Decking the halls

I thought it would be fun to do a little holiday house tour in this blog post.  I love to decorate for the holidays and this Christmas I am really excited because we are hosting dear hubby's side.  I updated a few things and still putting out some oldies.

 

I've always wanted matching wreaths for every light fixture on the outside of our home.  Going to the Amana's last weekend and seeing the homes with wreaths just sealed the deal!  At first I just bought two wreathes for by the front door.  I decided once I got home and loved the way they looked that I should go get the other three as I may never get the exact match again.  I love the results!

I hope they will withstand the Iowa winter but for now it is 60 degrees and I think they will be OK.

Dear hubby has a hunting themed tree in our great room.  College girl and I found some really cute additions while we shopped this weekend.  Oh yes, we were helping the local economy and the small businesses!  The deer are so sweet, a buck and a doe.

I always like these smore's ornaments and look at what we found, a hunter!

I changed up the mantel a little this year, tried to keep it a little more macho since we have the "man tree" in the great room.  I also learned that the NOEL needs to not be in front of the TV to help with dear hubby remote stress.  I love these stockings that I bought 19 years ago through Lillian Vernon, back in the day where you did everything via the mail, no Internet. 

I put together a new arrangement for the big glass candle vases.  This year I have green and red bells combined with silver pine cones in the bottom for the great room. 

I am putting my Santa collection on top of the cabinets, out of sight out of mind for Chance the pup!  These are some adorable cookie jars, my oldest sister gave me the one on the left many years ago, I just love it!  The one on the right dear hubby bought me in Galena many years ago. 

 Here is what I have for Santas, it is a combination of my own plus my sweet mother-in-law's. 

I am a total copy cat with create Atkins Shelley!  She gave me the idea of cookie cutters in a jar, I love it!  Better than cookies because they have no calories.

 

 When Christmas shopping for my father-in-law I ran across these cute little elves, there were three of them for something like ten dollars.  I put them in funny places and hope to surprise a few people!

This is my Christmas village in my antique pie safe.  I don't know what to do about the cords.  they look best at night when they are illuminated and I don't think the cords are as noticeable.  I am tempted to spray paint the cords so they at least don't stand out so much.

I think this is still my favorite, love seeing Santa taking off for his long trip around the world.

Here is an update on this arrangement.  I put the little three dollar packs of pastel bulbs in the glass vase for the powder room.

I think it is a nice touch.

This is the dinning room tree, I keep it out year round and decorate it seasonally.

 

 

Here is my favorite decoration, Santa's little helper!