Hi Kate! We went out Friday and cut our tree (from the forest on a $7 permit with the money going to plant more trees!) and I decorated it yesterday. I used multicolored lights that don't blink with silk poinsettia blossoms and candy canes. The star at the top of our tree is the first one Dave and I bought for our first Christmas some 12 years ago. I am amazed every year when I plug it in and it still works! My favorite ornaments are small wooden ones about the size of a half dollar. And, of course, balls and bells! Here's a picture of the finished project-

Then I hung the stockings for all the "kids" -

I will be adding more as time goes by but this is my start for my FAVORITE holiday!

Happy Holidays to all my Garden Web Friends!
Susan aka nova

If you told me when I was younger that I would have a artificial tree in my house I would have said your nuts :)

But here I am........with a fake tree.

Both dh and I are paranoid about putting up a cut tree too soon....... but if I wait till 2 weeks before Christmas, I don`t put it up at all. Too busy at work.

I am putting it up right now .

My lights are multi colored steady burning... I have pretty Victorian balls, angels,

My favorite is a Santa shaped like a crescent moon with a small child sitting in his beard playing a harp

I plan on buying those large tree bags and in January I am going to store the tree " standing up " in the garage. That way I wont need to put it together and straighten up the branches next year . Too much work ! LOL !

I will place some tree trimmings around the house for the smell. Then there is the peace angel , nutcrackers. glass Santa. Hubby likes his fudge. Angel wind chimes. Its not quite the same without small kids at Christmas morning... but that only last for about 5 years ( if your lucky)

People who like to decorate for holidays are big kids anyways :)

Lisa doesn`t know this yet but she is coming over to teach me to post pictures.........so stay tuned !

Susan, your stocking holders with the pictures are absolutely precious !

D`Ann

I had to scroll back to see what D'Ann was talking about --stocking holders with pictures. I'm copying that idea for my pets-it's adorable.
Also the idea of going into the woods to cut a tree-love it. We did something like that years ago but we're city folk so there's no going into the woods for us. We'd probably get lost at the first tree.
And Nova your other pictures of flowers are nice too.

I love the stocking holders too!

D'Ann - we're waiting to see those pictures!

Susan, it's so neat that you're able to go cut down your own tree! It looks great!

I have an fake tree. Until we moved to florida my family always had live christmas trees but we found out the hard way that here in florida it's hard to keep mold from forming at the base of the tree near the water. Which is a bad thing to have when most of the family is highly allergic to mold! Our first christmas here in florida nearly the entire family got very sick from the mold and the tree came down on christmas day. I really miss having the smell of a live christmas tree in the house during the holidays. Every time I go to a store that's selling christmas trees I have to walk through the trees just so that I can smell them.

I love to collect old or homemade christmas ornaments, particularly the vintage glass christmas balls. At least a third of the ornaments on my tree are homemade (some made by me, others I found at thrift stores) incluging hand painted ceramics, mini grapevine wreaths, croched wreaths and angels, stainglass, yarn snowmen and snowwomen, and bead candycanes and bells. Another third are vintage ornaments like the glass christmas balls. There will be a bunch more of them on the tree this year since I found two nearly full boxes of beautiful balls at Salvation Army recently and they cost less then a dollar each box! The rest of the ornaments include things like glass icicles, plastic apples, cat ornaments, swedish straw and wood ornaments, and anything that happened to catch my eye in the stores! The lights on the tree are all white and the tree topper is an angel.

I also one of those large ceramic christmas trees that is lit from the inside on my dining room table. This year I'm arranging my christmas village, which I painted myself, on top of the entertainment center.

Outside I already have the white icicle lights hung along the front of the house but still need to put up the garland, hang the multi-colored light in the crape myrtle, and hand the ornaments in my small maple tree and deodar cedar. My homemade grapevine wreaths are already up on the front door and garage door.

Every year the I put up more and more christmas decorations but I doubt I'll ever come anywhere near the amount my mom puts up! She has at least one christmas tree of some kind in every room of their house, even the bathrooms! The main bathroom has a twig tree with little bells hanging on it. And their main tree is one and half times the size of mine and is covered in all kinds of ornaments. And somehow she makes it all look fantastic, like something out of a magazine!

I'll post some pictures once more of the decorations are up.

Great topic, Kate! I'm the world's biggest fan of Christmas and all the trimmings, I think. We have two trees now, a real one and an artifical one. The real one usually goes in the living room, which is all done in blue, white and silver, and made to look very frosty and cold.

The tree in the library is usually my artificial one so that the branches are strong enough to hold all the heavier ornaments I've collected during the past 35 years or so. Sometimes it is all Santas from top to bottom, sometimes a mixture that includes everything from Apples to Wizard of Oz ornaments. I always have lots of vintage ornaments from the 40's and 50's on the tree and other places around the house.

Looking from the family room to the "library."

Every room in the house gets the Christmas treatment. Here is the family room mantel with my collection of old world style Santas.

Another view:

The beadboard shelf in the dining room is home to part of my collection of 300+ Santas.

Mugs on the dining room corner cabinet.

Posters, pillows and more Santas in the breakfast nook.

Small Christmas village in foyer.

Another foyer display.

A living room vignetee in white.

And so on, and so on. I'm behind this year, as I usually start decorating the day after Thanksgiving, and so far, I have only unpacked one box and done the mantel. My mother is still not feeling well, and things have been moving slowly. But we'll get it done.

The thing we are doing differently this year is that we are beginning to make our switch to LED lights. We bought enough to outline the roof and cut way back on the other yard lights until we can switch them all out. No more huge December electric bills! Thinking green, here!

Happy Holidays to you all! Hope you get as much fun out of them as I always do!

Marcia

Marcia, remembering your pics from last year! Lovely!
The blue and silver tree remind me of my Dad. One year he decorated all the outside and inside of our country home in blue, white and silver. One of the neighbors asked if he was jewish!!! lol The fat santa look alike Italian Dad responded "Oy Vey!" I love Christmas too and am sorry I will not be able to decorate or have a tree this year with the surgery. It is such a bummer. I wish I could find some elves to at least put up a tree for me!

Of course those that know me will understand one of my trees. I have a Disney tree with lots of timkerbells, characters and other unique Disney ornaments. I also have a tree that has the ornaments of my childhood and vintage ornaments from my grandmother. Ir is my memory tree. I add special ornaments to it to remind me of things Lee and I have done and I add ornaments that remind me of my parents and our old time Christmas. I try to hand ornaments on all my potted plants and I am beginning to theme them in Disney stuff and also in the ornaments from the various countries at Epcot. I also have a Christmas tree outside for the birds with special apples with peanut butter, etc. I am not feeling too well this Christmas and with the worry about Kurt I am finding it difficult to get into the spirit, but I am making an effort for my husband and Smokey. We do have a kitty tree. I collect angels and have an angel tree and adore glass ornaments and collect lots of them for a glass tree. I am going to attempt to take some pictures as I need them for my portfolio and also to share with you guys. I can take anybody into Disney for several weekends prior to Christmas week if you wish to visit the Biosphere and see the lights at MGM etc. Linda

Having worked for Garden Ridge and Michaels, I refuse to put up even one Christmas decoration before December First!!! And I keep it rather low key. I live in a duplex, so bought enough evergreen garland to drape over both garages with a big wreath in between. There are a few white lights in the garland, but I refuse to have "twinkle" lights. Last year, I bought a couple of nice (fake) poinsettias, put them in real pots and set them below the wreath. I made my door wreath of "velvet" poinsettias and it's held up beautifully over the past three years.
I have a fire place (which I've never used) but since it has no mantel, I made a Huge wreath to take up the space.
The tree as of last year, is located in the dining room/space. I have an artificial tree (wish it was pre-lit!) and cover it with snowflakes - from tiny to 4"+, white, silver, glitter - and strings of crystal beads and ice cicles. The gold star at the top is ancient, purchased when my son - soon to be 50 - was 12. It's the one decoration I just couldn't part with. I have a few cherished decorations made by family members and some that I've made myself. Plenty enough for my tiny place.
The photos so far, have been fantastic. LOVE 'EM!! cora

Geez, Marcia!
Your home is beautiful!!!!!!!!!
So cozy and inviting...I wanna spend my Christmas with you...:)

I haven't begun to decorate yet.

This will be our third Christmas back home in Flarda and we decorate quite differently than we did up north...obviously.

Will post pics as I decorate..."film @ eleven"...hehehe!

Here's some pictures my indoor decorations. I forgot to take any of the ones outdoor.
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My Christmas decorating is all in pastel colors as is my decor all yr. long..

Here is a link that might be useful:

Lovely pictures. I'm enjoying seeing how everyone decorates.

Here are a few pictures of my Christmas village, which is my favorite holiday display.

...haven't decided on a dead live tree or bringing in one of my various palms like last year. It looks like you're already ready Marcia...looks great and inviting!!!

...my neighbor has about 10 blowup santas, snowmen and various other lit up stuff. A veritable Winter Wonderland, so outside I wont even try and compete with that. I might string a few lights around the front door though...Z

Great photo's everyone. I try to do a little something at least in every room. Like in the guest bath I made a poincetta shower curtain. Kitchen and family room I made curtains too. We have lights on the house and around the front door, blinking stars on the arbors and rope lights on the dock. Usually we put green lights in all the bushes in the front too, but DH wants to get the new LED lights that are less expensive to use. I have 2 trees, a small one on the lanai and rope lights on the wall and another tree in the family room.

My daughter's birthday is December 8th, so we never decorate for Christmas until after we have celebrated with her. I am so tired of having Christmas merchandising starting so early,and tired of inflatable Grinches and animated bears and elephants -- I bought a nativity for the front lawn this year. Jesus is the reason for the season, for us.

When we lived in NH we went all out, had a 17' tree one year. Since moving to FL we've only put up a tree the second year. We'll be moving in a couple of months so I just don't have the time.