Life is {Sew} Daily: Simple Christmas Decorating

In the spirit of Christmas and all the fun things that go along with this most wonderful time of the year, I decided to show you my simple Christmas decor this year. I didn't do a ton of decorating. In fact, I've got about 3 tubs of Christmas decor that I'm not using this year plus 2 artificial trees in the attic. I even debated on whether to put up my dining room tree this year, but I did and I'm so glad I did. The girls are enjoying seeing it lit up in the evenings and so am I! I love looking at all the Christmas home tours on the blogs, (although I haven't gotten around to it yet this year) and seeing how other people decorate their homes. Everyone has a style all their own and I thought I'd show you a quick peek of my very simple Christmas decor this year {I keep adding to mine when a good idea comes my way, but this is what it looks like for now.}

I got this cute Santa Advent thing at Target a few years ago on an after-Christmas clearance deal for just a few bucks. We use it every year and it's one of the girls' favorite pieces. I thought it was appropriate to put him next to our globe on top of the piano so he could go ahead and map out his route. You can find one like it here.

These little ceramic mice have been in my family for as long as I can remember. I think they came from Home Interiors or something like that decades ago. Still in perfect condition. Another sentimental thing my girls look forward to getting out for Christmas each year. I found the baby mouse here if you are interested.

It's not possible to have Christmas in this house without Brenda Lee singing to us. My mom let me keep these when I moved away after college. We used to listen to these actual records while decorating the Christmas tree way back when. I have these on my piano during Christmas, but listen to her now on Pandora Radio. I should have put a record player on my Christmas list! Find the Paul & Paula Vinyl here. And the Brenda Lee vinyl here.

My simple mantle. I'm really loving it this year. I usually have it covered in garland and lights and all kinds of stuff, but this year I just really enjoy looking at the simplicity of it all. The stockings are a Pottery Barn knockoff from a few years ago. You can read about them here. The art on the mantle is part of a set of paintings my artistic friend painted of some of our landmarks in our city. Find more of her art here.

This small tree is from Hobby Lobby. One of my girls decorated it for me with ribbon and some of my husband's vintage ornaments from when he was little. He made a couple of these with his Nana as a young boy and the others are too tiny for our big tree, but I wanted to display them.

These are two of my husbands tiny biplane ornaments from his collection. He's in an aviation career and we love these little bitty planes. He has quite a collection of airplane ornaments, but these fit perfectly on our mini tree.

These are part of my collection of knockoff Anthropologie Mason Jar Snow Globes. Read how I made them here. I just displayed them on one of our bookshelves this year. You can get the Count Your Blessings free printable here.

This came from my in-laws to my girls as a gift several years ago. It's a Hallmark item and sings Jingle Bells while the dog barks. It's adorable....the first 20 times. After that, we have to limit the number of times the button gets pushed. Ha! You can find one of these here. They are not sold in stores.

Perhaps my most favorite Christmas item is this small part of the Fontanini Nativity set. My aunt and uncle bought me this as a college graduation gift. I love this and would love to have the whole set one day.

My wrapping paper colors this year. I love this combo. The little nutcracker men are so cute. I am especially fond of them this season. And the black and white chevron is always my favorite.

A small glance at our living room decor. The most important part anyway. Maybe I'll show the whole room if I ever finish it the way I want to. For now, this is the happiest part!

I like to hang some of our Christmas cards on this garland wrapped banister. It's the perfect place for the cards. We pass them everyday and love seeing notes and pictures of friends far and near. {Still waiting on many more to come! hint, hint}

This is my sparse dining room tree. I love it because it is simple and is just enough decoration to enjoy and not dread having to take it all down and put it away. The paper garland in the tree is from Pottery Barn a few years ago. The handmade angel on top made with a paper plate and gold glitter? Yes, that's from my sweet 5 year old. She was so proud to put that on top of my tree. I think it's the perfect addition.

And last, but not least, is this wonderful smelling candle from Yankee Candle. Mistletoe is the very best Christmas/Winter scent ever! My sister has one every year and last year my husband finally decided he was getting one for us every year. The smell is fantastic! It's our second year of this tradition that will last a long time in this house if I have anything to do with it. Buy one for yourself here.

What are your traditional decorations? Do you use the same decor every year or change it up? If you've written about your decorations this season, please leave a link to it in the comments. I'd love to see yours!

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Merry Christmas!