(**I'll just start by saying, I don't think anyone still is interested in talking about Christmas decor. I wrote this post a month ago, a month!, and it's been sitting in my drafts for all of that time. So dagonit, I'm going to publish it. It just so happens that a few things that were sprinkled around my home were making their way slowly, ever so slowly as gifts to friends and family in the US, so I didn't want to ruin the surprise. Now that the boxes have finally landed, here goes our little tour.**)
Our Christmas decor and furniture arrangement changed several times over the course of November and December. Since we've only lived here for a few months we are still trying to figure out exactly how to make the space work for us, and adding extra things to a small space, like a tree, requires some finesse. Regardless of all of that, this was how it was set up on the day I went around with my camera. :)
Our Christmas decor and furniture arrangement changed several times over the course of November and December. Since we've only lived here for a few months we are still trying to figure out exactly how to make the space work for us, and adding extra things to a small space, like a tree, requires some finesse. Regardless of all of that, this was how it was set up on the day I went around with my camera. :)
Decorating for Christmas was tricky because I was pretty much starting from scratch. We are still buying "settling into a new space" type of things, (purchases like shelves, and curtains are still on the horizon), and with Christmas around the corner there wasn't extra money to buy brand new decorations for every bit of the house, so I had to get creative. Which I like.I started off by getting some family pictures printed that we had done just before we moved. I decided that the oversized mirror, that is hung slightly low for my preferences, would become our makeshift mantle, and adorned it with some photos.
For actual Christmas decorations, I looked at what I had on hand and it was fabric, so I spread it around the house in many forms. I made this wreath out of a bunch of random things. You wouldn't know it, (I hope), but underneath these pretty stripes is a skinny twig circle, some fluffy carseat strap covers, generic sham wows, and a lot of packing tape. But I love those skinny green stripes on the outside, and that's all that you see. 
Bakers twine is all around the house as well. Jayce used it to string up our Christmas stockings,
and I used it for the fabric Christmas lights, which are sprinkled all around the house, the tree,
Bakers twine is all around the house as well. Jayce used it to string up our Christmas stockings,and I used it for the fabric Christmas lights, which are sprinkled all around the house, the tree,
and hanging over the kitchen window.
Our tree has been a constant reminder to me that I never finished decorating, and this week I decided that I'm okay with that. We had the tree for about 10 days before I made it to the store for Christmas lights. (It arrived the day that Chris left for the US and while Jayce had the stomach flu.) I got these plastic Christmas balls when I got the lights, and Hannah has been constantly removing them to throw around the flat. So the ones that are on the tree are all on the top half. She also removes the fabric Christmas lights that I made, and Jayce will periodically pick them up and put them all back on in basically the same spot. Also, less than a week after we lit and decorated the tree, one of the strands of lights burnt out. The underneath strand. Meaning I would have had to remove 2 strands of lights to get rid of the burned out ones. So I've just left it. But it looks great at night when all of the other lights in the room are off. :) 
The best part of our tree is the angel on top that Jayce made at church. I love it.
We've been getting daily use of our Advent calendar, although I'm starting to get a little sick of it to be honest. Maintaining enthusiasm and creativity for 25 days is a row is a little draining, but it's still fun.
The kids still play with the nativity scene, or more accurately, Hannah destroys the nativity scene and Jayce periodically comes over, wrestles the little figures from her hands, and sets it back up. But the other day the she was playing with it, showed me the baby, kissed the baby, and then proceeded to kiss all of the other people. Then she made all of the animals baaa. Sweet!
I made an assortment of fabric trees from Tiffany's tutorial. Every time that I started through my stash for something, I would find another fabric that I thought would be cute and have to try it out. By the time I started wrapping these as presents I had quite a little collection, and this photo doesn't even have all of them. :) But I love them.
I also had a little obsession with felt this year. I cut these circles for a garland while Chris and I were watching a movie, and I would periodically lose the pile. Then I would glance over at Chris, who had picked them up, and would be absentmindedly stacking, unstacking, and sorting them through his hands. It was really hard to resist touching them.
But eventually I sewed them all together and strung them up.
Okay, these have been up since October. Before Halloween. But when you have something so bright and fun to add to your plain white window, it's hard to just sit on it and wait.
I also made these felt polaroid ornaments with photos of our family. (Can you tell that they're polaroids? Some people couldn't. Chris.)
I made an assortment of fabric trees from Tiffany's tutorial. Every time that I started through my stash for something, I would find another fabric that I thought would be cute and have to try it out. By the time I started wrapping these as presents I had quite a little collection, and this photo doesn't even have all of them. :) But I love them.I also had a little obsession with felt this year. I cut these circles for a garland while Chris and I were watching a movie, and I would periodically lose the pile. Then I would glance over at Chris, who had picked them up, and would be absentmindedly stacking, unstacking, and sorting them through his hands. It was really hard to resist touching them.But eventually I sewed them all together and strung them up.Okay, these have been up since October. Before Halloween. But when you have something so bright and fun to add to your plain white window, it's hard to just sit on it and wait.I also made these felt polaroid ornaments with photos of our family. (Can you tell that they're polaroids? Some people couldn't. Chris.) 
They were kind of a hassle to make, but totally worth it. I love them. I wanted to keep them all, but I didn't.
Then there was the felt tree. This thing moved all around the flat, and gave a little festivity to the kids' play area. I had grand ambitions for making ornaments and other things to dress it up, but that never happened. They ended up using leftover circles from the garland, and that was enough to make everyone happy. The kids liked it, and both ran over to decorate it at least once every few days, so it was worth it. I'm sure I'll do more with it in the future.
Speaking of "happy," I put up this little "Happy Christmas" sign as well, which was originally from the kids' birthday party. I realized that I only needed to make 3 new lettered cards to change the sign from "birthday" to "christmas" so I went for it. I originally planned to change out "happy" to "merry" but again, that took a backseat, and it still served it's purpose. Plus, they say Happy Christmas instead of Merry Christmas in England, so it worked.
Aside from that, I sprinkled Jayce's handmade goodies around as well. Our cinnamon ornaments, 
his Christmas card to us and Santa goodie holder,
and the wreath we made together.
I strung up our Christmas bunting clothesline in the kitchen, 
and it gradually got switched over to Christmas cards, which we admire while we eat.
And that's pretty much it. There is a bit more, of course, but these are the main things we'll remember about our "Christmas house," from our first Christmas in London. Warm, happy, and a bit home made. :) 
I was prepared too. I had charged my battery, brought an extra memory card and my tripod, and stood at the door early to get in and get a good seat to record the performance to show the grandparents. I didn't bring my flash because I doubted that I would need it, since I'd be filming the event. I grabbed a seat in the middle near the front, set up my tripod, revealed myself as "a crazy camera lady" to the other parents and was ready to go. But, my plan didn't really work out. It turns out that I didn't need my tripod because I was running around trying to actually get Jayce into the picture, and I definitely needed my flash. Oh well.
The program started with the kids singing, and Jayce sang and did the motions enthusiastically. (In the video I put the play first and the songs second, but it was actually reversed.) 
After the play was over we went to give Jayce hugs and tell him how proud we were, and he was still completely spaced out. I guess he was "stage struck?" (Is that a thing?) Anyway, he just kind of stared all around, even when he was with us. Eventually we let him go back with his class.
While we were in Jayce's room, Hannah got into the dresser that they share, brought me this skirt and held out her leg, so I put it on. (She also had duck socks on for a bit, but they were gone at this point.) Anyway, it actually looked really cute! That's my girl. When we were on Skype Chelsea said, "Is there a reason that Hannah is way more dressed up than you are?" That was the reason. My motto for Christmas day at home was, roughly, "whatever you want." She wanted to wear it, so she wore it. I'm not going to be the one to get in the way of good style.
Our day of playing wrapped up with a yummy turkey dinner, (patting self on back), getting the kids down a bit early, and Chris and I settling down on the couch all bleary eyed to watch a non-Christmas movie. We had a good day, but by the end of it, we were all Christmas-ed out. 
