Christmas Around the House

Just a couple of things around the house that make the season a bit more enjoyable. I only decorated about half of what I normally do this year. At 17 months, Carter is just too 'touchy-feely' right now to do it up the way I normally do.

This Santa wall hanging is one of my favorite new things this year! I bought this old cardboard Santa decoration from an antique store for $6. Bought the 16x20 frame from IKEA for $15 and had some green fabric at home...Voila! I hung it on the way up the stairs and the boys LOVE it. They say "Goodnight, Santa" every night on the way up to their rooms.

This was one of my day-after-Christmas purchases last year. SO GLAD I bought it. Logan really liked marking off the days this year and I am sure it will get plenty of use for years to come. I hung it in the kitchen so we could mark the days during breakfast.

I can't put wrapped presents under the tree yet, so I created a little kid area instead. Every year, after Christmas, I buy a bunch of little wind-ups and small toys and put them away for the next year. I fill the small "Ho Ho Ho" enamel bowl (on the left) with all the goodies. The kids love sifting through it. The red basket houses all the Christmas books and all the holiday stuffed animals have a home too (except for the ones that get taken up for bedtime on occasion).

The wrapping paper I am desperately trying to get rid of this year. I have WAY TOO MANY old, half-used rolls. I typically like to pick two matching papers and use them on everything. My 'particular' nature enjoys the way it looks under the tree vs. a little bit of everything. But, this year, I vowed I would not buy any new matchy-matchy paper until these are GONE! I guess I'll buy some after Christmas and I can look forward to next year's matching packages for 11 whole months.

(Yes, I am THAT particular about it)

Let's liven up those chicken nuggets, shall we?

Our Starbucks and Lights tradition...

SO fun to go driving with Christmas tunes and yummy drinks. The boys are at such a fun age and REALLY enjoyed looking at all the houses this year. Carter just started saying "Santa" so he was like a broken record the whole time we were out!