Flashy Festive Christmas Decor

Well, before I started taking pictures of our Christmas stuff, I was super excited about joining Kelly's Korner for her Christmas decor carnival today.  Then, once I started taking the pictures - even though we have a super nice camera - I got less excited.  It seems like it looks much more Christmas-y and festive in person.  Clearly I am not a professional photographer, so it is what it is.  After Katrina happened, we had to start from scratch to rebuild our Christmas stock of decorations.  I'll start our tour in the kitchen...

I got Chef Santa last year from my mom :)  Then, you can see Gator Santa on the left, given to Landon by his mom a few years ago (I think!).

The Mary and Joseph figurine is carved out of olive wood.  We got it while we were in Israel in 2007.  The faces aren't carved because the more intricate the design on the wood, the more expensive it is there.   Ours had to be faceless :)  BUT, still mean a great deal to me to get them out every year.  That was a once in a lifetime trip, and I have so many great memories of it.  Beside Mary and Joseph is my glass block light that my friend Terri made for me!  It is a glass shower block with lights stuffed inside and bow tied around the front.  I was so excited the year Terri made it for me for Christmas!!

 

I just wanted to show my favorite Santa mug.  I bought Momma and me mugs like this a few years ago.  It's my FAVORITE.  BUT, you cannot microwave it because it has a jingle bell on it - trust me, you'll remember you can't microwave it after you do it once.

Here's our table centerpiece.

This is my favorite new addition this year.  A Christmas card holder!

Landon's mom gave this to me a few years ago - it's a BEAUTIFUL nativity.  I have a hard time fitting it on this table, so it may have to find a new home next year.  It's just gorgeous, so I love having it right inside the front door where anyone who visits can see it.

Landon's mom also gave me this angel last year.  I bought the angel for her the year before, and really liked it.  Then, she gave me one last year (I started actually wondering if she regifted hers to me because she didn't really like as much as she said...but I'm thinking that didn't happen :)). I love the angel.  Every morning when we wake up and come in the living room, James points at the angel, the mantel, and the tree - those are the three things we turn on right when we get up every day.

James loves playing with the nativity.  He also loves playing with the train - which I forgot about a picture of in this post, but it's a big, big deal at our house and we play with it about 10 times a day.  No kidding.

 So, I got this idea yesterday that I really want to put a tree in James' room.  This isn't the exact tree I'd like to put in here - I want to put one in the corner that actually has lights but is small.  BUT, you get what you can afford...you know what I mean? So, I got this tree that was half price at Hobby Lobby - it will do until we can get a better one for his room.  I took extra pictures I had of him since he was born and cut them out into different shapes as the ornaments. I think I probably could have done more creative stuff with this, but I'm not sure what, and I haven't had time to check out this idea on Pinterest to see what other people do that is better. 

And, here's the outside...

 Seriously??? Usually I can tell James to stand at the door while I step outside for a minute, but not today.  He bolted out the door with his socks on and started hiking it up the driveway.   Don't worry, I caught up before he reached the road.

So, that's it for me!  I enjoy decorating for Christmas, and I'd like to do more of it - just have to collect more and more each year.  Thanks for reading!