Holiday Decorations

I am SO in love with my tree this year and that is such a huge change from the last 5 Christmases. Long story short, the tree I *had* was putting a big damper on the holidays for me. It was just too big for my tiny place and too heavy for me to put up by myself. It was so frustrating that I didn't even put it up every year, substituting instead with a tiny tabletop tree some years. 

BUT NOW!!! Now I have a wonderful, fabulous, AMAZING tree!!! It's SO light I can put it up all by myself (with one hand if I wanted to) and it takes up almost NO floor space. It could not be more perfect! For the first year in a long time I was totally excited to get the tree up and decorate it and now that it's done I just LOVE IT! :) BONUS: because we downsized, we now have an abundance of ornaments...as in, I'm pretty sure not a single branch is undecorated! ;)

I was sharing my love for my new tree and all my pretty ornaments with some friends last night and they wanted to see pictures... so I figured I'd share with everyone. You may have seen me mention before how much I LOVE color. So beware, you'll be getting a hefty dose of it as you look at the photos below. ;)

I have these sparkly snowflakes in five colors and two sizes. :) I *heart* them!

these stars were a new addition this year, also in five colors. so pretty! 

another new addition. these were Carter's pick. I wasn't wild about them when we first saw them in the store but I went back and decided to buy them anyway since Carter liked them so much. they're growing on me. I do love the glitter!

lucky find at Michael's a few days ago, on sale. there were only two unfortunately but I snagged 'em both up.

another of Carter's picks with a few other ornaments in the background... I'm just now realizing, there is A LOT of glitter on this tree! lol I also have pearlescent and shiny ornaments too so it's not ALL glittery. ;)

this one came out kinda blurry but I still like it. the other sale ornament from Michael's and a snowflake in the background.

I LOVE the ones that have stripes or polka dots in a different color than the body of the ornament.

one more for Carter ;)

it was a lot harder to get a shot of the whole tree than I thought it would be. just not a very photographic corner I guess...

and a close up of my angel... the boys ask me every year to get something new for the top of the tree and even though I'd love to have something that matches, I can't bear to part with my pop can angel. ;) My oldest son (who is now 15 1/2) made that angel in second grade! I've had it on top of the tree every year since. I *heart* that angel!

I have had a really hard time finding any actual decorations outside of things to hang on the tree... so I improvised and tossed a bunch of ornaments in a glass bowl as a centerpiece on the coffee table. puuuuurrrrty!!

This Santa is something I've had since I was little. I *used to* have a snowman too that I just LOVED but when I was about 12 or so I used him as a nightlight (IN my bed, not a smart move). He fell over in the middle of the night and the lightbulb inside melted through the plastic. *OOPS* Maybe I should see if I can find another on Ebay or something! ;) The tree skirt *I BELIEVE* used to belong to my grandma. It's actually intended for a table top tree but fits my 6.5' pencil tree pretty well.

The stockings that we've been using for years seem to have gone missing somehow, I couldn't find them anywhere when I was unpacking all the decorations. So I picked these up at Target the other day. Even though I have three boys and sequins might not be very manly, I LOVE how sparkly they are and how the tree lights reflect off of them. Plus I figured the boys really only care about what Santa will be leaving INSIDE of those sparkly stockings. ;)

I made this advent calendar for the boys a few years ago (Sassafras Lass papers) and they look forward to pulling it out every year. :) They take turns opening one little drawer every night until Christmas, each drawer has one little piece of gum or candy inside.

these adorable little snowmen came from Artwerx on Etsy and I just LOVE them! Their little hats are in the same colors as the boys stockings so I thought they would be perfect on the shelf right above where the stockings are hanging. They're tiny, only a couple inches high, but so adorable!

I'm still searching for some more inside decorations, probably some snowmen of some sort (though bigger than the ones above) so they can stay out throughout the Winter. I swear I've looked EVERYWHERE though!! Pottery Barn, Wal Mart, Target, Kohl's, Bronner's (online... still thinking about making a trip to the actual store though). I can't find ANYTHING! I have a bunch of cute little candle holders and such for Halloween, but nothing for Christmas! If you know of someone who sells cute stuff leave me a link!! 

 There is one thing that I found (thanks to a FB friend), and I am just dying for a set (or two or three) of these {pillar} candle holders! Crossing my fingers I can catch them on sale after Christmas because they're a little too pricey for my single mom/right before Christmas budget right now. :p But how stinkin' CUTE are they?!