Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Holiday Home Tour Link-Up

You guys, it’s my very first link-up!!!!  I’m so excited!!  And boy, what a great subject for my first one! 

I’ve been working hard these last couple of weeks to get our halls decked, and this past week it was finally completed.  We go all out… we put up four Christmas trees and almost every room in our house has some kind of festive decoration in it.  I’ve always been Christmas crazy, so this isn’t anything new, but now that we have little ones, I’ve stepped up my game even more.  Christmas time has been my favorite time of year since I was a wee one, and my parents always made sure that everything was cozy and wonderful for us growing up… I have the absolute fondest memories of Christmases from my childhood. 

Well now it’s my turn to create that same cozy and wonderfully Christmasy environment for our littles, and I don’t take that responsibility lightly.  Grab a fuzzy blanket and a cup of hot chocolate, and settle in… you’re going to be here a while!

Welcome to our home!

The front door is flanked by two trees and a lighted garland.  This past year we also started stringing icicle lights across the front porch, but those didn’t make the home tour post last year.  B was kind enough to get them up early for me this year for photographing purposes so here they are!  ;o)  I took several photos as it was getting dark one evening so you can see the progression from daylight to almost nighttime.










When entering the front door, our formal dining room is on the right.  Last year, I didn’t decorate it (with the exception of our Christmas frames), so everything you see in here is new for 2016.  I loved having a room to decorate in silver and white and blue since the main part of our home is decorated in red and green and gold.  And that Merry and Bright marquee?  I die.  It might be one of my favorite things in the entire house!  Hobby Lobby for the win!


















If you walk straight into the house from the front door, you are greeted by our lighted garland on the staircase, which leads into our living room.  This is where we spend most of our time, and this is where our main Christmas tree is.  We always have a live Frazier Fir in this room, and I get the absolute largest one that will fit in the space.  Our ceilings are nine feet high in this room, so our tree is 8 foot, 10-ish inches.  I just can’t help myself!  :o) 


And as much as I adore the themed catalog perfect decorations on a Christmas tree, our main tree will always be home to our hodgepodge of old keepsake ornaments.  All of Brian’s old childhood ornaments, all of my old childhood ornaments, and now all of our children’s ornaments are all piled onto this tree together, and there’s just something so special about that to me.  There are lots and lots of memories on this tree and I wouldn’t have it any other way.  My favorites?  The hand print ornaments that I made with the each of the kids when they were just tiny little babes for their first Christmases, and the snowflake ornament from our wedding.  And take note, you’ll see a whole lot more of those later!  









You may remember my seasonal book crate?  Well, it’s stocked full of Christmas goodness right now, and it sits right by the tree so the kids have Christmas books at their fingertips at all times.



We also keep a basket on the coffee table of all of our Christmas props – silly hats, funny glasses, Rudolph noses, and Christmas stickers… also all at the kids’ fingertips so they can be festive whenever they want!





Oh, and see that sweet little list next to that bowl of Christmas balls?  That’s one of Jacob’s many Christmas wish lists.  I was tidying up just before the photo shoot, and I just couldn’t bear to put that away.  I thought it would be perfect to leave out for the shoot because it’s a part of our everyday world.


The manger scene is one of my favorite things of all of our Christmas décor.  I purchased it the same year that B and I got married, and it is just gorgeous.  




Moving on into breakfast area and kitchen!  This year I decided to decorate our entire buffet table in the kitchen, and I dedicated that space to house all of our Christmas frames.  Each year I buy a festive Christmas frame and put a picture of our family (usually our Christmas card picture) from that Christmas in it.  We have a collection since 2003 when B and I started dating.  It’s kind of similar to our tacky souvenir collection for our travel gallery wall, but for Christmas.  :o)





I always do a new chalkboard for each holiday or season, and here is the one for this Christmas.  I think this is my favorite chalkboard that I have ever done. 






I used to hang our Christmas cards in the living room, but they were kind of out of the way so I feel like we really didn’t get to enjoy them, so this year I decided to hang them in the kitchen.  I made a new holder and everything!  Look for the tutorial soon!  And hey, Beth!!  You and one of our family members win the award for sending your cards out the earliest!  I was so glad, too, because I was afraid that I wouldn’t have any to show for the tour since I took my home tour pictures so early.  I can’t wait to see this thing fill up with all of our favorite people!



A few more touches/angles...










Even the bathroom has some little Christmas touches here and there… a couple of cute lil’ metal snowmen, a Christmas hand towel (not pictured), and a Christmas candle.  Boom!  




Moving on to the bedrooms upstairs…

Welcome to our master bedroom!  We put an artificial tree up in here each year, and it houses all of the leftover ornaments from our wedding.  You may remember that we gave out Christmas ornaments as wedding favors since we had a December Wedding?  Well, we had tons of them leftover after the wedding and I couldn’t bear to get rid of them, so I saved the whole box and they now fill the tree in our bedroom.  How fitting, right?  There are four different snowflake designs, and each one is strung with ribbon that we had personalized with our names and our wedding date.  It’s a perfect reminder of our big day back in 2007.




Onto Jacob’s bedroom!  We just redecorated his entire room back in July this year, so his color scheme changed.  Last year we did a blue and green tree to match his room, but this year we dropped the green and added red (per his request) to match his new red, white and blue room.  We love it!





Olivia’s tree is exactly the same as last year so it may look familiar to you if you’re a long time reader.  I’m still in love with this one, so it will likely remain the same for a few more years.  Those white flowers just make it.





Well you guys, that’s it!  What did you think?

If you want to see what our home looks like on a regular day, links are below to each room of the house, and I also posted the link from our holiday home tour last year.


And don’t forget to grab our button and link-up below… we can’t wait to see your lovely homes!




*Linking up with Our Pretty Little Girls for Tuesday Talk.









36 comments:

  1. Beautiful!! I love the trees in the kid's rooms. Everything is so festive and fun. Christmas decorations are the best and make me so happy. I plan to link up on Thursday and I hope I'm not too late.

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  2. Oh your house is beautiful! I love all of the trees! I'm waiting for one for our room after Christmas sales.

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  3. Omg your house is amazing! I am swooning over your front door and so much attention to detail. Love it!!

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  4. So pretty Lindsay!!! I love your living room - that big tree and the garland and the stockings just are all so pretty and festive together. The Christmas frames are so fun - so everything is gorgeous. And you know I am obsessed with your "wedding" tree. LOVE it!

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  5. Goodness your home is beautiful! You do an amazing job. I love every single thing!!

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  6. Your home is beautiful!!! I love all the little touches you have throughout your home. One day I hope to have a willow tree nativity scene. I just may need to do it piece by piece.

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    1. Thank you, Jessica! I love my Willow Tree nativity. It's one of my favorite pieces ever and it's something I will keep forever!

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  7. Oh my word, your decorations are GORGEOUS!! I love everything, especially all the sparkle! And that merry mail sign, is that your DIY from the other day?? I soooo need to make something like that! I put trees in the kids rooms this year and they FLIPPED! Too bad I forgot to snap photos for todays link up!

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  8. HOly beautiful! I love it all but I think my favourite are the wreaths on the outdoor windows! Beautiful home!!

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    1. Thank you! I got that idea from my Momma and Daddy. :o)

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  9. Oh friend there is so much to love here.

    #1 I am so SO happy you hosted this linkup with me. I KNEW you were the perfect host addition and I was right #2 EVERYTHING is gorgeous. I don't even know where to begin with the compliments. #3 It was really fun and bizarre seeing our card in your house. It left a huge smile on my face.

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  10. Your decorations are so pretty! I love your front door setup! Such a fun linkup - going to add my post from yesterday now :)

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  11. OH my goodness. Your house reminds me of mine growing up. My mom went all out too! And can you please come to my house and decorate for me? You nailed it on everything. I need to hit up the stores after Christmas for more decorations and keep stocking up. I am IN LOVE with your house. So beautiful!

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  12. Ah soooooooo gorgeous! Every little detail, and your color coordination is on point! I didn't get around to snapping photos for the link-up...boo. I love the Santa hat on the bulldog and I love your door wreath too. Just beautiful.

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  13. Your home is so beautiful! I love the wreaths on the windows. I’m taking note so that I can do that next year. Your dining room looks so dreamy. I love the white, silver and twinkle lights. That tree! So gorgeous. I love a full and tall tree. The bucket of Christmas props is genius. I bet Mason would be willing to take more photos if he could wear fun and silly props. That is a Willow Tree nativity, right? I have wanted one of those for the longest. And I need to get a little tree in Mason’s room stat!

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  14. I'm obsessed! Your home is so warm and inviting!
    I love all of your trees, especially Olivia's...it's so cute!
    And the little bulldog with the hat, so darling!
    xo, Lily
    Beauty With Lily

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  15. What a cozy home! I LOVE that you have a seasonal book crate; I'm not the only one!

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    1. Thank you, Allyson! And nope, you're not the only one! We love to keep holiday books right there for the kids... it's so festive!

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  16. Ahh! Your home is just perfect INSIDE and OUT! I just love everything... The Merry & Bright sign in your dining room that lights up is a beauty! And, your entire dining room is so pretty, I love those colors that you went with. The icicle lights are lovely on the front of your house, too! I also love that you have a 'leftover' tree in your bedroom for extra ornaments- what a great idea!

    Carrie
    curlycraftymom.com

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  17. Oh my goodness what a lovely home! I love it all but how fun to have that dining room to decorate! And I'm so totally jealous of that front porch. Great job and thanks for hosting!

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  18. You are amazing!! Your special touches just sparkle and make your home so cozy and inviting!!

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  19. Your home is BEAUTIFUL. Just stunning! I love that you have a basket of photo prompts. That's a really fun addition!

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  20. Everything is beautiful!! I wish I had the room for 4 trees:)

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    1. Thank you! It was always a dream of mine to have more than one... mission accomplished! :o)

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  21. I absolutely LOVE your home! Everything you do, you have the perfect touch, that makes it feel inviting and welcoming. Great job, you have created such a great space for your kids, they are going to have some great memories here!

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    1. Also, so happy to be co-hosting this with you! It was fun right?!

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  22. Beautiful decorations! I love Olivia's tree the most!! So perfect for a little girl's room!
    Sarah at MeetTheShaneyfelts

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  23. I don't even know what to comment specifically about! Everything in your house looks like perfection! I'm particularly fond of your dining room buffet! All of those colors look so great together! :)

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    1. Thank you, Leslie! That was my newest addition for this year and I'm in loooove.

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  24. Your house looks beautiful! I am going to have to work up a post and link up with you. I love getting ideas from other bloggers.

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  25. Oh my... total house goals when I see your Christmas decor!! Love your outside and inside.. just all of it! So pretty!

    happilyevergriedlscom.wordpress.com

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  26. Wow! Just beautiful! So many pretty details. I love that you all have trees in your rooms. Everything looks just perfect from the inside to out. Enjoyed linking up with you :) Beautifully Candid

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  27. So much fun stuff! I love your master bedroom tree and your formal dining decorations

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  28. Ahhhh!!! I love it all! Your house is amazing and so warm and welcoming! All the trees - I loooove all the trees in your house! Everything is so beautiful, Lindsay! Thanks for hosting this!

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