oh! hello december!

it's been a crazy few weeks around here!

i dropped off the last few packages at the post office this afternoon, so i think i am now ready to sit back and enjoy what's left of december.  and i plan to do that by staying home with my favorite people and enjoying the most decorating i've done all year. 

one of our favorite family traditions is building a gingerbread house together.  it's been 7 years since i made a house completely from scratch (we always buy a kit) and this year I did it!  i'll have to post the details of why and how it all turned out.  but i have to say, it was quite the undertaking.   

i replaced my favorite quilt on the ladder with a christmas quilt.  yes, the binding is only half sewn on.  that's what happens when i look at it once a year.  last year it didn't have any binding at all.  considering this quilt was a class i took about 4(or 5?) years ago, i'd say i'm doing pretty good.   

another tradition we love: paperwhites!

the mantle. 

as much as i don't like about this rental house,

it's fun to make our decorations work here so it feels more like home. 

thank you pinterest for getting me hooked on book page wreaths.  this one sat on my table for about 3 weeks and took forever to finish!  also thank you pinterest for getting me hooked on those bottlebrush trees.  someday i'll get around to dying them like the vintage ones.

we weren't about to go to the trouble of hanging lights (remember we're renting)

 but i love how classy a single candle in each of the windows looks. 

we were also classy enough to tape the candles right to the windows. 

whatever works, right?

and there you go.

merry christmas from my house to yours!