Come on in...Christmas decorations!

I'm a little late to the party, but better late than never!!  I absolutely LOVE decorating for Christmas and am excited to share a little bit of my home with you!  I'll be honest, I used to be VERY particular about my decorations, especially the tree.  I would not allow anyone else to decorate it and if someone did happen to put a decoration on, I usually moved it.  It also needed to have a theme, and no random ornaments that didn't match the theme were allowed!  But this year I vowed to "let go" and let the kids help.  So here is a little peek into our Christmas home!

Let's start with the tree because that's my favorite part!  This is the first year in like 13 years we've had an actual LIVE (vs artificial tree).  It is also the first time we went with colored lights vs white.  I love the look of white lights, but Nick really wanted multi color so I went with it.  And honestly, I love it!   There is something so peaceful and festive about it.  There also is no real theme this year. We've got lots of gingerbread and candy themed ornaments, but we also have some special ornaments from my childhood on it, as well as ornaments we gave to the kids and ornaments they have made.

Next up is the fireplace.  I've got an evergreen garland across the top, and a few Santas placed around.  I haven't hung the stockings on the fireplace yet, because Alec loves to try and pull them off!

This is where we have the stockings right now-  our bookshelf above the TV.  No one can reach them there!!  I got our stockings 2 years ago at Personal Creations.  Alec hadn't been born yet (he was born on Dec 28), and we hadn't decided for sure if he would be an Alec or a Zachary.  I was leaning towards Alec, so that's the stocking I had made. :)

This buoy hangs above the sink in my kitchen.  It is special to me, because it is from Maine (one of my favorite places), and it is from my mom (one of my favorite people)!! Lots of good memories!!

  

Also in the kitchen- just a little bling on our chalkboard :)

 A little bling here and there in the dining room...

And a welcoming entryway.  The stockings on the table were handmade by my Grandmother and are very special to me.

Look- it's John the Elf!

There are a few more decorations, but I am out of time to take pictures, and I'm sure you have seen enough!  Hope you enjoyed my little tour!  I apologize for the crappy camera phone pics taken in the dark (it all looks prettier in person), but I really wanted to link up today and had to act quick!  I have had a blast checking out all YOUR Christmas!!

Linking up with Andrea for her Come On In series!!!