Christmas Prepping

Wow, what happened to November?  It flew by so quickly I failed to even get a blog post done.  It wasn't anything major, just a lot of life's regular events that took precedent over blogging.  So now here we are at the end of 2016 and Christmas preparations are in full swing and good thing too since we are now only 10 days out from that day!!

The kids have their individual trees in their rooms and I just put the last of my decorations up. Kevin has taken some extra vacation time so starting this weekend we'll be able to enjoy 2 weeks of his presence.  Think I have some projects to tackle (insert BIG smile here), as well as some family time enjoying the added activities this time of year brings. So here are the decorations we have up now.

Starting at the front door.  It doesn't feel like Christmas here in Central Florida with temps that have gone between the mid 60's to up in the 80's, but we can still look festive.

Entry hall decor

Wreath on interior side of the front door

Then in Kevin's office I have the animated  Mr. and Mrs. Claus with a small tree.

The Mr and Mrs Claus were bought when Cameron was still a little guy.  He's 23 now - yikes!  The Father Christmas at the top of the tree was the first tree topper I bought when Kevin and I were first married.  That's 33 years ago now.

On top of my desk I have more decorated small trees and coordinating decorations.

I have a lot of angels and Father Christmases in my collection.  When they were young Cameron and Amber used to give me them as gifts each Christmas.  So I put them together by themes or coordinating colors. 

Our main tree is in the corner adjacent to my desk this year.  I always love taking out the decorations we've collected over the years and from around the world to add to our tree.  So many memories attached to them.

The angel topper was a gift from the kids years ago.  I love a full tree with ribbon, pearls and ornaments.

My Ebeneezer Scrooge was an ornament I bought for myself in a fancy Christmas shop at Horton Plaza, San Diego back in the 80's when we were still living there. The egg shaped cloisonne next to him was purchased on our second trip to China when we went there to complete Lauren's adoption

The Father Christmas was another ornament I bought myself at the same time I got Scrooge, and the angel is a tree topper my parents had on their tree when I was growing up.  They bought her before I was born on a trip they made to Germany. Her head and hands are made from wax and has delicate and detailed painted features. The cloisonne egg ornament is another one bought in China in 2011,

This beautiful cloisonne ornament was purchased in Beijing the first time we were there in 2005 when we went to get Hannah.  It was the first time we saw the craftsmanship involved in creating these beautiful pieces.

The heart is one of the pieces I make by sewing lace, beads, jewels, buttons and flowers onto felt pieces I've cut out.  I love making each one unique so that no two are exactly the same. Here are two more of my cloisonne purchased in 2011.

This is a smaller ornament I made

One of 3 Santa head ornaments I have and the delicate bells are from an estate sale I went to the first year we moved to Florida.  They were so pretty, I couldn't pass them up!

More of my hearts and another bell from the estate sale

This is a close up of the ornament to the right of the bell pictured above. It has some of the Czech glass beads I ordered online and just love for their color.

The detail and color of this pear cloisonne piece is amazing.  The ornament with the bow on the right is one I hand painted on a clear glass ornament a few years ago.

Another heart and more cloisonne

This baby shoe cloisonne was purchased in Beijing in 2005, just before we left for the Hunan province to get Hannah.

Decorations on the top of the book shelves in the living room, and then new decorations on the mantle.

The Father Christmas on the far left is one I made, then the angel and other Santa's are from the kids

I'm still looking for a large mirror for my mantle, so I used a lot of smaller items in combination to fill this space

My white and gold collection for the top of the TV armoire.

This is my gold and white collection

This Santa used to be animated when Amber and Cameron got him for me, but the years have taken their toll on him and he can only stand there holding his bag and bell now.

Then in the back sun room I've set up these decorations and tree.  It's really pretty at night when it's dark outside and all the lights are on there and in the house.

This is the tree that used to be in the sun room at the front of our home in California. I found the gorgeous ribbon I use on it several years ago, and then found ornaments that would compliment the colors and jewels sewn on it.

My mixed collection on the side table.  The stained glass angel on the right is one my parents made.

This Father Christmas is one my mother made several years ago and the little church is a decoration that my parents had before I was born.  I used to love when I was growing up to help put it together and then light the candle inside the church door that heats up inside and turns the chimes. Cameron's taken over the assembly job over the past few years.

Now that our house is decorated it's time to finish my Christmas shopping and then begin my food menu as we prepare to celebrate,

That's it for now, I'll post some more as our family spends time enjoying activities this time of year brings with it.  Have a safe and happy Christmas season.