Tales of the Brick Beauty: The Most Wonderful Time of Year

I have been counting down the days until we could decorate for Christmas. We had friends over the night before Thanksgiving, so Luke wouldn't let me start until Friday. You can bet-yer-bottom-dollar I was breaking out boxes Friday at 8 AM! Lots of Dean Martin, a few runs to Walmart for more lights - and we had everything decorated inside and out by Saturday AM (minus the real tree).

Before I share the beautiful photos of our decor (that I am a little obsessed with), I want to share my helpful hints to decorate on a budget.

Top 10 things to do when decorating for Christmas:

Hit up Goodwill at least once a week - this is not a one stop shop. The goods are changed out frequently and you never know when you'll stumble on a gem.
Buy 5 more boxes of lights and 2 more extension cords than you think you need. I'm a firm believer of buying extra and returning the unneeded. No one wants to make a run to Walmart for only strands of lights. (We made that mistake this year, story to come)
Find local thrift stores. In Fort Dodge, my new favorite is The Key. My dad's cousin was the one who told me to check it out. I had never been before - and I left with a box full of Christmas knick knacks. There are lots of other good ones in the area - I do not know their names but could describe their regular worker ;)
Take hand-me-downs from your mother.
Garage/estate/church sale it up. I found a HUGE box of thick, nice garland for $2 at a church sale.
Do not overestimate the ability of your outlets (oh wait, is this only an issue if your house is 120 years old? Insert eye roll. Story to come).
Buy indoor timers for trees - one less thing to remember to do.
Buy outdoor timers for outdoor lights - same ^
Drink wine.
Play lots of Deano, Frank, and Bing.

As I said before, our house has been 99% decorated since last weekend, but we hadn't cut down our real tree until last night. Last weekend got away from us, Luke coached Monday, I had conferences Tues/Thurs, and leave tomorrow for a girls' weekend - so Wednesday was the day!

It didn't matter that is was dark, raining/snowing, and cold - we were cutting down a tree!!! The first "snow" did make it kind of fun. I have never had a real tree - so I was very excited to start this family tradition together. We eyed a few and then both agreed on the one.

I have felt like Clark Griswold too many times this week.

Had to let 'er dry out overnight on account of the rain - tonight after conferences we put it in the stand and decorated away. I couldn't wait to share! I am so in love with the way our house looks. Something about Christmas lights makes life more magical.

Enjoy!

Documented the final touches!

Table cloth/napkin set - church sale $6

Dining room tree.

Kitchen tree.

Waiting for Christmas cards to arrive!

Wedding cake topper - I love seeing it on a daily basis.

Coolest versatile decoration. Late wedding gift from my Aunt & Uncle.

Insert various flowers/greenery appropriate for the time of year!

What is more festive that a 2 LB salted nut roll?

Nothing.

Living room tree #1

(real - cut from Becker Tree Farm)

Notice how perfect the height is! Love.

Excuse bits of Luke/football.

Don't worry, I made him mute it and put Christmas music on :)

#compromise

Double true.

Free printable I found online.

(I will link later, my computer is not cooperating)

Living room tree #2 (not real)

The real tree makes this one look like a wittle baby tree.

I get giddy when I look at our staircase.

"The stockings were hung by the chimney with care"

Variety of Christmas throw pillows - church sale.

O for Ollie, L for Luke, A for Abe.

Hoping to find a J sometime in the near future.

J is just too popular. ;)

Various snowmen/santa - The Key.

Each costing less than $3!

Reason for the season.

Upstairs tree.

Outdoor decor.

Lights, garland, lanterns, wreaths, oh my!

Last Wednesday we strung lights on every pole and on the porch roof. I plugged the last strand in, and the whole thing went out. Talk about feeling like Clark Griswold. I do not handle such situations well and had to leave it to Luke for awhile. Many more failed attempts and blown strands later, we realized it was too much power on our old outlets. We ran an extension cord from the garage for half and have the other half on an outdoor outlet. I definitely gained a few gray hairs through the process.

Excuse the few lights that are now out. I've given up.