get behind me santa.

we finally got around to decorating, and despite my not really wanting to do it because i've been feeling so grinchy, i had a lot of fun. we started with the fireplace, pre-lit garland and some of my favorite atc's from the christmas and holiday swaps that stacey ran over scrap in style hung for a scrappy touch and some holiday inspiration.

i think my absolute favorite from the batch, although it's a hard choice, had to be the one with the little bell nestled in the cut out hole, with wings about it that says, "every time a bell rings an angel gets its wings." love it!

my mum and i get each other ornaments each year, and exchange them when we decorate the tree. my mum got me a really adorable penguin tangled in a string of lights and i got her a rad wood ornament with a snowflake cut out of the center. it is burnished so it smells like campfire/smokehouse. yum! it's also really fun to see my ornaments from all the past years too. they tend to tell a story about what i was into that year and it's so funny to see some of them, like the rollerblading turtle from my rink cat days, the campaigning snoopy from my activist days and the nemo-like clownfish from when i was teaching preschool. it's such a fun tradition that i defenitly want to keep going when i have kids too.

it was so nice to just sit with the lights off enjoying the glow from the christmas tree and fireplace. annabelle is also really enjoying the tree. when she was a kitten she used to climb up and sleep in it. she seems to realize that even though she is small, she is still too big for that now. she has not outgrown batting at the ornaments though. she does it in such a tentative and gentle way that it's hard to tell her no, haha. (p.s. see that ornament to the left and above her ear? that's one of my favorites that i gave my mum. it's a felt squid dressed like rudolph, hehe)



i've finally decorated here at the store too. just some simple white lights, ornaments that look like old fashioned christmas lights and some awesome bright felt snowflakes i got at ikea a year or two ago. love them.



so, i guess i can't be in christmas denial anymore, hunh?