It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…

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Finally…I was able to decorate for Christmas…my favorite time of the year! With the exception of my front door wreath, I don’t do much, if any, seasonal decorating. So, when Christmas rolls around, you know I’m on it the night of Thanksgiving and the day after! Last night we bought and decorated our Christmas tree (seriously hilarious timelapse video below) and today I crafted some finishing touches.

You’ve already seen the stockings I made earlier this week, but I also made the tissue paper tassel garland hanging above them. I participated in a local handmade swap put on by The Red Barn Outdoor Market (a.k.a. my sister)–there were six women in my group, so we each are making handmade gifts for the other five women and getting a gift back from them! These were inexpensive, but time consuming! So of course I made one for myself.

I knew I wanted to make another garland, so when I saw this post on Elsie Marley, and remembered I had tons of striped gray & white straws that had been cut in half leftover from our wedding, AND that I already had chunky red yarn  to make giant pompoms with…

…it wasn’t long until I had this adorable garland draped across the mirror in my entryway!

On Wednesday, I bought some glittery silver paper to make some pinwheels out of, so I got that done today, too! All of the glass bottles I already had there were the perfect place for them.

I mentioned above that the only thing I change out seasonally is my wreath; well, I actually use the same wreath, but buy different faux branches by season. Last winter, I had red berries, spring & summer, I had some small yellow flowers, fall, I had colorful leaves and berries and now these for this winter! I love it because I can have a “new” wreath every season for just a couple of dollars!

This arrangement is sitting on my dining room table. The red berries were leftover from my wreath last winter and I made the 3-dimensional cardboard stars last week out of cereal boxes.

 And FINALLY….the tree! Cowboy and I bought our tree last year on Thanksgiving night and wanted to continue that tradition, so after leaving my parents’ house, went home to get his truck and off we went to find a tree! We found a beautiful tree for $30 (!) and while he was slicing a layer off of the bottom of the trunk, I went inside to set up my camera and laptop to take a timelapse…and his brother showed up just in time to make it HILARIOUS. I think it’s partly so funny to me because I know these two so well and I was there, but I seriously die of laughter every time I watch it! So, if you don’t enjoy it, that’s OK…I’ve probably laughed enough for all of us.

Christmas Tree Timelapse 2012 from Alina Strain on Vimeo.

Are you guys decorating for Christmas, or do you wait just a little bit longer?