For the past several years, I’ve displayed fewer and fewer Christmas decorations — mainly because I don’t want to mess with putting them up, taking them down, and monitoring what my kids do with them while they are up (putting small things in their mouth, pulling on the tree, eating pinecones, etc.)
However, this year the older 3 are all plenty old enough to enjoy Christmas decorations and Clara is far too young to cause too much trouble… so the week after Thanksgiving the kids “helped” me set up a few Christmas decorations!
They were SO excited because I literally opened the box of Christmas tree decor and let them do WHATEVER they wanted.
Our tree looks somewhat silly, it’s very lopsided, and a handful of ornaments broke in the process… but I really don’t care.
They decorated the tree while I put a few of my favorite Christmas decorations throughout the rest of the house — all while listening to Christmas music and burning a Christmas Cookie scented candle. Plus, it was sunny, almost 50ºF outside, and Clara was napping the entire time… so I really couldn’t complain!
The kids love showing all our guests how THEY decorated the tree — now let’s just see if THEY help me put things away again in a few weeks!
Our main tree (pictured above) is in front of the french doors in our office. We don’t use these doors when it’s snowy, so it’s a great spot for our tree — especially since this room is completely open to the living room and directly across from the big picture windows in our living room.
We also have an Alpine tree in the landing area upstairs. And the kids each have a tiny 2-ft. tree in their bedrooms.
I LOVE these J.O.Y. blocks… so much so that I’m always tempted to keep them out all year long. However, I really love finding a “new” spot for them every Christmas, so I continue to tuck them away in my tub of Christmas decorations until the next holiday season.
My favorite wooden Nativity that Dave’s grandma made for us one Christmas.
And our beloved Little People Nativity — I found it at a secondhand sale and our kids LOVE getting it out during Advent! If you press the Angel, it plays Away In A Manger… I keep waiting for the batteries to run out, but they never do!
I think it’s so neat that if the sun shines in the morning, there’s a 10-minute span when the sun is at just the right angle to hit our Nativity right on the angel and star 🙂
Also, Simon calls this angel a “fairy” — and while I’ll definitely correct him eventually, I think it’s so cute!
My Christmas “wreaths” on the front and back door.
I have a few decorations in the kitchen.
And in the bathroom that most of our guests use 🙂
And a cute little felt tree that (for some odd reason) I just love!
None of our decorations are breakable (probably a good thing) and none of them have any sentimental value to me. They are just some of the cute, kid-friendly items I had in my tub of Christmas decorations that seemed like a good fit for this year.
I told Dave that I’m ready to purge even more decorations this winter — especially since our home is naturally “festive” with all the red and white I decorate with year-round.
I can always get more at thrift stores if I want; but for now, the “less is more” theory for holiday decor works well for this stage of my life!
Merry Christmas! From my patriotic Christmas viking and the rest of our motley crew!
Samantha says
Great post! Where did you get your Alpine tree? I love the simplicity of doing something like that for next year versus my usual over the top, glittery, tinselled decorating production…with a few soft rustic type ornaments that my littles can decorate with. Most of the trees I’ve seen are on the pricey side…
Your ideas are always so interesting:) also you’ve made me realize we need a nativity scene in our house to further teach “the reason for the season!”
Andrea says
Thanks Samantha,
I got my alpine trees from garage sales years and years ago (before they were so popular!) Now, you should be able to find them at most craft stores, home good stores, and even on amazon!
And yes, our kids LOVE the Little People Nativity!
Tracey says
LOVE that you let them decorate the tree…
LOVE how the sunlight hits the angel…
LOVE their stockings hung on the landing…
LOVE that sweet and whimsical felt tree…
LOVE the JOY sign, and the kids holding it!
LOVE it ALL!!!
Andrea says
Thanks so much Tracey!
Tara says
Love it! Adapting the decor to the kids is always helpful. I’ve been slowly pairing down to the things I most love in my Christmas bins. I’ve got it down to two large-ish roughneck totes. Used to be four bins and some extra bags. Every year as I pull out the decor there are always a few things that I think “I’m just not excited about this anymore.” And off to the thrift store it goes! It’s still a little overwhelming getting all the Christmas stuff out. There’s a big mess for a day or so, but that’s a lot because we’re in Oregon and always have a live tree. This year we have two live trees (the kids got their own small tree to decorate with their own ornaments) and I used branches I cut from the bottoms of them to line our mantle and piano. A little messy until everything is settled. But so lovely and fragrant when it’s done. I love to forage greenery and berries to put it in the house because it’s something new every year that doesn’t cost me anything and I don’t have to store it all year.
Debbie says
I love your door wreaths! Did you find them at thrift stores too?
Andrea says
you know it!! The Merry Christmas signs are separate from the wreaths, I just ang them together
Janet says
Love your decor that is friendly to littles. But aren’t you at least a little sentimental about the carved nativity from Dave’s grandmother? I have a similar set that was made my grandfather (now passed), and while it is not easily breakable, I would be heartbroken if something did happen to it!
Andrea says
honestly, no — I’m not sentimental about the wooden nativity. I would be sad if it broke, but it’s not a family heirloom, his grandma is still living, and I have lots of pictures of it already. But… I’m very “unsentimental” so I definitely don’t think it’s bad or wrong to feel sentimental about special Christmas things!
Myka says
Simply beautiful! I love your daughter haircut btw. http://www.supersimpleways.com
Annette Silveira says
Everything looks beautiful. The key is that you do what you love, and adjust every year.
Andrea says
exactly. And I kind of like that it’s different every year!
JoAnn C. says
I laughed out loud at your patriotic Christmas viking. How cute. Your main tree looks great. Happy snowy Tuesday, Andrea.
Andrea says
thanks JoAnn — and guess what, it’s actually not snowing here. It’s beautiful and sunny! Yay for no lake effect snow hitting us today!
Jenn S. says
Love your simple, tasteful decor Andrea. I remember what fun it was to ‘help’ decorate as a kid, even though it definitely looked crazy. Those are awesome memories for the kids to make.
Also – patriotic Christmas viking cracked me up!
Andrea says
yes, we have 2 viking hats and the boys LOVE wearing them. Thankfully, Nora is now “too cool” for them otherwise we’d probably have fighting!