Decking the Halls

Christmas is in full swing around here! And with TWO Christmas parties coming our way this next week it better be! As I've said before one of my favorite ways to decorate for holidays is to use the things you already have to incorporate into the theme. And our Christmas decorations have been no different. Although last year just before our wedding Joel and I used one of our (many) Target giftcards to stock up on the 50% off Christmas decoration sale the day after Christmas. Of course Target always has the cutest Christmas decoration styles that just get cuter year after year, so nobody was saying we were committing to have this stuff for the rest of our lives, although Joel keeps trying to convince me I did. Next year I have visions of decking our entire house from head to toe in gold and silver so we'll see how THAT goes, right? But anyway I still tried to decorate with mostly things we had around the house that were red/green/Christmassy/fun. Also since we are in somewhat of a small space I think it's important to not go overboard with decorations, keep it simple and clean.

We went with an all gold tree this year, again something that will probably change year after year until we decide what to do more long term. For now, the classic gold and glitter bulb ornaments get the job done for us.

I LOVE our stockings! So fun to see them hanging up on our elephant bookends. This year we're just doing stocking stuffers for each other with a $20 limit and I can't wait to fill J's up.

See! Red books! Perfect little Christmas addition/pop of red to the living room without going over the top. Had these babies lying around and they get busted out quite often throughout the year, love that red works for so many occasions!

And again this collection of green candle stick holders has grown through the years and made for the perfect centerpiece for our dining table.

Even Duke is getting into the Christmas spirit... Joel's kind of mad that I've emasculated Duke like this, he thinks they look like earrings. I say tough.

I also love making sure the decorating spreads through the whole house, so every room you're in feels like Christmas. We've got some fun little Christmas touches in our kitchen as well as in our guest bathroom. Those little tins are from Goodwill 50% day several months ago... holla.

Joel snagged this runner for me like TWO Christmases ago at the Target Day After Christmas sale, another thing I had eyed all year but was too cheap to buy full price. Now it rests soundly and perfectly on our coffee table.

And of course the outside of our house is decked too!

I just LOVE our cozy little place all lit up at night... snuggling up on the couch and watching a Christmas movie is our favorite thing to do these days.