tis the season!

Happy Holidays! Isn't Christmas the absolute best time of year?! I love everything about it! Especially decorating. (As evident in the following pics.)

Our mantle. I love it! (And yes, you see stockings for Duke, Jada and Maggie. Don't judge.)

My christmas banner I made last year.

All my candle holders came from the D.I. They were an ugly gold, I just spray painted them silver. Spray paint, by the way, is heaven sent.

I took some ornaments I already had and put under a cloche jar I got at Tai Pan (also heaven sent).

Our little Charlie Brown tree with only paper ornaments.

I'm crazy about our chandelier this year! I made the garland from vellum circles and I bought the vintage inspired ornaments from the dollar store for .25 cents a piece! Then I just strung them on some ribbon with a few jingle bells.

I think it's full of christmas whimsy!

If you haven't noticed by now, I love using jars for decorating. And the best place to get great jars and vases and such? The D.I.

This year I've been on a big kick with evergreen branches. Luckily for me, we have a plethora of pine trees at our house. I've been filling vases with pine branches and putting them all over the house.

More pine sprigs and more dollar store finds.

Curt calls this "the christmas candy table of cheer".

Just yesterday I was at the D.I. and found the glass candle holders and thought, "Add a few tea lights and some evergreen sprigs and this is a great little centerpiece."

Even my christmas cactus is all dressed up for the season. Isn't it a beaut?!

My china hutch looks so festively fun! And for the record, I love using turquoise as a christmas color!

Our tree!

This is my lovely new ornament from Curt. The Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Looove it!

And this is Curt's. Star Wars Rebel Snow Speeder complete with movie sound bites like

"Watch that crossfire boys! Stay tight and low! This is it! Aahhh! I've been hit!"

and

"That armor's too strong for blasters, Rogue group use your harpoons and tow cables! Go for the legs, it might be our only chance of stopping them."

Dollar store ornaments in another great D.I. find.

I even spruced up the bathroom with a little holiday cheer.

Happy holiday decorating!

Stay tuned for part II of tis the season with "garland mecca"!