Christmas Comes to Town

I'm a jingle bell baby....born just before Christmas and brought home to spend my very first Christmas Eve with my proud parents at just 4 days old!!  So maybe that's why I love this time of year so much!  Everything about it is fun and festive and fabulous!!!

This year I think I took it to a WHOLE 'nother level...putting up my Christmas tree the DAY after Halloween.  But I gotta say -- to all of you who think I'm missing a few of my marbles -- it was TOTALLY worth it!!  I got to sit back and enjoy putting up the decorations, not feeling rushed to get things done in just a few short days.  It was almost as if my holiday spirit grew and grew with each new decoration that I put out!!  

I finally finished getting everything done earlier this week, and now I can sit back and relax.

HA!!  Not really....shopping to do, parties to go to, gifts to buy and holiday goodies to make!  But at least I can now do it in a home where I'm surrounded by the Christmas Spirit.  Here's just a sneak peek and some of my world these days!

 Part of my reason for getting the tree up so early was because I wasn't very happy with it last year....so I needed to put on my creative cap and come up with some new decorations.  

I already had plenty of white and some green....what I really wanted to bring in was some blues.  And I wanted something that was BIG...that would totally make a statement when I looked at the tree.  So here is what I came up with....

 I took these reindeer silhouettes and painted them in white and gray, then added a little extra sparkle for fun.  You can't really see it in the picture, but they definitely shine on the tree!  I mounted them on painted cardboard cake plates and then just added a few pom poms and jingle bells for a added touch of whimsy.

 I found these PERFECT cupcake liners....how could I possibly say no to lime green AND polka dots all in one cute little package?!?!  So I decided to turn them into garland using white yarn and some white poms left over from the reindeer.

 I still probably need a little bit more, but I LOVE how it all came together!!

 This sweet Santa was given to me by a dear friend a few years ago.  I absolutely love his squinty eyes and his rosy cheeks.  He is the perfect image of what Santa should be.  And surprisingly, this is the ONLY Santa decoration and ONLY red decoration I have in my house.  But it's so perfect that it is just enough!

 Love my mantle with my Christmas tree collection...feathers, sparkles and glitter.  How much better can you get?

 I've always wanted to do this and this year I FINALLY did!  I've had this little Christmas Village for years...and I probably haven't put it out for at least 4.  It was cute, but dated and just didn't really "match" anything else I had.  So this year I was bound and determined to bring it back to life.  And I absolutely LOVE how it turned out!!  Just a can of spray paint and and some white paint brushed on the top and I've got myself a whole new village that matches perfectly with the rest of my decor!

And FINALLY...this marquee sign has been my really BIG project this year, something I wanted to do from the moment I saw my inspiration on Pinterest!  Soooo much work, but soooo very worth it!!  I love it and it totally tops of my holiday home!!

Hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season and making it your own!!