Christmas, Christmas everywhere

I just thought I'd pop over for a bit to show you my Christmas decor before I fall into another black hole by way of the book that had me at "Hello" (Stephen King's 11/22/63). I realize the past few posts have been nothing at all about decorating and mainly that's cuz after the stairs I took a break. Not from decorating per se, but from documenting every infintisimal aspect of decor. But since it's the season of giving I figured I'd share some holiday decor.

This year was all about easy-peasy-breezy and I didn't want to feel crazy and frustrated. I know we women tell ourselves we will dial it back each year to have a stress-free Christmas but this year I really did. I'm nothing if not totally selfish and that meant doing very little this season so I didn't feel overwhelmed. Okay, I'll admit it-I can feel overwhelmed at, like, brushing my teeth so maybe this isn't saying much. But enough babble, lets move on to pics:

First, my shelf (aka, everyone-else-gets-a-mantle-but-I-gotta-settle-cuz-Florida-is-too-hot-to-have-a-fireplace type of shelf):

Here it is at night:

Yes, that's a yule log fire on my tv screen. We do what we gotta do here in Florida.
Since my theme this year was simple I strung garland with lights interspersed only with glittered silver/gold snowflakes:

I added 2 electric candles on the end as well for more silver. In the middle I put a cloche with silver/gold bulbs. Easy-peasy:

Hung the stockings and voila. Done.

On my dining room chandelier I added greenery with some little picks from Michaels (everything I already had). and hung bulbs from it (again, already had-from Dillard's clearance last year):

My last bit of decor was my favorite Christmas item--my grandma's blue village.:

This was handed down to me from my grandma and I have many cherished memories of seeing this each Christmas in her house. She still had a real Christmas village- with all the individual houses, parks, trees- you know, the ones that everyone collects and can add onto each year to make a bigger town. But this was so magical to me. Even as a child I guess I liked simplicity. Monochromatic designs. Not all that busy "Christmas village" stuff (aka: knick-knacks ***shudder***).

The village is dusted with white glitter giving it a lovely frosting and when it's lit it reminds me of all those cold winter nights at my grandma's when I'd stare at it on the shelf under her t.v. I wanted to play with the little people so badly but mostly, they were off limits.

I still get all warm and fuzzy when I see it at night lit up like this.
Next to the village I added some snippets of greenery from the yard:

 Free and easy.

As I was making this post I realized I never got a picture of my tree. But it looks very much the same as it did last year (I'm traditional all the way never really changing the look of my tree):

And I still have my bubble lights on it:

I didn't even get a pic of my outside because I only hung a wreath on the door and no lights this year. I dunno. It's just been a lighter version of Christmas this season I suppose. It even translated to my gift-giving. Typically, I make treats for my neighbors but this year I saw a cute idea on Pinterest (*heart* Pinterest) and ran with it:

Ho-Ho's and Ding Dongs. $5.00 Christmas gift that everyone loves, I spent no time or energy on, and a kitschy little phrase to tie it all together? Yes please.

And that ends this segment of Christmas. It is so laid-back I'm sure I took more energy making this post than I did stressing about gifts and decor. ;)