My Christmas Home Tour

With Christmas just 3 short days away, I wanted to give you a peek into our home!

Since the kitchen is the first room you enter,

we'll start there.

I just love this antique silver pedestal bowl and pitcher I got from the Embellish girls!

Piled full of oranges, greens and berries, they look quite festive!

Hadassah and I spent part of a Saturday afternoon collecting greens and berries.

It was so much fun making arrangements with them,

and it didn't cost a dime!

The blanket I draped over the banister is actually a blanket scarf!

I love items that have more than one function!

Up in the loft, the children's stockings are hung on the bookshelves, and I realized later that it was a mistake!

They informed me which child's stocking is which,

and of course, they never peeked! (or so they say) #momfail

This long, flat surface on the top of the bookshelves is perfect for displaying my nativity!

The children get to decorate their own tree and even got presents for each other!

You can read more about that here.

  

Lines from one of my favorite Christmas songs: Come and see what God has done.

Let's head back downstairs into the living area.

I love having a mantle to decorate!

Next year, the children's stockings will hang here. Hopefully, the height will deter them! 😆

I love textures, in case you haven't figured that out already!

And this mantle has a lot of them, so it happens to be one of my favorites.

The Christmas garland adds a little sparkle to my window.

In the living room, I displayed two of the gold pieces I got from Embellish,

along with a handmade tree.

Gingerbread houses make cute focal points, especially in a glass cloche!

And how cute is that truck and miniature Christmas tree that I picked up at the Cottage?

I have a few bottle brush trees, and I think another 5 would be just fine!

The European Christmas tree came from Evergrowin' Greenhouse.

Our first Christmas tree at the farmhouse!

Now, let's head outside to the front porch!

I filled my galvanized pail with greens and berries,

and pulled out my Noel sign.

And that's it!

Thank you for stopping by my home!

If you want to see last year's home tour, click here.

Merry Christmas, friends!

10 Favorite Christmas Traditions for Children

Christmas holds a lot of special memories for me from my childhood,

and I want to establish meaningful traditions with my littles as well.

There are so many festive activities during this season that it can actually be overwhelming,

so I decided to share a few that I have found to be worthwhile and fun!

1. Our church hosts an Operation Christmas Child Shoebox Packing Night,

and Hadassah and Nicholas love to participate in this!

I want to be intentional about teaching my children the true meaning of Christmas,

and this is a beautiful way to let them experience the joy of giving.

2. A few years ago, I bought a cheap artificial tree from Walmart.

It's actually kind of ugly (ha!), but the kids just love getting to decorate it with their own ornaments!

I let them each pick an ornament from New Creation each year

and we talk about the dear women who have created them.

3. The past two years, we assembled gingerbread houses.

It's a mess, and nearly as much candy ends up in their mouths as does on the houses,

but they have so much fun!

Those happy little faces make the mess totally worth it!

4. I was so close to buying an artificial tree this year,

but nothing beats going to a tree farm and choosing the perfect tree as a family!

They watched Papa cut it down, and chased each other through the trees.

It was an hour well spent.

5. Our annual church Christmas play is always a highlight and the children can hardly wait to go for the first showing tonight! Here's a preview clip to pique your curiosity :)
If you're local, we'd love to have you join us!

6. I took the children to the Dollar Tree so they could pick out a gift for each other.

$1 is such a small investment so they can enjoy the fun of giving!

They were so excited to wrap the presents and put them under their little tree :)

7. Go see a live nativity.

We've only done this once with the children, when Nicholas was too young to remember.

I think they would really enjoy going to see one this year!

8. Find a variety of books about Christmas at the library to read to the children.
I love this idea! I'll have to remember it for next year.

9. Bake cookies together and then fix platters to pass out to neighbors.
This is a family tradition my mom started,
and although I haven't done it every year, I think the children would love to participate in this.
Now I just need to figure out how to make cookies faster than we eat them :)

10. Take a drive to see the Christmas lights.
There's something absolutely magical about those colorful, twinkling lights!
I enjoy seeing them almost as much as my children do!

But even if I accomplish nothing else, I want to be present with my children.

 I want to sing Christmas carols, drink hot chocolate 

and experience the wonder of Christmas through their eyes!

Now I would love to hear about your favorite Christmas traditions!

Happy weekend friends!