We stopped by the in-laws's last week and picked up all of Kyle's Christmas decorations that he's been given or collected over the years. We didn't realize what a good idea that was, because this year someone gave us an 8 foot Christmas tree and the last two years I've used a 4 foot tree. If it hadn't been for Kyle's addition to the ornament collection it would have been a very bare tree! We also had to go out and buy more twinkle lights because the 4 foot was a pre-lit tree and this one isn't. Which threw us another curve-ball because neither of us every put lights on the tree growing up, that was always our dad's jobs. But we made it through and I think our tree looks very pretty. Its not THE most decked-out tree ever, but neither is it a Charlie Brown tree.
The tree skirt has an interesting story: I bought it in a marketplace in Romania, and its actually a traditional Romanian skirt for a young woman. I've just sort of draped it around the 4 foot tree the last couple of years and this year ripped out the seams and draped it again. At some point I'm going to remember (during the non-Christmas season that is) and actually sew it up into a real tree skirt, but this is not that point. I'll probably have to do some supplementing with another fabric , but the Romanian skirt is a very unique weave. I think it might be linen but not sure... and the texture is almost like burlap. I have no idea where I'd get linen-y burlap, and I'd probably want white or red to go along with the skirt. I'd probably have to special order it from online, which is complicated and expensive.... so now I'm realizing why I've just draped it around the bottom of the tree the last few years.... :-)
The nativity set by the TV is from my Great-Grandma. My friend commented that all my nativity sets are racist. Well, I can't help that the one's people have given me are predominantly Caucasian with the wise men being different for statistical purposes. Growing up my mom had a gorgeous red-clay nativity set from Mexico. I'd love to have something like that, or an olive-wood set from Israel. But again, both of those require either an internet purchase or a trip to one of those countries. While I'd LOVE to do the latter, and one day probably will, for right now we'll just have to settle with the racist-nativity sets.
I saw a far more intricate chandelier decoration on Pinterest, and this is my far simpler rendition of it. The candles in the window are from my Grandma. I remember visiting her house as a kid and seeing them in her windows and thinking they were so cheery and a wonderful idea. Then she gave them to me and I was overjoyed. The plastic candlesticks are a bit more yellowed then I remember but they still get the point across of making my windows look welcoming and warm to passer-byers. And the crochet doily on the table is also from my Great-Grandma - who gave me the 'racist' nativity set.
So that's my cleaning/decorating progress so far. Now I'm off to go pop a few more cough drops and make another cup of tea and down another doseage of Elderberry syrup before I head over to church to try and corral my little heatherns together to make this years Christmas play a real hit. *sigh* And then even though my husband's work's christmas party is tonight, I'll probably come straight home feeling like a truck hit me and fall into bed.