Holiday Home Tour

It was busy weekend in our household.  My husband put up the extra large Christmas wreath on the front of our house.  We have our family Christmas tree up and ready to be decorated.  My younger son and I baked Grinch Cookies to package as small gifts for friends and family.  Despite the warm temperature outside, the spirit of the season is definitely in the air.                                                     

   

I'd like to take you on quick photographic tour of our home this holiday season.  My focus this year has been a nature-inspired theme to celebrate the JOY of the season.  I like to pick a word for the season that resonates with me and reminds me of the true meaning of Christmas.  My sister's family has focused on "believe" as their word.  I made her a canvas chalkboard art piece to display this season.

Black canvas with chalkboard word art 

God's amazing gift of love and saving grace came down to us in the form of baby Jesus hence the song, "Joy to the world, the lord has come.  Let earth receive her king...".  More than ever, the words hold true, "Let every heart prepare Him room".  It's so easy to get caught up in the modern-day distractions during Christmastime. My hope and prayer for everyone this season is that we make room for Him and the Light he's brought into an otherwise dark world. 

I have one of the glass chalkboards I created in October on my mantle which proudly displays our theme for the season - JOY.  Because the glass chalkboard can we wiped clean, I change the word, inspirational quote, or chalkboard art design seasonally.  I plan to keep it on my mantle throughout the year.

I have such fond memories as a child of making (and eating) many yummy confections like fudge and divinity during the Christmas season.  Today, I had the joy of making cookies with my youngest son.  I found the cutest cookie recipe as I was perusing the ever-expanding world of Pinterest a few weeks ago - Grinch Cookies - originally created by Katrina at inkatrinaskitchen.com.  Ours didn't turn out as perfect (or as green) as the ones she created but were adorable and delicious none the less.  

Ours flattened out while baking.  The cookies have a slight green tint but it doesn't really show in pictures.  I embraced the "flatness" of our cookies by drizzling a small amount of powdered sugar icing flavored with almond around cookie while avoiding little heart in center.  I lightly topped icing drizzles with a small amount of edible glitter.  For my next batch, I'll add another drop of green food coloring to dough, reduce amount of oil, and make my balls of dough smaller (before baking).  I have an idea for a variation of this basic recipe and hope I have time to give it a try this season.  Hint... it has to do with...oh, I just don't wanna give it away.  Check back for a post...

Directly across from our kitchen, we have a black upright piano.  It is topped with an interesting display of the Nature in a Bottle ornaments, a favorite snowglobe, a mini-sized amaryllis, and a decorative scroll tree.

As we move out of the kitchen and into our dining room, you'll see a burlap banner hanging across our bar area.  When I originally bought this, I had our mantle in mind.  I forgot all about the stockings.  So the banner took up residence in our dining room and I love it here.  It's one of the first things you see when entering our home so it sets a festive tone. 

Did you have a chance to view the Christmas Tablescape post?  My botanical themed dining room tablescape turned out even better than I expected.  Most items I already had on hand with exception of extra large faux pine cones.  I was happy to incorporate the botanical themed wrapping paper into the scheme.  

The side board in our dining room is home to a couple of the same faux pine cones, two burlap trees, and the fleur-dis-lis JOY topper which I placed in a vase.  I also wrapped this vase in the botanical wrapping paper (because pinto beans are holding the topper in place).  The paper is much more asthetically pleasing than the beans. ;-)

Our big tree is the front window of our home is nature-inspired with wide burlap mesh tucked into the tree.  I found this at Kirkland's and it was so user friendly.  I started at top of tree tucking in every 12 inches or so to make "poofs" toward the bottom.  I did this with the entire length of wide mesh at three intervals on tree.  This tree is our "pretty" tree with a natural theme of greens, browns, tan, white, gold, and silver.  It has also extra large pine cones (different and much more light weight than ones in dining room) along with birds, snowflakes, Nature in a Bottle ornaments, Craft Tube ornaments, and other traditional ornaments.  Crowning this tree is JOY word tree topper which epitomizes our seasonal theme.    

Our stockings are hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas will soon be there... 

Although I'm not quite finished shopping or wrapping for that matter, we have a few presents under the tree and others ready to be shipped to loved ones near and far. 

I hope you enjoyed this little tour of our home this holiday season. 

 

...but the angel reassured them. "Don't be afraid!" he said.  "I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.  The Savior - yes, the Messiah, the Lord - has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign:  You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger." 

Luke 2:10-12