'Tis the Season

This Christmas is different from last year's in that my lover is deployed and I'm not in my own house for the holidays. Although, Christmas in my own house is a rarity in and of itself, considering I've only celebrated it in my own house twice in the last 11 years. However, I had the good fortune of being asked to decorate for the holidays. The only requests were that it be something that was elegant & less traditional, not too over the top, and blended well with the natural colors inside the home. Other than that I was given free reign to do whatever my imagination could conjure up. 

I had a blast working with a color palate & theme that I normally wouldn't choose for myself. I really enjoyed the challenge. It took me several days to bring my ideas to life, running to multiple stores several times to collect supplies, even though the decorations look rather simple in the end. I love the outcome, though, and it reminded me why I'm so passionate about decorating. I could happily do this every single day. One of my dream jobs would be as a decorator. Could you imagine if people were willing to pay me year round to put my creativity to use and decorate their homes & businesses? I wish!! Because let me tell you I have a million other ideas running around in this noggin' of mine.

All I know is that the day I get my forever home, my lover better watch out because I am going to go all out for every holiday, invest in extravagant permanent fixtures for the house, and finally decorate my home the way I want year round since we won't have to think about moving every few years anymore. A practical and frugal mind can put a real damper on a creative spirit. But until then I will just continue to make the most of each house that will serve as our temporary homes while we continue on this journey with the Army. After all, it's been a pretty amazing journey thus far.

Now on to the good stuff...the decorations & photos!

For the exterior, the colors were gold & red. I decorated an arch for the doorway, made a lighted garland for the lamp post, a wreath for the door, and bows to hang from each outdoor light. It was rather chilly (33 degrees to be exact) the two nights I worked on it, but thanks to a wonderful outdoor patio heater, some hot chocolate with homemade whip cream, and my fave Christmas radio station, I couldn't even tell it was freezing. And yes, I work best in my oversized pjs.

For the interior, I did a bronze & metallic theme, using silver & gold and a hint of burgundy accents. I decorated a 9 foot Christmas tree...there's literally hundreds of ornaments on it. I even spray painted several pine cones gold for the final addition to the tree. Decorating the top was a challenge considering I have terrible balance when I'm that high on a ladder. I also wrapped multiple gift boxes adorned with ribbon & flair to go underneath the tree, and made two lighted garlands (one for the fireplace, the other for a console table). I also took a few macro pictures of the decorations to put in frames for another decorative tabletop piece. And of course, I found a mini Hello Kitty cookie house kit that I had to try, so I snuck a pic in for you to see it.

The decorations look much better in person, but it doesn't help that half the pics I took were with my cell phone. What can I say...I was being lazy. It was nice having a temporary creative outlet...certainly helped with a lot of the deployment blues I've been dealing with. It also makes me very excited for all the Christmases I get to decorate for in the future. I have endless ideas for every type of theme possible...I can't wait to put them to use someday!! 

I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season! Just a few more days and Santa will be here! Word is there may even be some snow in the forecast for Christmas Day...like the song goes, "I've been dreaming of a White Christmas." 

Did you decorate this year? 

If so, what was your theme or color scheme?