Baby to Bee: Christmas Decor

Christmas Eve seems like a good time to show you some of our Christmas decor this year!

I hung the handprint wreath made of both of my boys' handprints (circa 2015) on the big kitchen window.

This MERRY felt sign adorns our kitchen door. It was from the cutest felt creations Etsy shop, called Hopscotch and Honey!

This might be my favorite door in the whole house! This is the view from our kitchen into our laundry room. My mom bought me the calendar and I'm really liking the way the mint green December colors complement the season changing wreath-- also from Hopscotch and Honey!

Yesterday our elf, Q.E., was camped out in our pie safe with some ceramic Christmas mugs I made when I was a junior in high school. Not the prettiest things, but I like them.

On our back door hangs a handprint wreath that Noah made (or his teacher made) when he was in daycare for a short period of time at Christmas 2014.

Here is a side view of our mantle. I had forgotten about this felt ball garland that I purchased two years ago to use as part of a photo shoot backdrop. When I remembered it this year, I knew I had to incorporate it!

I went with a bottle brush display on the mantle this year. All bottle brushes on my mantle (both sides) are from Target. The small trees were $1 each, and the big trees were $3 each. I really like how it turned out! The trees may or may not get put away with the rest of the Christmas decorations. :)

One of my favorite Christmas decorations is this wooden German Christmas tree that my Nana got for me years ago. I used it in college as an apartment Christmas tree. All of the ornaments are removable and the tree can come apart in two pieces and lay flat in a tiny box. I love the nostalgia of this piece and how it looks like vintage decor. The glass music jar next to it is from a ladies craft night at church this month. The song sheets are from an old hymnal and mod-podged onto the glass. A star is cut out of the sheet, and the star cut-out is then used as a hanging decoration on the jar. We had our pick of hymns to choose from, as well as a bountiful supply of decorations. I kept mine very simple-- probably the most simple of all the ladies who attended.

My Fontanini Nativity set takes center place over the entertainment center. I didn't add any pieces last year, but am hoping to get some this year or maybe for my birthday. I'd love to have a huge display several years from now. To the right you'll see our Santa Christmas picture from last year when Avery was too little to care who held her.

Our Santa picture from this year is a little darker and harder to see, but it includes me holding Avery. I could feel her tense up as soon as we walked up to Santa, so I just participated in the photo taking and didn't create the scene of screaming toddlers. :) The picture is setting behind our J-O-Y stocking holders. I didn't choose to hang our stockings on them this year because these holders are quite heavy and I was worried that if Avery pulled a stocking down, one of these holders could seriously damage someone. So I just have them as a display piece on the top of the entertainment center to remind us to have joy this season. Next to the Santa photo is a handprint tree jar. My mother-in-law traced handprints of all three kids and then used their fingerprints on each tree as the Christmas lights! All three handprints are on this jar, but the handprint you can see clearly here is Noah's. Please note that his fingerprints are only red and blue (no yellow) and this is because he wanted "police light fingerprints."

Michael's Christmas craft that I did with him when he was four months old. And Michael's current year school Santa picture.

One of our end tables holds a fabric Christmas basket, which I'll be able to put Christmas candy in one day when my kids are old enough not to sneak it all day long. :) The red phone is from Target. We've been eyeing this phone for the past two years and this year I finally caved and let them get it. Everytime the handset is picked up, a different message comes on (from Santa or Mrs. Claus, or the head elf, or Prancer, etc.). All three kids have loved playing with this.

Here's our Christmas tree with only the top two thirds decorated. We have been continually surprised this year when Avery has broken ornaments that we previously thought were shatterproof. At the casualty of number 5, we moved ornaments higher up the tree. Now the only thing she can reach are glittery handprint cutouts. She hasn't noticed the presents and hasn't tried to open any of them. I consider this a win, and I also know that this probably won't be the case next year. :)

The Nativity Advent hangs on our coat closet door.

In my room, I have the hedgehog nativity set which I won in a random drawing on the Tons and Bunches blog, in collaboration with Hopscotch and Honey! That's my Aria diffuser in the background. The dome is glass, so this diffuser stays in my room where I don't randomly toss around toys. :) I always diffuse calming scents in here!

These are the Christmas countdown snowman faces that the boys made this year. My mother-in-law helped Noah with his (left), and Michael took the reigns on his own (right). :)

This pillow was made by my Nana, and was previously owned by my aunt who had Type One Diabetes. When she passed, the pillow was given to me. This is very very special. The two afghans were Christmas gifts for me and Aaron on our first Christmas together. His aunt crocheted them in our favorite colors (green for me, red for him) and they happen to work with Christmas decor really well!