Happy Holidays and Welcome to Our Holiday Open House

Happy Holidays!  We are so happy you had time to stop by and visit with us today.  Please let me get you a sweet tea before we begin your tour of our holiday home.  I am sure you know us Southerners are known for our sweet tea.  If you prefer, I'll make you some hot chocolate but I think it is still a little warm outside.  Sweet tea is always a sure bet!   Come on let's get started!!!

Here's a little Christmas music for you as you enjoy our decor.  The Heart of Christmas by Matthew West.  

We are so excited to present to you our new foyer.  I had lots of fun decorating the new lay out.

We found the buffet at Star Furniture and the mirror at Home Goods.  All of the decorations in this room are from previous years.  The only piece I added was the NOEL.  I found it at Home Goods for $29.00.  Can you believe that?  And honey, if you were to pick it up you'd be surprised at how heavy it is.  Let's just say there were ladies eyeing me as I made my purchase.  I know they were asking themselves "how did I miss it?"  You know those moments.  I know I've had them.  I am sure it was the sparkle of the glitter that caught my eye.  Imagine that!  The photos do not do it justice.

I stole the lantern from the patio.

I thought our initials were a perfect accent to our beautiful mirror.  It just so happened that I had painted them red last year.

I bought this sign at Hobby Lobby a couple of years ago.  It has all of my favorite holiday foods.

We bought this light up Santa picture at Kirkland's a couple of Christmases ago.  Who knows?  It could have been longer.  The spring Santa came from Cracker Barrel.  If you know me, you know I love Crackle Barrel and it's not for the food!!!  You get one guess!  Don't get me wrong, the food is good.  It's just the shopping is even better!  They have the cutest kids clothes.  The boutique look without the boutique prices.

The Joy sign is from Hobby Lobby...yes a couple of Christmases ago.  :)

This sweet Santa sign must be at least 20 years old.  He has held up really well.

I scored this Santa's Workshop sign from Etsy a few years ago.  Makes me laugh when I am pushing through trying to get everything done.

Oh Santa....how beautiful are you.  I scored this one, maybe 10 years ago, in Galveston while shopping at Christmas on The Strand.

Technically this isn't part of the foyer but I wanted to include it since it is right off of the foyer.  This is our tribute to Chevy Chase Christmas Vacation.

It is a tradition for us to watch this movie at least once during the holidays.  We haven't watched it with the grandkids yet as there are some parts in there they shouldn't see or hear.  Keep this in mind if you are going to watch it with little ones.

Here's a clip from the movie.

We first found the Department 56 Christmas Vacation Snow Village at The Christmas Store in Fredericksburg the summer after Brooke and Brad were married.  We have added a few pieces since then.

I added spotlights so it lights up really well in the dark.

I love the details in putting together villages.

My bad.  I forgot to turn on the ridiculous amount of lights on the house.  There is a separate button on the back that lets you choose lights straight on or blinking.

Can you see the tree that went through their neighbors bedroom window?

Here's a look back to the foyer.  We love how much brighter it is now that we opened up the wall.  We are very happy with our new foyer.

And this little guy is Uncle Mugsy.  We bought him in November of 1999.  How do I remember that?  We also bought the book that went with him, "Uncle Mugsy and The Terrible Twins of Christmas".  We had it autographed by Tim Raglin, the Illustrator, for Brooke.

Uncle Mugsy is a confirmed bachelor who lives in his comfortable mansion without a care in the world.  But Mugsy's perfectly singular existence is put in double jeopardy when his adorable niece and nephew arrive for an unexpected Christmas visit!

I'll continue your tour tomorrow.  I didn't want to inundate you all at one time.

Take care and happy holidays!!!

xoxoxo

Debbie