It all looks wonderful. I haven't done anything yet, day after Thanksgiving I'll do it but very little. It's just the two of us now and we spend all holidays with our two sons homes or our daughter's.

Wow...you do a lot...looks wonderful! We've scaled back as well but I may try to pick up a few new things this year to liven things up a bit. DH wants to do a tabletop tree...I told him we're not that old yet!

Beautiful decorations! I especially love all of your magnolia leaf items. I'm putting the house back in order today after saying good-bye to our house guests yesterday. Tomorrow, I'll start putting away autumn decor and pulling out Christmas things.

I remember my jaw dropping while looking at the photos from your home tour a few years ago (2009, 2010?). These pics are like an appetizer. Where are the nutcrackers? (Hint, hint)

Beautiful. The only Christmasy items that I have out so far is my Christmas placemats. We are probably going to put the tree up this weekend.

Just so beautiful. Is the white, brown and green new this year? I don't remember it but I love it. You do so much it's hard to remember it all. Are you having an open house this year? Merry Christmas to you and your family!!!

So lovely!

Beautiful and classic! Is the white bench a cat/dog bed?

Really lovely. And such attention to detail. Very inspiring!

Cam and doodle--- that white thing on the screened porch is three new doghouses in a row, townhouses if you will :-) they have self warming cushions inside, like the things people sit on outdoors in a stadium. The white is too stark so we are painting them a dark bone color after Christmas and stenciling each dog's name over his/her door. The brown and white ribbons and green boiled wool strands are new this year, and I love how they give a low key festive feel to the porch. The magnolia wreath (and garland inside) was new last year, it is fantastic, and I couldn't find anything then for the wreath that was natural enough looking. After Christmas the doghouses will go downstairs on the patio, and I will have to rethink this wall. I gave away the potting bench that was there so GWers will have to help me decide what to do there.
I'll post some nutcracker photos tomorrow, Dee--- we didn't put out all of them this year but did put the really big ones up on top of the bookcases with two treasure chests full of Christmas lights.

We also re-landscaped our front yard this month, pulling out all the old stuff that was at the end of its useful life and planting new hollies, Yuletide camellias, boxwood and yew. I will post some photos of that as well, it's kind of Chrstmassy, too!

Love it (all!)!!!!

So pretty and inspiring!!

I'm getting the itch, though I had surgery last week and worry about climbing and carrying heavy things!! And since I moved suddenly last spring, I think most of the Christmas decs I didn't get rid of are still in storage up in NH. I'm now in VA and am seriously thinking about going out and buying some new stuff (though I swore I had plenty already!) to decorate my brother's house. Since he let me take over most of it anyhow, he shouldn't be surprised when I do this too :)

Thanks for the inspiration!

Nutcrackers in the library:

I want to attend a party at your house. It looks so lovely and festive, it might put me in the mood for the holidays. What time should I arrive?

Our first one is next week! A late supper after a Christmas concert. Music at 7:30, dinner at 10pm :-) Luncheon on the 11th, brunch for my mom and her friends on the 14th, Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas for family, then a birthday for DH after Christmas. We'll get a lot of enjoyment from the decorations!

So pretty! I love the magnolia wreaths and garland. I don't decorate until after Thanksgiving. We plan to go out bright and early Fri. morning (I'm sure it will be freezing!) and buy Christmas trees.

Thanks for the nutcracker pics. We have 2 four feet wooden ones which stand sentry in our entry each year. We always take pictures of our 2 grandchildren standing next to them. To me, nutcrackers say "Christmas".

Amazing! I would love my house to look like that for Christmas. You and your guests will get so much enjoyment out of your work. I'm glad you're doing so much entertaining.

Do you happen to have a link to where you bought the magnolia wreaths and garland? They are beautiful.

In a word... Wow.

Me too, Dee--- I love nutcrackers---and it's not really Christmas until we attend the Nutcracker ballet. The two nutcrackers on either end of the top of the bookcase are big ones from the old Bombay Company, one is three feet tall and the other is four feet. They got a little beat up after a few years so we now put them nine feet up where they don't have to pass close inspection.

Legomom (love your name, btw), I got the magnolia stuff at a shop called Artistic Flowers in Griffin Ga. We bought everything they had last year and they did not get any more of it in this year-- I wanted to use it over the front door and would happily have replaced every bit of garland in the house with the magnolia. It is ungodly expensive BUT completely lifelike and I expect it will last many years.

What beautiful sights!

Christmas decorations? Yikes. It's the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and I haven't even gotten out a ceramic turkey for the table or the ceramic pilgrims my mom made in ceramics in 1972.... I did wash my new turkey dishes I bought at Marshalls on clearance for $3.50/set though. So, I'm almost ready for Thanksgiving...I can't believe Christmas is less than a month away.

*sigh*

kswl--your place looks amazing. Nice you can decorate early. My kids & dh would torture me if I pull anything Christmas related out before we eat that turkey (and salmon) in two days.

Lol, bkw! After Christmas there are only three weeks til Christmas and events starting right away that need decorations :-) We're leaving tomorrow for Thanksgiving so we won't have to eat turkey around the poinsettias.

I had decided not to do any decorating this year since we are taking our entire family, all the kids and grandkids, to Hawaii for Christmas. We will be gone for 2 weeks, so thought I'd just pass on decorating a tree, etc, this year. But...looking at all these beautiful displays makes me want to do a little bit of decorating anyway.

Kswl: I also have a few Byers that I acquired when living in Philly. The ones I have are pretty old now, but in good condition. Wish I had more. You have a lovely collection.

Kswl....beautiful! I have the same set of Carolers! I am on the Christmas Home Tour, so after we have dessert on Thanksgiving, I hope to get my family to help me so some of the things I am not able to do myself anymore...forbidden to get on a ladder! I hope my house turns out half as beautiful as yours!

Thanks, Joyce! My mother gave me hers and that is how I started collecting them. Some got wet one year and were ruined, so I am slowly replacing them. One year when we left town on Christmas day I did not decorate at all and I thought the fam would send me to a psychiatrist, lol. I haven't tried that again since! Phoggie, we've been on Christmas tours and garden tours and it is a LOT of work, your family is sweet to help you prepare for it. With all those willing helpers you know it will be fabulous--- PLEASE post pictures!

Here is a wider shot of the library showing clusters of nutcrackers:

I usually don't do much holiday decorating beyond the tree, but this year I couldn't wait to get started. We're taking a DIY approach and it's more winter decorating than holiday. I was so inspired by the thread on holiday decorating in Colonial Williamsburg. We visited colonial Williamsburg last month, so it was fun to do something sort of in that style. It's something I've never seen here in the PNW.

Here's the wreath I made:

I have a big wooden pear on my table, so I just decorated around it. My kids helped me pick up the Giant Sequoia pine cones.

My girls made paper snowflakes and we put them on all the front windows. I put a garland along the window sill and added some lights, with the idea that it would gently light the snowflakes at night.

This is lit just by the bulbs on the garland:

I started needle felting recently and I've made a few Christmas ornaments so far. Some of these will go on the tree and some will be given to friends and neighbors. I hope to make a lot more.

This post was edited by TheRedHouse on Tue, Nov 26, 13 at 22:54

I love the felted ornaments and can't believe you made them yourself! Did you take a class or learn from a how to book? I love anything with wool felt and have a lot of felt ornaments from Germany. Also love that wooden pear and the Williamsburg style of the wreath. That's a classic look that always feels fresh.

kswl - As always...simply beautiful!

TheRedHouse - You have been busy. The snowflake windows are so charming and beautiful at night. I love the felt ornaments, as well.

It will be a week or more before Christmas is shown around my house. Still working on Thanksgiving.

Now that I'm in VA, I'm going over to Williamsburg next week to check out the decorations. Can't wait. I've never been there and am looking forward to picking up some new decorating ideas!

Everyone's decorations look so nice. I gave away my nutcracker collection before I moved. Only kept 3 of them: the first one I ever bought in Germany, the second one I bought on a trip over again when my daughter spent a semester in Heidelburg and the last one, a Scottish bagpiper for my son.

Such lovely pix! Thanks for sharing.
With a December birthday, I have received many holiday decorations, but I'm not good at putting them together.... :(

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope this is a day of wonderful food, friends, family and the opportunity to be thankful for our blessings and mindful of others' struggles.

... And after you've enjoyed Thanksgiving, start decorating and post those pictures!

I am so proud of my daughters Christmas Tree. Merry Christmas from the Normans

Beautiful @Tonya Thomas - You might want to post your tree under 2022: :https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6327691/fun-with-christmas-decorations-2022#n=258

I agree and when you do tell us about it. Is it flocked gold or are the lights just making it appear gold? It's amazing!!