Holiday Tour Part 2

So...I just realized after loading all of these pictures on here that I'm writing these posts a little bit backwards. After much thought I decided...I'm ok with that. Hope you guys are too! I haven't taken any pictures of the front door or foyer yet so that will be the next post which in all honesty should have been my first. Oh well!


If you are not at all interested in our simple holiday decor then please let this be this disclaimer that tells you to skip this post and probably the next and I guess the previous one too. I love to look around the blog world at other homes and get inspiration for my own so maybe you do too? Except that I may not have much to inspire with:)

Lets begin with our family room. Its the "nucleus" of our home. We all have our separate rooms in which we spend time(all of us except Dave and I. We like to share:), but this room is where all the day to day interactions and stuff happens. Its one of my very favorites! Especially during the holidays because I truly believe that evergreens, candles, glowing lights, berries and pine cones make a house a home. Just my personal belief:)

This is our family tree. I like to say its my organic tree except that Dave and Blake informed me that that doesn't even make sense. I don't care though because it describes to me what I'm trying to say about it. What I mean is that most of the decor on this tree are natural materials and such. Kind of. Anyway, here it is.


Its full of ornaments made from wood or metal or glass. No plastic or resin or anything of that nature on here. Except for the candles(too dangerous to use real ones so they are fake and made out of plastic). Love them though!


I used a lot of burlap this year. Totally love it! In red and its natural color. I use a TON of pine cones collected from our home town of Longview. Totally cracks me up to see bags of pine cones for sale in this town at Target or Walmart. Does anyone really buy them here when every other yard is covered in them? Most neighbors welcome you to pick them up and get them off their lawns! Works out nicely for me because I use them EVERYWHERE in my holiday decorations.


I added some birch branches to the tree this year. At first the guys didn't get it, but now they love the look. Just some branches randomly sticking out all over the tree. Do you see them? There's one on the top left of the tree thats pretty easy to see in this picture.

What else can share about this tree? I guess you could say I'm a Christmas tree snob. I'll never have a real tree. Great debates on this issue, but for me I like the uniformity of a fake one. I can do so much more with it. To each his own though. I only use clear lights. Totally hate the colored kind in any variety. I also HATE tree skirts. Sorry, I know there are some nice ones out there but its just not me. I ask Dave to cut down the poles on ALL of our trees so the branches either lay on the ground or they come very close to it. My favorite thing about this tree is the way the branches are fully touching the ground. Weird I know...but thats my style. Just prefer it that way.
Last picture of this tree... I promise! I wanted to show you the book shelf. I really love it this year. All of my favorite things are on it. Huge baskets of pine cones, Willow tree nativity(spread it out over 3 shelves this year and I love it), holiday pictures of the kids, copper star, candles, and lots more. Its just so wonderfully Christmas! The greenery on top lights up at night and the candles flicker making the family room so homey. Seriously one of my favorite areas of the whole house this Christmas.


Moving on around the room. This post is really getting long. You can totally skip all the words if you want and just look at pictures. I'll never know if you did so you can totally get away with it!


This is the mantle piece this year. Pretty simply. It only covers one half of it and I LOVE it. It hands off the right end and its lighted. I'm horrible at taking pics of the lights so I didn't even try to show you anything lit up. Trust me when I say how pretty it is at night with the lanterns flickering and the greenery lit up.



This is the center piece on the coffee table. Love the the pine cones, berries and candles. Again its so, so simple and thats what I love about it.


New piece made from things I already had hanging on the corner of the doors. This is something I saw in the Frontgate catalog this year but was in no way going to purchase it. I just came up with my own version. It makes me so happy.


Totally simple centerpiece on the breakfast table. This is the table we spend lots of time at together. Playing games, sharing meals, working puzzles, and doing home work. It all happens here on this table in the corner of our family room.

You can't go wrong when decorating with evergreen, berries, and candles. All of the greenery smells so yummy from an oil that I add to it each day. It smells delicious. Orange and sage of some type. Delicious!

Huge baskets of pine cones sit around the house. There are two of these on the bottom shelf of the book case.



Ok...one of my FAVORITE pieces. Not sure why I love this so much but I do. Simplicity at its best. An old window hung out on the patio...add a wreath...and its done. There are two of these pieces hung on the same wall outside the french doors. I love to watch the birds in them. Its become a very popular place this holiday season. So fun to listen to carols play and sit by the fire watching those little birds hop back and forth between the windows.


I just made an executive decision to delete the reaming pictures of this post and save them for another day. Its getting really long and boring! So I'll save the formal dining room and its decor for another day. Or not. I'll just end with one more picture. I couldn't resist.




I think she's the sweetest thing I've ever seen! Hands down she's the favorite thing in our home this holiday season.

Happy decorating to you and yours and Merry Christmas. I sooooo love saying that! Have a blessed day.