Holiday Preparations

 Our tree

In the spirit of all the blogs I've been reading about decorating for the holidays, I thought I'd take a few photos of our holiday preparations to share with whoever's reading this blog.....just me? maybe....

here's me, decorating our tree

I snipped a few small branches, these are on the windowsill above my sink

 

I made this creation for my dining room table centerpiece. (sorry for the poor photo) It's branches some leftover, some got when we got our tree :) in a huge vase with some plastic ornaments in the bottom (with rocks for weight), lights, bows, and some wooden bead garland

 

More leftover branches in a simple vase in our room

I love garland.  There's some on most windows, and archways

 

 

Even a small piece leftover from a gift I got gets used on my kitchen window.  

An ornament hanging from the center is nice too.

I never throw out garland, it can always be used for something.

 

Two matching pieces on our dining room windows, 

they're so beautifully tall.

A painted wooden bead garland from my childhood 

adorns the painting by my great grandmother 

 

 Garland on the studio windows-with mandolin ornaments on the corners!

I did this one a little differently and looped it around and around the curtain rod

 

 Poinsettia garland on a framed poster

 

Garland on the family room window with some lights on it, 

and music note ornaments hanging from the swags.

Ornaments aren't just for trees anymore! 

I use them everywhere, so nice to hang from garland, 

fill a vase with, or scatter around:

The Santa and the Tricycle are both ornaments...

This long ribbon (with Santa print) was also used to wrap a gift I was given.  

It's beautiful over this double doorway, with a bow in the center

The door on the left has small plaques that read:

"Joy" and "Believe"

Don't neglect the bathroom-

Bows on the sconces.  

I also have a fun toilet seat cover and holiday towels.

 I tried out the cookie press I was given for my birthday.

These are molasses spritz cookies,

in the shape of camels.

 

In the spirit of Hanukkah, I made Latkes for supper last night.

With either applesauce or sour cream, DELICIOUS!

We intend on honoring Hanukkah each year this way.

I used the recipe in the Joy of Cooking.

How are you preparing for the holidays?  We're hosting my department party this week, so I have a few more decorations than in past years, but it wasn't that much extra effort, so I intend on continuing this tradition each year.  Next, I'll try to take and post photos of the Christmas lights I'm using....