It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas.....

Look closely and you can see my new mercury candlesticks..I'll try to get a better picture and post it soon!

The family room Christmas tree

I love all the creamy white, mercury, and burlap that I've seen, but our family craves CoLoR at Christmas.

I tried, as you can see in the pictures, to have the best of both worlds.

A little mercury with creamy whites and a little color.

I think it works.

We kept it simple this year...we kind of do every year.

The only things I've added this season are the burlap garland,

{$3.99 from Michael's} 

 the mercury candle sticks from Target for our dining room table,

{$12 each}

 and two strands of the big colored bulbs on the tree in the dining room.

{on sale at Michael's for $9 each}

Remember I was having trouble finding a spot for our stockings?

Well, our middle son thought to hang them on our English pine chest in the family room.

Problem solved!

We found Lydia's name in red ink on her blue stocking this morning.

I guess she didn't like that it's not yet monogrammed, and she felt the need to take it into her own hands.

We went back over the rule of not writing on anything but paper, and when she left the room, we laughed.

That girl knows how to take care of business.

There are only a couple of things that I'll eventually take away or add to the mix.

Our Advent Calendar on the half moon table in the foyer is a little too rustic for my taste.

It was all they had left last year, and I caved.

This is why we should never, ever, ever buy something unless we are c.r.a.z.y. about it.

I can't stand wanting to replace something after only one season.

Lesson Learned.

{hopefully}

If I get a homemade one finished this season, I promise to post pictures...

there are some really great ideas floating around out there!

The only other thing I'd like to add this year are some mercury ornaments.
Do you see the gorgeous ones in that basket in my new header?

I'd love to add some of those to the dough bowl in my dining room.

I can't wait to see all the Christmas cheer that you've added to your homes!