Merry Christmas! (Slightly delayed)

Hey friends! I know I am a couple of days behind on my Christmas post, but I did not want to waste precious, fleeting Christmas time editing an uploading photos. So bare with me as I share our Christmas on here! (Warning: tons of photos).

First stop, the upstairs tree. This is a smaller artificial tree in the living room that you can see through the picture window from outside. My sweet older sister just gave us all of the blue and silver decorations this year! She did not need them anymore...free tree! (well the decorations...we already owned the tree)

 Here are night-shots of it. She even gave us this lovely silver tree skirt (which the cat has decided she loves to play with).

 The topper is so cute!

 I just LOVE the glow that it gives off! (Living room walls will be changing soon! but that is another post)

 We hung ornaments from the curtain rod of our picture window and strung white lights around the outside of it.

 These are also following the blue and silver theme. Please ignore the messy pillows and blanket strewn across the couch. They are not always placed just-so! ;)

 On the coffee table we have this lovely bowl that Michael's mom gave us over thanksgiving. We filled it with ornaments and curly ribbon. It helps break up all of the blue and silver.

 Also over Thanksgiving break, Michael's mom got us this fun glittery candle from Kirkland's. I MISS having one of those around here! It is so cute and festive. I wrapped some berries (a Black Friday find at Michaels) into a loop around the bottom and placed my cute little sparkly bird (also a Black Friday Find) next to them. He is blurry because I took these pictures at night to capture the full effect. Don't worry, he will be around for the winter mantle, so you will see more of him! :)

 On the back of the toilet upstairs, I filled our little cloche with extra ornaments. Simple but cute!

 We have Christmas hand towels that I love to put out every year! The snowflake ones will also stay for the rest of winter.

 Aren't they so cute?!

 On the bathroom counter, we have my cute little Precious Moments nativity set (a gift from Michael's mom last Christmas). Someday, when we have a little one, I will put this in their room to teach them the real meaning of Christmas. For now, it is cute in the bathroom!

 Michael and I made Christmas cookies...we still have plenty!

Michael strung lighted garland up the banister from the den. It looks so amazing! I really wish we could leave Christmas lights up all year.

 And he has his little "village" set up on the table downstairs. (I say "village" because this is a new tradition and consists of two buildings and a train track. I need to start marking the years on the bottom of them, one for each Christmas we are married.

 And this...is our tree. *sigh* It is the fluffiest, most amazing tree I have ever purchased. And it smells AMAZING! (It's real...) Michael put at least 4-5 sets of lights (at 100 lights per set) on this bad boy.

 This is down in our den-family room. We hang all of our fun, colorful and sentimental ornaments on here (except the ones from the Kitchen tree). I was such a huge tree that the topper had to go in front of the top instead of on it!

 Michael has a cute little Charlie Brown ornament that blinks and talks.

 And we got this little "New Home" ornament last year from a dear family friend.

 I just LOVE the way that it reflects off of the floor!

 And here is our Christmas Eve family photo. Me, my sweet hubby, and our daughter.

 Isn't she precious? I could just squeeeeeeeze her!

 Here is Michael's stocking after Santa came on Christmas morning.

 Here is little Indy's! Sorry for the poor photo quality, the lighting was weird and we were anxious to get to the presents!

 And my new stocking! Its really actually navy blue to match the other two, but it looks purple in this photo. My hubby is so sweet :)

There you have it. I know, it was a few days late. But I wanted to share our fun decor with you all. I hope that your Christmas was filled with love and family. And remembering how much our heavenly father cares for us.

Gift-wise, this Christmas has spawned a hundred DIY projects that I just can't wait to do/ share! Also, as of January 3rd, my employer is moving me to a work-from-home position. This means that my office/craft room is getting upgraded and organized! I have already started it and can't WAIT to share!

I got an electric sander so that I can finally sand and paint our rescue coffee table in the den. And my hubby gave me paint for the living room! So we will be painting that and possibly adding moulding! (eek! I lurrrrrve moulding!) So many house changes that I can't wait to get started on!

Last Minute Gift: DIY Curly Ornaments

Merry Christmas Eve, friends! I hope that your day is filed with family, love and remembering the true meaning of this holiday. My hubby and I had a double date with some good friends last night and then made Christmas cookies. Today I have to run to the grocery store (ew!) and do a little cooking, a little cleaning and then Dallas game at 4ish! :) And then of course we will have fun little Christmas traditions and read the Word about how Jesus came to save us from our sins. What a miracle!

Anyway, I just wanted to post a fun little craft that only takes about 15 minutes, for any of you that may still need a little last minute gift! First, you will need a glass ball ornament:

 I got this one at Michaels for like...50 cents I think. You will also need some pretty scrapbook paper. The one I chose for my gift was a vintage love letter.

You will need to cut your paper into strips, not too wide! The size does not matter too much, but they need to fit into the opening at the top.

Next, you will curl your strips around a pencil (you could use just about anything, but I found that the pencil worked best) very tightly. Hold them there for a minute.

 Once released, you should get a cute little curly like this:

 Next, take the mental top off of your ornament (carefully, I cut my finger at this part).

 And twist your curly in!

 Repeat at least 5 times. I did varying levels of curl to give it some interest.

 And once you fill it, put the little metal top back on. Here is what you should have:

 I also tied a piece of twine through the loop to hang it with, but I forgot to take a picture before I gifted it! Since I want to start a tradition of making these, I wrote the year on the bottom, very small, with a sharpie. That way they will remember when I made it for them!

I have more Christmas awesomeness to blog, but I do not want to spend my entire Christmas eve on the computer. If I have the free time to get on here, I will! If not, I will share on the 26th :) Just in case, Merry Christmas!

DIY Thursday: Quatrefoil Ornament

Its DIY Thursday! Today, I shared a really cute Christmas craft. This is such a fun project!

Head on over to EAD Designs to see how I took a simple glass ornament, some vinyl and rhinestones to create a cute little ornament to give as a gift!

Christmas Mantle

Our Christmas Mantle is nothing couture. It is nothing that I got out of a Better Homes and Gardens magazine or found on Pinterest. But I think that it is truly my favorite one. It is central to our home and conveys the true meaning of Christmas. Now don't get me wrong, I love fun decorations and presents, but that is not what it is all about. Christmas is about celebrating the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and spending time loving and appreciating all of the blessings that we have.

This being said, the central theme of our mantle is my Will Tree Nativity set.

We also have these cutey little stocking hangers. I love them! I know, they don't "match" the nativity but I do not care on bit!

This year, I put cut up straw under the nativity set to add to the "stable" feel. It is very organic looking, which works with the Willow Trees.

Above the mantle we usually have a frame. At Christmas we take it down and hang a stained glass star ornament above Mary and Joseph.

And just for a little fun, I have this tiny Christmas tree and a couple of silver ornaments at the other end. I got the tree at Michael's on Black Friday for $2! And the burlap around the bottom is so cute!

Here is the whole mantle, stockings and all.

Little Indy even has her own stocking! It is navy blue, but for some reason it looks purple in the photos.

Michael, of course, has a Cowboys stocking.

And this is mine! :)

I hope you enjoyed our mantle! I really love it! It is so warm and simple and sometimes that is just nice. Tomorrow is DIY Thursday and I have a really cute project!