My Christmas House Tour

We were a little behind this year getting our decorations out, and I don’t know that we’ll bother getting caught up at this point. So I went a little lighter this year than last (2008 tour here), but I like it.
Our tree looks pretty much the same from year to year. I like that too. That’s how traditions get started. Years from now my kids will be saying “remember this ornament? that was the year we…”



Last year I did add a whole bunch of silver pinecones and antiqued silver ornaments I got at Dollar Tree, and I’m still in love with them.



This year the tree is in the room with the fireplace, so I didn’t do a garland on the mantel. I used some of the same elements as last year, but kept the look cleaner.



I was excited to find the two vintage aqua Shiny Brite ornaments at the thrift store a couple weeks ago. I love how they add a little pop to the otherwise all silver. I used blue books in place of the brown ones that are normally there to carry out the scheme.



I have a few things displayed on the accent table.



The white houses are actually candles, again from Dollar Tree. The little ones under the dome came in sets of three (trees/house combo).



A trio of Santas stands watch over my Scrabble tile message center.



In the front room, I have another Santa and another little house.



When I was a teenager, my dad took me to England and Scotland, and I bought a Lilliput Lane cottage as a souvenir, which are popular collectibles over there. That one is packed away somewhere, yet to be unearthed since our last move, but I recently found three of them at the thrift store for about $1.50 each. This one is called, appropriately, “Holly Cottage”. (I sprinkled fake snow around it, so I guess that’s what makes it Christmas-y.)



And finally, on my kitchen counter I have this display, simple and festive.



If you like the apothecary jars, I recently did a post about making them. It’s part of my ongoing Thrifty Gifty series of DIY gifts, most of which can be made for under $5 with supplies from the thrift and/or dollar store. I’m at 12 and counting, so check past posts, and I’ll have more this week.