It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!  It's always nice to get together with family, ponder on what you're thankful for and then stuff yourself silly with all the deliciousness that accompanies the holiday.  What really gets my heart racing is what comes after.  No, not Black Friday sales - I appreciate sleep too much to line up in the middle of the night waiting to be trampled on!  What I'm talking about is the Christmas Season!!!  It officially begins (in the Smitten household) right after Halloween.  Yes,  I start scheming and planning all the decorations and present buying wayyy before Thanksgiving.  It is my absolute favorite holiday, after all.

I wanted to share with you the steps I take to make it all happen.  

Step #1:

Rearrange furniture in the formal living room, assemble tree and lug all Christmas decor up from the storage room in the basement.

 Step #2:

Sort through all the ornaments and organize them in order (ex: Ribbon first, Giant globes second, Red next, then Green...etc)

Step #3:

Remind myself (yes, I have to do this every year) that it's the FAMILY tree and everyone gets to decorate. I am not allowed to be greedy with how I want MY, I mean OUR tree to look like.

I can't believe how quickly they grow!

*sniff*  I miss these days

I love placing a few fairies in the tree in random spots.  Adds a little extra charm.

Doesn't he look fabulous?

I'm way up high!

Step #4:

Christmas skirt?  What Christmas skirt?  I couldn't find an affordable skirt for this monstrosity of a tree (10' feet tall and 7' wide) so I used some ribbon...  A LOT of ribbon.

Nifty idea, eh?

Step #5:

Wrap  some presents! 

I like to keep my ribbons, scotch tape, scissors and name tags in a present box so I can keep my supplies close without having an ugly plastic tub acting as an eyesore.

Step #6:

Traditions, traditions, traditions!

About four years ago, Mr. Smitten and I purchased a snow globe for our little one because she was so enamored by it.  Every year since, we've given her a snow globe present and started a snow globe village.  

My Mini Smitten loves The Nutcracker.

I used Polyfil (pillow stuffing) for the snow.  It's not nearly as messy as regular cotton!

Step #7:

Take a step back and admire all your hard work!  No joke, this took about a week to finish!  I have the battle scars to prove it!  I have so many scratches on my arms from fluffing this giant tree!  So worth it!

Santa's bag is ready for filling!

Hmmm... looking at this picture is making me think about window treatments.

There are so many reasons why I love this time of the year.  Something in the air changes (besides the drop in temperature), people are kinder, everyone is so excited with the idea of giving to others and for a little while, magic exists.

Please, oh please don't let her grow out of this stage!

~*Abigail*~