has in store for us.
Although our decor is not much compared to others, I truly hope it will all last depending upon where it is stored. As of now, I we do not have as much decor as other families, but I think it will come with time. We are very blessed to have been able to start our own collection of Christmas decor. For now, we are very content and thankful newlyweds in our little Christmas home.
Decorating our first Christmas tree is one more thing to mark off the bucket list! We were both thrilled to go to Lazy Acres to find and purchase our very first Christmas tree. It was imperfectly perfect for us in more ways than one. Contrary to many, buying your first Christmas tree can be a very sentimental purchase. If you are like me, you may have shed a few tears. As our tree was being loaded into the truck I could not keep it together. Something came over me and it was all I could do to hold my tears back. Needless to say, the tears flowed and I had a grin a mile wide on my face.
Buying our first Christmas tree was such a precious moment for me. Tony eventually said, "You're gonna have to pull it together, now Kalyn." It took me a few minutes, but I composed myself and just praised Jesus in that moment. Being sentimental has become an understatement for me. I am so thankful that we have made it to this phase in our relationship and obviously I can no longer hide it. We are sharing life, love, holidays, and so much more together. This chapter in our lives has been the absolute best chapter yet, and I cannot even imagine all the Lord has in store for us.
We are looking forward to celebrating the Reason for the Season! The Lord has blessed us beyond anything that we could ever deserve. He is the reason that we are here even though so many are taken each day. Through Him, Tony and I have purpose and I hope to continue to use this platform He has provided for me for His glory throughout the rest of this Holiday season, and even further.
I hope you all have had a wonderful day! The first few days of Christmas are right around the corner! I hope you all are as excited as we are! I would encourage everyone reading while you are decorating or shopping during this celebratory season remember, "For the magic of presents during this season is in His presence!"
Philippians 2:8-10: "And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth."
I hope you all have had a wonderful day! The first few days of Christmas are right around the corner! I hope you all are as excited as we are! I would encourage everyone reading while you are decorating or shopping during this celebratory season remember, "For the magic of presents during this season is in His presence!"
As always, until next time- Happy Blogging!
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