When I started to plan out Christmas in my head, it involved getting a tree maybe a week before Christmas and slowly putting the decorations up for the whole month of December. But, when I found a fat lovely Frasier at the store and that there were only three left, I just had to snatch it up!
The kids were not satisfied with just letting it sit there in the living room unadorned.
So, I dropped my to do list for the weekend and we set to work “decking the halls” albeit still somewhat slowly. I didn’t call it good until yesterday when I put up the final touches to our apartment.
Our tree is mismatched and yet so lovely. We have our same old salt dough ornaments that I love and that my kids always forget aren’t real cookies. All the fun splatter painted kid made ones. Candy canes about three years old. A few of ones I’ve made… It may not all match, but it’s full of memories, just the way I like it.
And that got me thinking. Why not put photo memories all over the tree as well? I know photo ornaments aren’t a new concept, but clipping just straight photos was something I hadn’t done before. I just knew some black and white ones would go great with our black and white throw pillows.
So, I quickly went through our photo files and chose a little over two dozen pictures from the past year, starting with last Christmas.
There’s the first day of school, missing two front teeth
Natalie’s birth
a picture with each set of grandparents (we’re blessed to have three), last year’s Christmas concert,
birthdays,
Natalie’s first bite of solids.
I think it’s the perfect way to celebrate the close of another year and just might be the birth of a new standing tradition for our family. I can just imagine (or at least I hope!) our kids eagerly waiting to see which pictures make it to the tree each year.
It’s also a great conversation piece for our small family and guests alike.
Plus, it’s super inexpensive and easy. Just print and clip. My clothespins are painted and have a strip of scrapbook paper mod podged on them but that step is totally optional.
Our tree was too tall for our house, so we had to chop quite a bit off the bottom. That left us with lots of branches to make wreaths out of. See this tutorial for making a real wreath from a fake one. Super easy.
I have one in the kitchen too but didn’t snap a picture yet…
I bought a $5 real wreath for the front door and added some salt dough ornaments and pine cones. Sadly and happily at the same time, these little snow cookie ornaments are the closest thing to snow outside right now. We are having a super warm spell right now!
As we decorated the rest of the house there was a blank wall that was bugging me. I moved our bedroom chair and pillows downstairs since the colors were more festive,
and then took down our blue bicycle canvas since it clashed. But that left a lot of white space.
So, I filled it up.
A sweet friend cut five inch tall numbers out of cardstock with her Cricut and I cut the large 25 out by hand. Then I taped it up with just scotch tape. Nothing too fancy, but makes a great impact. I had some glitter paper from Michaels so I cut it into a star, added some foam board scraps with hot glue to the back so it would pop a little.
The star moves over each day and is adhered with tape as well. I imagine the tape will wear out and will have to be replaced periodically, but that is easily done.
Simple, easy and it filled up that empty wall perfectly.
And now for my favorite part of our new Christmas decor this year: our new manger!
I bought a manger from Sliverz. They are a great etsy store that sells all sorts of wooden creations like this CTR shield, this cute cupcake, and of course this Christmas manger.
I loved this manger so much that I asked them if they would offer you all a discount. They said yes!
Now through the end of the year you can get 10% off your entire order at checkout! Simply enter HOLIDAY and you’re good to go!
If you want to buy a manger, you can buy the kit (but it’s a cinch to assemble since the bottom piece comes whole), or you can buy it assembled, painted and stained.
They said they would work with anyone who needs them to ship internationally, and if you live in northern Utah or southern Idaho you can enter the code: CACHE (they are based out of Cache Valley) to skip on shipping and pick it up from them directly.
If want to check out more wood project ideas they have a blog here.
So, you may have heard of this idea before, or you may already do this in your home.
For our baby Jesus doll, I found this small baby doll at Walmart for $1. I removed the collar, hot glued the head back in, and then wrapped and glued a strip of white muslin around the doll. For the straw I cut up some raffia, since my husband and Owen have some alfalfa allergies.
Instead of painting or staining the manger and the star; I left the manger plain, and quickly glued some glitter paper onto the star.
It sits so lovely in a prominent place in front of our sunny window.
I wish I could post more about more Christmas stuff but this post is getting way too long.
I just ordered an Elf on the Shelf. Super excited!
I’m also wrapping up our book advents with some fun new books…we’ll be recording a Christmas book to keep for us this time.
And I’m making a list of ideas of what to fill our advent box with, which I’m going to do slightly differently this year.
I’ll have to share all of that with you later though.
And just a heads up, I have some great giveaways happening about every week for the next little while that are sure to brighten your holidays up even more. Look for the first one this weekend (it’s a super fun one).
Hope you’re enjoying the season!
Such a beautiful post, I love all the special touches you added to your Christmas decorations.
Delia, you are so amazing. I love the tree, and the photo idea is GREAT. I have never been one for matchy trees, they just don't say family Christmas to me. They say, "display tree". Which is fine, but it's not my style. You have a beautiful home, and a beautiful family!
Delia! I want to come over for Christmas coffee in your beautiful home! I love the big wall advent and I LOVE the B&W photo tree. You are the bomb.com. (That's right. You heard me.)
bomb.com– hilarious! I love the decorations and I love the baby manger/straw story. I first heard of it on lemon squeezy, and I definitely want to adapt it to one of our holidays when I think of something.
Your tree is absolutely stunning. And I cannot put into words how excited i am to see your beautiful pictures of what you do with Elf On The Shelf!
Tara
http://tarabelle-adropofink.blogspot.com/
Love the simplicity and meaningful-ness in all you do! thanks for beign such an inspiration!
your house looks sooooo pretty, I wanna come over right now! I love the tree ornaments and the advent calendar, totally awesome. Love it all. so pretty!
I love love love your tree. In my opinion, mismatched trees are the BEST. I'm just not a fan of Christmas being too "designer" I guess. Your tree is lovely. We do photo ornaments every year, but I love how you just clipped yours right to the tree.
Also, that manger is AMAZING! I might just have to convince my husband we need one. I love the straw idea, I’ve never heard of that. (We are planning on doing a book advent this year, I’m excited.)
I love trees that don’t match! I love discovering each and every ornament and dreaming about the memories behind each one.
And that manger is so beautiful! Love the idea of filling it with straw one piece at a time. =)
So adorable, Delia! I love trees that are full of kid-made ornaments and family memories–definitely the way to go! Great advent calendar idea, too! 🙂
Super cute. I love the giant Christmas countdown!
-liZ
Everything looks so beautiful and magical at your house! I just bought a little elf on the shelf today and I’m excited to start that, and I bought candy and am ready to print off service advent stuff as well. Christmas is so fun!!
Simply lovely!
Wonderful ideas!! My favorite is the pictures on the tree. Sweet memories to add each year!
Lovely Delia! Such a beautiful and festive home. 🙂
ARGH the giant advent is awesome! Fantastic idea. And I really adore the flying boy topping the tree photo. Not sure I’ve seen Mr. Delia around here too much but I like his scruffy beard. 🙂
Your home is absolutely beautiful. I love your simple decorations, and that tree is amazing! What a great way to ring in the Christmas season.
So much to love. I kept thinking of what I would comment, and then I'd scroll down and see more. You're amazing. Your family is beautiful. Your ideas are incredible. Your photography is inspiring. Love it. All.
Oooh, it's all so gorgeous. I love the giant advent and the wreaths and the tree, but most of all, as always, I ADORE your photography. All those beautiful family pictures are just soooo amazing. I wish you could just follow me and my family around capturing all our moments and making them look gorgeous. That might get a bit awkward though . . .
Love!! 🙂
your house is so gorgeous! i love the manger and baby jesus idea!
I love it all! Your advent wall is simple and perfect – totally matches the aesthetic of your home. And that manger may need to find a home at our house, too!
Hi, love your cute decor! I have that same manger…I really like the little silver bucket you’ve put the straw in next to it. Where did you get it? It’s just the right size 🙂
I got it at the Dollar Tree years ago. Sorry I don’t have a better answer for you. I think I have seen similar ones at Target? They might be smaller though. You could also use a clay pot or a mason jar too?