Christmas House Tour - belated, but at least it's still December!

Hello All!

Even though it's past Christmas, I want to record my decorations for 2014.  Since I leave decorations up through New Year's, (because I was always told it was bad luck to take them down before New Year's Day) I figured it wouldn't be too late.  Has anyone else ever heard that?  The bad luck thing?  I'm curious to know what you do with your decorations.

I was able to add a beautiful nativity to the outdoor decorations this year.  A co-worker and I struck up a deal; she wanted a diaper cake and I wanted a nativity.  I made her a motorcycle diaper cake:

And she made my nativity:

Sorry about the cell phone pictures!  Dan was in California for a good portion of December so I didn't get the spotlight on it but it still looked beautiful.

I had the same wreath and swags on the front of the house as I did last year:

and the garland in foyer...

The living room and antique mantel hosted the flocked tree and flocked garland:

I thrifted these sweet iridescent icicles:

I paid $2 for 12 of them.

This is my weird little collection of Santa gift box/bags.  They are just adorable!  The littlest one has a tiny jingle bell below the tag --s'cuuute :)

The mirror on the mantel came from HomeGoods -- my sister and I got to shop together over Thanksgiving vacation and we both bought the same one!

The ornament holder was a thrift find from a couple years ago as was the red cardinal (Westmoreland glass!).

The dining room table holds a reindeer and the chandy makes a great display for crystals and glass icicles:

And here is the $15 thrifted sparkle tree:

The decorations came from Hobby Lobby.  They were perfect for the sugar plum fairy-themed cookie exchange!  Now that I have a white Christmas tree, I have been thinking up (aka Pinteresting) all the different ways to decorate it - LOL!  But, I'll need to stick with the sugar theme for awhile or else my $15 thrift tree will end up costing hundreds in different decorating themes!

The buffet - not much different than last year...

...other than the addition of the glass trees (from CB2) this year.  The clear glass one is my favorite!

This was going to be the year that the sun room got a beach-themed Christmas tree. Unfortunately, the ornaments I ordered fell victim to a collapsed warehouse in Buffalo, New York. After reading about the collapse under the weight of all the snow they got and finding out a person lost their life because of it, I didn't want to think about decorations for a tree.  What a horrible thing to happen to the employee and their family.

On Christmas, however, my sister sent me a set of three of these gorgeous sea horses so they are the only ones I hung:

She always buys the most perfect gifts!  Isn't it so beautiful?

See that tray on the coffee table?  It was a $10 thrift find this year:

I spray-painted it with Rustoleum (nickle finish, I believe) because the original finish was so bad.  It is very heavy and the glass insert --a real glass insert!--is very thick!  I just don't think they make them like this any more.

So let me bring your attention to a couple of additional thrift finds this year:

Oh my gosh aren't they delightful!?  They are a creation by artist  M. Pena, founder of Windstone Editions. This one is called, "Bear Feet:"

and this one is called "Bear Butt" (*giggle*!):

Bear Feet is still available on the website for $48.  From what I can tell, these guys were originally released as a set of three with a third polar bear standing on all fours with a votive holder on his back called "Bear Back."  I only paid $5 for the pair!!!!  They do have red candle wax in spots on their rumps and I have discovered there isn't a way to remove it without damaging the finish --which is slightly sparkly!--so I'm completely content living with the candle drips.  They are also missing their glass votive holders so I'm on the look out for a couple of those.

I love that they match the polar bear pillow I scored from Pottery Barn (on clearance last season).

There was one more little touch added to the sun room that was crazy simple but I have ended up really loving:

I also picked these up on my and Shell's shopping trip to HomeGoods.  They are so sparkly and beachy!

Finally,  the family room:

I kept it pretty simple in here because after decorating the other two trees, I was running out of steam.

The large hurricane came from Ikea three years ago and I added the metal ring of reindeer.  It was a thrift find from Bthrifty.

The reindeer art is a new addition this year.  I bought it from Joss and Main last March.  I really love it and wanted it to be the focal point in here.

I wrapped twinkle lights around a rose gold ornament swag (from CB2) and faux pine garland.

Then, as always, the indoor nativity:

It is sitting on a thrifted footed silver plate tray and the tiny star shining above baby Jesus is an antique Indiana Glass Bethlehem star compote.

I hope this season was joyous and peaceful for all.  Glory to God in the highest :)

Happy New Year!

Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies

Hello All!  My sister surprised me and came for Thanksgiving.  It was the best T-day!  The time whooshed by and now it's already December - yikes!  Jenna is hosting her second cookie exchange party in a couple weeks.  Here are the invitations.

They are "exploding box" invitations and the theme is "Visions of Sugar Plums."

Here is what is each guest received:

The image is from A Day for Daisies (Jewelry Box Ballerina) colored with copies and her tutu is embellished with Stickles and popped up with layers of vellum.

The box is made from Bazzill Diamond cardstock and the purple layer is Bazzill Purple Palisades cardstock.  The flourish is a Memory Box die, Frostyville Corner Die.

I used Aileen's Glitter Snow and embellished it with diamond glitter.  The candy pieces are miniature Christmas ornaments.

I'm linking up!

Coastal Charm:  Show and Share No. 239