So this year we took Christmas to the next level.  Don’t laugh at me, promise?  As soon as we finished handing out Halloween candy to the cute little trick-or-treaters I pulled out the Christmas decorations and before the night was over we had the Christmas tree up! You promised you wouldn’t laugh!

This year we got creative and ordered a lot of our Christmas decorations online to limit our trips out.  We also had plenty decorations from the year prior that we were able to go through and use.  The fun thing about ordering online is that you never truly know what you are getting.  For example I ordered ornaments that of course are measured in millimeters so that was quite interesting!  We got some giant ornaments, some teeny tiny ornaments and some regular sized ones too, but I made it work.  Keep reading to find out more!

So of course we started indoors, I’m not sure our neighbors or HOA would take kindly to Christmas decorations being out late on Halloween.  Like I mentioned the Christmas tree went up first.  We decided early on that we wanted a 7.5 foot tree to put in the great room of our new home. Our ceilings are 9 feet high and we wanted to take advantage of that.  So we ordered an unlit tree adorned with pinecones off of Hobby Lobby and I have to say we were impressed with the quality and price.  While our home is decorated in a style I would say is modern glam, I am a traditionalist when it comes to Christmas decorations.  The first thing we did was put the cute red cable knit tree skirt around the tree that I found on target.com.  I really have a thing for cable knit stuff so this was perfect.  I always tackle the lights next.  This year I decided to use the Philips Sphere String Lights in Warm White.  We’ve always used the traditional warm white lights but I thought that sphere lights would add a special touch.  I used some of the ornaments from our Christmases past (pretty clever huh?) and also some of the teeny tiny ornaments I purchased from target.  I knew the tree needed something else but couldn’t quite place my finger on it.  I looked through our boxes of decorations and noticed I had some artificial poinsettias and had an ah-ha moment.  I cut the flowers from the stems and placed them throughout the tree.  It was done all it needed was the beautiful snowflake topper also purchased at Target! I am not an over the top tree person, I like to keep the integrity of the tree while still making it beautiful.

After a couple days we decided, why have one tree when you can have two?  Up in the loft we set up our second tree the 6 foot one we had purchased from Target during a killer Black Friday sale a couple of years back.  We used the decorations we’ve used for the past couple of years on that tree and it too came out great!  Now we can get in the holiday spirit while downstairs or upstairs.

I continued to spread Christmas cheer throughout our downstairs living space.  I added decorations that I had complied over the years on our entertainment center.

On the railings of our staircase we purchased some garland from again, my favorite, Target that went perfectly with the tree.  The garland was unlit but had poinsettias and pinecones! We added our own fairy lights to give it the lighted look.

In our entry way we decided on some nativity scene pieces we found at Hobby Lobby and used some garland we already had to spruce up the area.

For the outside we decided on a Santa’s workshop theme! We plan to enter ourselves in our Community’s decoration contest.  We are limited as it get’s very windy out here so we chose to use decorations that have garden stakes to ensure they wouldn’t fly away! We ordered these some elves (1, 2 & 3), presents, a santa and reindeer online to use in our front yard.  Jon and I made some adorable little “working areas” for the elves out of some inexpensive toys used for party favors, a play tool set and some wooden trays.

Jon hung up some pretty snowflake lights along our roof line that we picked up at Costco and we decorated our outdoor tree with lights and ornaments (I was able to use the giant ones I mentioned above).  We added the porch with a sign I ordered off of Etsy, two Christmas lanterns made by my dear friend and a wreath I ordered at Target.  We finished with a few miscellaneous accents and of course I had to get poinsettias, they are my favorite every year! I found a really good deal for delivery at homedepot.com that rivals Costco’s.

We took advantage of some socially distant Christmas activities in our new city.  First on the list was Glittering Lights at the Las Vegas Speedway.

We also took a trip around our neighborhood where our neighbors joined in on the friendly holiday decorating contest.

Staying with tradition, we decorated gingerbread houses, excuse me, gingerbread mansions! Thanks Costco!  We put on one of favorite Christmas movies, A Charlie Brown Christmas and got to work.  Oh wait, we did make some yummy keto hot chocolate too!

Sending out Christmas Cards is one of my favorite things to do every year.  This year was a bit different because we didn’t go out much and didn’t take that many pictures but I did manage to scrounge up a few!  I included a recap of our year in a newsletter format as I have for the last few years.  I think it is different and pretty neat.  I searched everywhere for a template but could not find one so I made one of my own in Microsoft Publisher (feel free to copy, if you would like).

I decided to match our wrapping paper with our aesthetic, yes I am that person haha!  Using my  gifting strategy I had all of my shopping pretty much completed by Thanksgiving with the exception of a few last minute things.

This holiday season is our new home has been wonderful! We look forward to many more years together in our beautiful home.

To our friends, family and followers…

We appreciate you following along on our journey, your love and support mean everything to us.  Jon and I wish you a very Merry Christmas and the best holiday season.