Happy Holidays and Welcome to Our Holiday Open House Day 3

Welcome back!  I am so happy to see you.  I can't wait to hear about your Thanksgiving.  I hope you had a wonderful time visiting with friends and family.

We had a nice Thanksgiving.  Our menu changed as no one was delivering pizza (I'm grateful they were not working).  :)  The hubs ordered pizza on Wednesday night just in case anyone wanted any.  Guess what?  Not one person touched it.  I guess that goes to show you that they really do want traditional food.  :)  We had ham, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, rice dressing, rolls and candied yams.  For dessert Brad brought home made pies his grandmother made.  There was a pecan pie, pumpkin pie and a chocolate pie.  And if that wasn't sweet enough there was vanilla ice cream and cookies and cream ice cream to go along with your choice of pie.  I have photos to share with you a little later.  Maybe a bit later.  :)

Can I get you a piece of home made pecan pie before we get started?  What would you like to go with it?  A glass of sweet tea, coffee or maybe a glass of  milk?

Today I've chosen Matthew West's "A Christmas to Believe In" for you to listen to as you go through the photos.  I hope it brings back happy memories of loved ones that are no longer with you.

Today we'll continue our holiday tour in the family room.  The tree in the family room is the largest tree in our home at nine feet tall.  I am not sure what I was thinking when I said I wanted one so tall. I definitely wasn't thinking of fluffing a tree on a ladder.  :)  I have to say this tree, as tall as it is, is the easiest and fastest tree to decorate.  I attribute it to the decorations being so big.  They take up a lot of space on the tree so it goes much faster. 

I guess if I was to give this tree a theme name it would most likely be "Southern".  There are magnolias, fleur de leis, crosses and angels.  The largest angel is approximately 24 inches tall.

I bought the burgundy deer at Hobby Lobby.  I bought the other ornaments so long ago I don't remember where they came from.  Like ten or twelve years ago.

I found these gold fleur de leis at the Christmas store Santa's Quarters in the French Quarters in New Orleans when Brooke was still in high school.  I bought three of them.  They are about 10 inches tall.

There are three different angels of various sizes in the tree.  The smallest is 12 inches tall while the other one is 18 inches tall.  If you look closely you can see a glass grapevine.  These are placed all around the tree.  I also have magnolia floral swags throughout the tree.

I bought the Merry Christmas banner at Dillard's nine years ago.

Immediately to the right is the kitchen with a wrap around bar.  This is where I place my St. Nicholas Square village from Kohl's.  Many years ago the hubs and I decided we wanted to do a village so we went to Kohl's and went nuts.  They had everything 50% off and we got a little carried away.  Since then we have added a few pieces.  I love putting together the village.  I take my time and try to make it look as authentic as possible with the space I have.

We'll start on the right side and make our way around.

First we have the Christmas tree lot.  You can't have a village without a tree lot.  :)

Next we have a train station.

I love this little Warming House.  I imagine myself walking through the snow to get some hot chocolate.  Isn't he a sweet brother to pull his sister on his sled?

Here we have children building a snow man and snow skiing.

Michelles Cookie Factory is Mr. W's favorite.  He is always asking someone to pick him up so he can see.  :)  Uncle Bradley was extremely patient with him on Thanksgiving Day as Mr. W kept asking him (during the Dallas Cowboys game) to lift him up.

And of course this is Main Street.  :)

This reminds me of A Christmas Story where the little boy is double dared to put his tongue on the flag pole and it gets stuck.

Brooke and Brad gave me the Home Depot building last year.  I love it.  You probably make as many trips to Home Depot as we do.

Jake's Produce is making a delivery to the local diner.

Jack's Diner...it's like a throwback to the 50's.

No town would be complete without someone fishing, right?

I love this St. Nicholas Square.  If I were to design a town square it would probably look something like this with lots of stone work.

I'd have the largest Christmas tree for miles around with free photos with Santa.

"It's a Wonderful Life" is playing at the local theater.  Would you like to go with me?

I have my own personal Christmas Shop.  :)

Southern men are such gentlemen.  I love being from the South.

It wouldn't be Christmas without Santa ringing his bell.

Arriving home after a day of shopping....

A bakery with home made pies.  Yumm!

A beautiful scene on the grounds of the church.  Everyone is gathered together on Christmas Eve singing Christmas songs.

Here's a look back at the village on the bar.  I am sure by now you think I have lost my mind.  That's okay I am quite happy here.  For me, it is all about the details.  They tell a story.

The hubs bought this Believe sign at the Nutcracker Market a couple of weeks ago.  It looks great under the bar.

And here we have the fireplace.  This year's design came together purely by accident.  We had a different Santa picture that hung over the mantel.  This year I hung it up with the correct hanger that could hold up to 100 lbs. but that didn't keep it up there.  No siree!  It came down with a HUGE noise and shattering glass.  There was a hole beneath the one I put the nail in and the weight of the picture caused the nail to go down to the hole below and it fell.  I was decorating in the kitchen when I heard the noise.  It scared the bejeezus out of me!  From the sound of it I knew exactly what it was.  There was a huge mess and it took me a while to clean it up.  Praise God there wasn't a hole in the wooden floor and I did not cut myself on all of the glass shards.  The picture took out two angels on its way down so I had to come up with a new design.  We went out and purchased the new Santa picture at Kirkland's the very next day.

The cute little elves were displayed in the game room so I recruited them for the mantle.  The tall elf was in the breakfast room so I pulled him into the grouping and the red trees have always been on the mantle.

I bought the lighted Joy sign this year at Michael's at 40% off.  My original thought was to place it on the patio but it looks so much better here.  The "Dear Santa" sign was purchased last year at Cracker Barrel.  It used to hang on the wall we removed so it needed a new home.  Voila!  I put them together and fell in love.  I think they are adorable.  Definitely an accident that was meant to happen.

Here are some closer shots of the garland.

The angels we lost were similar to this one hanging in the garland.  The only difference was they stood on their own with a bottle of ketchup or barbecue sauce inside of the base while this one hangs.

The gold snow flakes are my favorites.  I bought them at Hobby Lobby a couple of years ago.

             

I love the way it turned out.  Don't you?

Do you believe in Santa?  I do!  If you say no you are getting underwear for Christmas!!!

One thing I learned over the years is if you have a collection of something it makes a bigger statement if you make a grouping rather than spread it around your home.  I love looking at my Santa collection.  The Santa in the rocking chair must be 30 years old.

I bought the banner "There's no place like home for the holidays" at Kirkland's.

This little Rudolph came from Dollar General when Brooke was little.  He is so darn cute.

Here's a closeup of the decorations around the fire place.

My sister-in-law Debbie bought this Santa for me years ago when they first moved into their home.  It  was a thank you gift for decorating her home for her open house and also for Christmas.  He needs some new boots.  His boots dry rotted.  :(

Just in case Santa isn't sure I've left out a Santa hat reminding him I have been really good this year!!!

I have no idea where I bought this sled...I've had it for years.  The stuffed animals have been around for a very long time, too.

This large Santa hat came from Cracker Barrel years ago.

This log home reminds me of our family trips to Artesian Lakes.  We haven't been since Mr. W was born.  It's time for us to plan a trip.  He would love it.

I bought these pillows at Pier One three or four years ago.  The snow flake pillow is my favorite.

I love having Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus as the center of our room.  I got them at Kirkland's so many years ago.  They have held up really well.  I love displaying them on this beautiful gold mirror.

I can't begin to guess how old this tic-tac-toe game is....if my memory serves me right my mother-in-law gave it to me.

Here is a sample Christmas card I received in the mail at work many years ago.  I cut it the shape of my frame and have displayed it ever since.  Now that's what I call cheap decor.

I love this Santa.  He is much prettier in person.  I purchased him at Dillard's before Ms. A was born.  Almost 10 years ago.

Before we bought the Chevy Chase village I used to refer to this one as the Christmas Vacation home.

Our backdoor rug was purchased at Kohl's for $4.99 three years ago.

I believe this sums it up "the most wonderful time of the year!"  I more than likely bought it at Home Goods.

I just bought this OCD decoration at Cracker Barrel.  I knew I was OCD about Christmas!!!

Here's a look back into the family room from my bedroom.

I hope I haven't bored you with the details.  My goal was to share with you that it doesn't matter where you buy your decorations.  You can use anything to decorate.  Even cute stuffed animals.

Thank you for stopping by.  Next up will be the tour of our master bedroom and bath.

I hope you are finding all the sales you want this Black Friday.  As for me...I'm hanging out at home enjoying the day with you.

Take care and many warm hugs to you,

xoxoxo

Debbie