Joyful Joyful #17: Home for the Holidays

I promised to give you a sneak peak into my decorated home, so here you go! I did not get all of my creative ideas and projects done, but I still have been enjoying what did get decorated.

I had different plans for displaying my Christmas cards but there just wasn't time. Here is what I ended up doing with some of them:

That lasted one night, until Isaiah woke up in the morning and started taking them all off.

Our tree, from 3ft and up:

From 3ft and under:

Things definitely change when you have an active 1 year old around!

A couple of my favorite ornaments:

This last one is a vintage locket that I found at an antique store. I love hanging photos on the tree!

To spice up my china cabinet, I cut a mirrored glass garland and draped a strand across the top and taped strands inside. There was one in the middle, but it did not want to stay up today! I love my Crate & Barrel Christmas dishes. I bought them years ago before we were married in the middle of summer :)

A reused sign from the Christmas tea , a couple of jars full of ornaments and fun frames. One of the frames holds a photo of me with Santa as a baby, a photo of my hubby with santa as a little boy and our Christmas card from our first year of marriage.

These vases from the tea were empty, but my thoughtful husband picked up some flowers for me at the store so that I could have flowers for Christmas. He is a keeper!

Thought I'd grab some lanterns out of the garage and pin them up:

I do not love my mantle this year. I could not find candles that I liked anywhere and nothing looked right. It is a very small ledge. I just gave up and learned to live with it. I planned on making new stockings- by next year maybe. The polka dot ones were made by me & my mom my sophomore year in college (they looked great in my dorm!) and we made Isaiah's last year and did a terrible job. Next year, next year. 

I do, however, like my wreath:

My favorite Christmas decoration is my banner from Anthropologie . I bought it in the middle of spring my second year of college. My friends thought I was crazy. I absolutely love it. It makes me smile.

I threw a little ribbon & bakers twine on my candles and vases to jazz them up:

The christmas thing (I don't know what to call it- any ideas?) was a last minute craft idea that came out of my hatred for throwing away paper scraps. I had a ton of strips left from my Christmas cards and decided that they were the right size to make a chain. I was wrong- too fat and not long enough, but I decided to still use it. I cut out some letters with my Cricut and voila!

I very much dislike my banisters, but what can you do when you're renting? Throw a glittery banner on them with fun ribbon- that's what.

I also added a little touch to the stairway by double-stick taping cute pieces of scrapbook paper on the wall. They have the words to "Deck the Halls" on them.

I love my tiny downstairs bathroom this year. It is normally blue and black, so I just added in some red accents.

Love those vintage little trees!

Last, but not least, how cute are my anthropologie dish towels that my lovely bride & industry peer Megan gifted me? Thank you so much again Megan! They have brought me so much cheer while doing dishes!

From our house (or downstairs at least) to yours, may your next two days be full of cheer!