Deck the Halls... or the corner

When we initially looked at this house, one of my first thoughts was that if nothing else, the front entryway with its large picture window would be the perfect place for a Christmas tree (even though Christmas was still 10 months away at the time). Here's what it looked like as of last week. [Side note: Because of the light fixture that was already there when we moved in, we believe this space is technically supposed to be the "formal" dining room, although it's much too small for that purpose. I have many issues with this area and it's functionality (or lack thereof), but that's a post for another day.]  

Anyway, here's what it looked like as of last week.

Over the past couple of days, I've tried to fight the urge to put up all the Christmas decorations at once, and spread it out a little instead. Some sort of exercise in patience, I suppose. We don't have enough to transform our entire house; we mostly have a "Christmas corner." But I plan on taking advantage of some post-holiday sales to work on that! I still have a few things I may set out here and there, but this is what it looks like now:

I think it has such a warm and inviting glow, don't you? Oh, and our tree is fake and pre-lit. And I love it. It's pretty realistic as far as fake trees go, and it's even got some pine cone accents to boot. Our ornaments don't really follow an overall theme; we've got red and gold, plus a few random ones that have some sentimental value. One of my favorites is part of a set of three (Peace, Noel, and Joy). So pretty!

 

And here's our sideboard, which is decorated somewhat simply. We had to scootch it over to make room for the tree, and I thought it would bother me not having the West Elm sunburst mirror centered anymore, but I think it works. I'm digging the tinsel trees that I made earlier this week! Mah-velous. And yes, I was having too much fun taking all these pictures.

 

Today, I took advantage of another 50% off sale at Hobby Lobby (one of my favorite--albeit dangerous--places to waste time over lunch break) and picked up some fake snow and mini ornaments for a grand total of $3.70. I put these in a cylinder vase, and voila! Simple yet stunning! I only wish I had a bigger vase.

 

I loves me some faux snow.

Oh, and here's the other tabletop tree I made, which I put on an end table to add a little sparkle to our living room. As you can see, red and gold are the dominant colors in our Christmas decor. I'm not sure we could pull off pink or some of those other contemporary holiday colors in our house. How about you? Traditional or trendy?

And finally, the kitchen table. Again, very understated... some gold pine cones in a glass bowl that belonged to Luke's grandma, because it's nice to incorporate pieces that have some meaning behind them. I may need to embellish this a bit more when we pull our table out to its full size though.
 

So, you'll notice that I didn't post any pictures of stockings. We do have a couple; we just don't have a good place for them--or any stocking holders to hang them on, for that matter. I've seen some really cute holders, but they are so expensive! Aside from waiting until after Christmas to find some on sale, anyone have any other ideas? 3M Command Hooks, perhaps?

I've also been itching to try and make the Eddie Ross ornament wreath that everyone's raving about, especially after seeing some really amazing versions around blogland! If I don't get around to it this season, that will be on my to-do list for next year. There are just so many great ideas out there!


We're also going to dress up our sad, empty front porch with some holiday cheer, so I'll post pictures once that's done, too. Until then, happy decorating!