Our Christmas house

I've had so much fun decorating our little home for Christmas this year! I'm reluctant to pack away the Christmas decor now - it's all so cheery! Here's a little peek at a few of the simple handmade items I incorporated into our decor this year:


I tatted a stack of delicate snowflakes for our tiny tree, each one also incorporating beads for a bit of sparkle. With some red and gold ribbons, this resulted in a simple, old-fashioned look for the tree.


This simple star was an absolutely free project, made from twigs in the yard, a little hot melt glue, and rafia tied over the joins. I actually made it last summer and had it out in our living room for several months. To me, the star has a patriotic/country feel to it, so it works well around the year, not just at Christmas time.


For our coffee table, I laid out a row of doilies - the different patterns and sizes remind me of snowflakes. :) A couple candles leftover from our wedding decor, a small dish of candy, fake cranberries and snow in a tall glass vase tied with burlap...it all fit together perfectly.


When it came to Christmas cards, I used two simple ideas: First, I got a long strip of burlap, tacked it over our coat closet door, added a simple ribbon bow at the top, and then pinned cards to it all the way down, using clothespins. Some sparkly gold snowflakes (from last year's Christmas clearance) looped over the clothespins and added a fun, festive touch. Worked out perfectly!


We had too many cards to all fit on the door display, so I tied a length of twine along our short banister, under the poinsettia garland. More clothespins easily clipped cards here - though I unfortunately didn't have enough sparkly snowflakes for this area, too. Ended up being just about perfect for the number of cards we received this year (it filled up after I took this photo).


And finally, probably one of my most favorite parts of our holiday decor, though not homemade: the snowflakes on our patio doors. We got three from Hobby Lobby, and I have thoroughly enjoyed using them as suncatchers in our south-facing dining area. In the afternoons the sun comes through them beautifully, sending little rainbows bouncing all around the room. Even though I will be packing away the rest of the Christmas decor before too much longer, I plan to leave these up through the rest of the winter: they're just too pretty to put away. :)

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! Jesus - our Immanuel! - matters far more than these bits of temporary prettiness, fun as they are. May you come to know Him in new ways in the year ahead!