Holiday Home Tour - 2007

It's here! It's time! I have waiting anxiously for Boo Mama's tour of homes to see everyone's Christmas decorating skills. I love Christmas decorating! All my photos can be enlarged by clicking on them. (That is if you want to see where the dust bunnies live and where I missed cleaning!)

So, welcome to my home! Here you are coming up to the front door. Please come on in and share some hot cocoa with me on this chilly, but snowless December evening. Sigh. I miss the snow. I grew up in North Dakota and it knows how to have snow for Christmas there. I like snow from Thanksgiving until New Year's Day. Then I want 85 degrees. But I digress. Back to the Christmas tour. I'll share the cocoa recipe at the end of our visit.

This is my living room - where we like to read or sit down and just visit with each other. It's small and cozy. We are all about family and togetherness in our home.My tree is probably 90% homemade ornaments. I love all things homemade. I think my favorite Christmas decoration in this room is the stockings that I cross stitched years ago for our family. You can read more about them and get a closer look here.

My daughter Jess helped me put together the snow village this year. I think she did a great job! I finished by hanging snowflakes above the little town.

I love books - and I LOVE Christmas books. I always try to buy one or two every year. This year I displayed them on a little sled. The little blue one in front was one my daughter Michelle got on her very first Christmas from her grandma. Now she is going to have a baby and I am going to be the grandma. Sigh. Life is just good sometimes.



This Willow Tree Nativity is what I got for my birthday this year. I just love the simplicity of it. I can look at it for the longest time and I keep getting new impressions and thoughts about it. I look forward to adding pieces to it throughout the years.

This is my plant shelf. I love decorating it but I don't do too well in high places. However, no one else is willing to do the work this involves. So every year I "suck it up" and climb the ladder and balance greenery, lights, wooden beads, and bears all on the edge of the shelf. I've never fallen yet. And I do enjoy the way it looks. Otherwise I would never do it.

And this is a favorite pictuer I cross-stitched years ago. It is a family of bears that "bear" our names! It
just makes me happy whenever I look at it - so sometimes I leave it hanging all year long.

Let's go into the dining room and kitchen - the place where I spend most of my time! Notice the garland hanging in the archway - I came up with that idea because I had too many ornaments for my tree and I wanted to display them.

This is my dining room. This year the girls in my office cleaned out the office Christmas ornaments and decided to discard some stuff. They were going to throw away those beautiful vintage Christmas balls - I rescued them and hung them from my chandelier. Some of the original boxes they came in were marked 29 cents. Can you imagine?

I did a snow scene in the kitchen window over the sink this year.

For years I collected the Christmas Oreo tins that came out every year. It made me sad when they stopped. Please ignore the spiderwebs I just noticed. They must be left from my Halloween decorations ;)

I also collect lots of other tins. They are so much fun to dust.

I love putting my Christmas Tree quilt on the bed every year. I leave it on all winter. With the flannel sheets of course.

I love the little tree I put in my bedroom this year. It is decorated with little red hearts. Appropriate, I think.

Would you like the recipe for the Hot Cocoa we just enjoyed? Here it is:


Homemade Hot Cocoa
1 quart of heavy whipping cream
4 Hershey bars

Place in a pan over medium heat until chocolate bars melt and it is hot enough to drink. Garnish with whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles. (With all the fat and calories in this drink - it's best if you only serve it at Christmas!)

Thanks for stopping by my little home on this fun tour!