Wednesday night was spent tidying up and finalizing the Christmas decor in our living room.
Totally worth it.
I would keep the living room this way if it was socially acceptable (or if we lived in the North Pole). It’s so festive and cheery. As soon as I get home, I plug the window and tree lights in and just soak up all this Christmas cheer.
Late August was the last time I rearranged our bookcase so it was due for some TLC… and Christmas decor. Perhaps I went overboard?
The three blind mice are back and causing mischief. One of them believes he’s a photographer (I don’t have the heart to tell him that camera doesn’t have any film)…
… and another of the mice got stuck in a hurricane filled with ornaments and disco balls. Silly mouse.
Pretty much all of the shelves were rearranged. This quadrant of the bookcase is kind of the family/home section. I can’t say that I’ve read all the books, but I have checked out my family’s name in the Families of Ireland book (they’re there, and it’s pretty cool). I did spend one Saturday reading Nate Berkus’ The Things that Matter (which I had gotten after winning a giveaway on Erika‘s site) and oh my goodness, I loved it. Such a good book… and it may or may not have been why I played around with the layout of the books.
Immediately to the right is another of our lovely penguins. He (or she?) is very festive with a red bow.
Up above are some sentimental touches. These wooden snowmen were given to me from a janitor I befriended when I was in elementary school (I shared the story last year when I first displayed them). Seeing them makes me want to do good.
Another fun touch is our elf on the shelf, which was actually my mom’s growing up. For the past couple of weeks, I have been moving him around the apartment and hiding him in different places – some of which I shared on instagram but all have been cracking me up. Side note: if you are bored, you should go through the #elfontheshelf photos because some of them are hysterical. Joe is slightly creeped out by our little elf but I love it. I think that’s a pretty accurate representation of the public’s feelings on these elves: half are totally creeped out and half are totally into it.
Earlier in the week I shared our tree, but here it is again because I love it:
Rather than gush about it again, we’ll skip over that corner of the room and head to the next. Joe had given me an easel for my birthday present so I decided to put it to good use and use it to display one of my grandfather’s paintings (which my nanny was so kind to give to me). Prior to having the easel over there, this corner felt pretty empty so this is a very welcomed change.
Up above are some of our Christmas cards. This is the week when they started showing up in the mail so I had to quickly think of how to display them. Thanks to some white ribbon and tape for the vertical cards, I’ve been able to make a fun little display. We just got another slew of Christmas cards yesterday so I’m going to add another string of cards someplace else in our apartment. That’s to be determined.
I’m not going to try to hide that decorating our card catalog this year was quite the highlight for me. As we still don’t have a mantle, our card catalog became just that thanks to the hook handles. The stocking fall down sometimes but they look nice 90% of the time so I won’t complain. You’ll also notice Santa and two of his elves climbing their ladder to deliver gifts in the stockings. That’s something that I grew up with (it was either by the mantle or at the base of the tree) and my mom passed along to me.
Up above are a whole slew of Wintery items including a snow owl and penguin (of course they’re there). I’ve also filled a hurricane with ornaments and our apothecary jar with berries – both have epsom salt so it looks like faux snow. It’s very festive (and far more affordable than buying faux snow). That poinsettia was given to me by a vendor I work with daily at my job, and that’s been for the past 4+ years (nicest group of guys, ever). The wife’s boss even stopped by when it was delivered so she could meet me which I think is beyond sweet.
I kept thinks simple on our television stand because there is so much going on in the rest of the room. Just a Lenox tree ornament that is too heavy to hang on a real tree, some kissing Christmas dogs, and a festive house I painted a few years ago. Of course there are mini penguins that live in there.
So, that’s our big Christmas decor unveiling! There are some little Christmas touches throughout the apartment but the rest of it is still sort of a disaster, which is why we’re not going there. It’s okay though, because that is what this weekend is for (there will be a lot of cleaning, prepping, and baking/cooking). Then I’m going to kick back and watch Love Actually.
Are you all decorated and ready to go for Christmas? What’s your favorite item to display? Anyone else hosting Christmas Eve or Christmas for the first time?
PS – Want to check out how we decorated the apartment last year? You can check it out here!
