This One Time...: It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Here we are, four days before Christmas and there is still more decorating I would love do but for the sake of time and my budget, I had to cut myself off. As I type this I'm trying to remind myself to slow down. Christmas decorations and personal Christmas style are developed over time so I can't expect my first Christmas season in my new house to be picture perfect.

I don't know what got into me this year, but I am all about decorating for the holidays. It may be that living in the snow has made me actually start to understand and appreciate Christmas music - which I usually hate. Or it could be that having my own house and watching too much HGTV has made me feel like it's time to start my own traditions and develop my own personal style. Who knows. All I know for sure is that I've made way too many trips to Hobby Lobby and Wal-Mart in the last few weeks and I should probably consider blocking Pintrest on my laptop.

So here you go, even though it's not perfect I have plenty of pictures I am excited to share.

First off is an update on my Christmas tree. Remember that one time I cut down my own tree? If not, here's a recap.

First, a trip into the mountains in search of the perfect tree. After that I cut it down with a hand saw (which took all of 5 minutes so don't be too impressed)

Next I brought the tree home and set it up in the living room. I recently completely repainted the living room (more pictures of that in a future post). I couldn't believe how perfectly the tree fit in the house once I go it safely in the tree stand.

Finally, it was time for lights and ornaments.

My Grammy had this awesome idea when I was a baby. She bought me and my brothers a new Christmas ornament every year so that when we moved away and started our own families we wouldn't have an empty tree. What a great tradition. Up until this year I wasn't ready to take my ornaments, but when I called my mom and asked her if she could set my ornaments aside this year, she was so excited to get rid of 25 ornaments that she offered to ship them to me right away.

Once I started unpacking my ornaments and hanging them on the branches I couldn't help but notice just how stereotypical Florida a few of my ornaments are...

For the record, I have never had a white Christmas but I am not sad about that fact at all. Christmas in Florida is different but awesome. Honestly, I probably love it so much because I don't know anything different. Sure it's hard to keep a straight face when people (meaning my mom) insists on putting icicle lights on the house along with the decorated palm tree in the front yard, and yes, we have more Christmas pictures with us gathered around the tree in shorts and t-shirts than any other attire. But you know what, in Florida when you get a bike for Christmas you get to run outside and try it out that very morning. As a little kid, you can't beat that.

Next up for Christmas decor was the mantle and to say I did it on the cheap is the understatement of the year. The branches and pine cones I took straight from the pine tree in my front yard. The branches were perfect but I spray painted the pine cones red and white just to add a little more color. The Christmas balls hanging from the ceiling I bought from Hobby Lobby for $5 and the ribbon was also on sale for $2. My big splurge was the thing you hang your stocking from. I bought it for $7 because I wanted a fancy one with the letter "D." The lights were $2. There you have it, a perfectly festive mantle without breaking the bank.

I opened my Birthday present from my Grammy a little early. She sent me a manger scene which we put on a bookshelf in the living room.

The wise men are on the mantle. I couldn't put them with baby Jesus - that would just be unbiblical.

Now onto the saga of the Christmas lights on the house. What on earth was a thinking? Oh, I can tell you what I was thinking - I was thinking that as a homeowner it is my civil duty to put up Christmas lights. Next year though if I attempt this I'm going to need a taller ladder, a boyfriend, or both, but this is NOT a project for single girls. I put a few lights on our townhouse last year but let me tell you this was a much bigger project.

Turns out you actually have to plan out the light placement before you stick them up there. Also, turns out that in 2012 they make these awesome clips and you just clip the lights right onto the gutter. Stapling the lights to the house is not only a thing of the past, but downright stupid.

Long story short, I had to put up the lights twice. When I put up the lights the first time I did not take into account things like extension cords and outlet placements so....after trying a few failed plans I gave up, took the lights down, and started over.

Also, it's a great idea to test the lights before you put them on the house. It's real annoying to get them up there only to realize part of your strand is dead and you have to take it back to Wal-Mart. For real, single ladies, I'm not trying to insult your competence I'm just trying to save you a lot of time and money. Find a different way to celebrate the season. The lights on the house thing is out of control difficult.

The saddest part is that I know how much time I put into this project and it still doesn't look good. I know my house is the saddest looking light display on the block, but frankly I am proud of the work. The final strand of lights never made it on the house thanks to a few snow storms and the fact that it gets dark at 4pm. Also, I figured out I didn't have nearly enough blue lights to cover the tree in my front yard but by the time I figured this out, the stores were all sold out of my blue lights. So now I have a blue stub.