Christmas in my New Home

The Christmas season is in full swing, and I thought I'd give you all a peek into my home this Christmas - perfect timing, since we just recently acquired living room furniture courtesy of my very generous in-laws! I certainly wasn't going to show my living room with all of our movies and decorations in boxes ;)

My mantle makes me so happy. I love my animal portraits. I love my CB2 candlesticks. I love the colorful mess of melted candles in the fireplace.

Our stockings have thus far been for decoration only. One reason is that the stocking holders we have are rendered completely ineffective once anything is actually placed inside the stockings - they just fall right off of the mantle. The other reason is simple neglect. We need to get the stocking tradition started in our house!!

Here is our tree. (Kindly ignore our Guitar Hero drum set.) ;) People seem to be all about the white lights, but I love colored. They're just so cheerful and nostalgic for me. I've always loved lots of color, and I think it's the perfect way to celebrate. Credit goes to Buddy the Elf for the paper garland and snowflakes. He was my inspiration.

Our new entertainment center. We drove to IKEA in Atlanta and back the Sunday after Thanksgiving to get it. We even assembled it when we got back. It was a rather fun adventure :o) The vintage Christmas tree and bell decorations (on either side of the TV) are courtesy of my BFF, Josey. She's known for finding awesome things at thrift stores and antique malls and sending them to me out of the blue. I pretty much couldn't ask for more awesomeness in our friendship (just a little more geographical proximity).

I love my adorable felt trees from CB2 - not only are they a delight to look at, but they remind me of our wonderful trip to New York City last Thanksgiving, where I purchased them.

I made this wall art - no, it is not crooked on my wall; I just framed the photo crookedly ;)

Our new couch. I LOVE IT. The throw pillows make it, I think. The colors look so great at Christmastime and will look awesome all throughout the year. Love love love.

Someone decided he had to get into the picture and be all cute.

This is my sweet little hutch in the kitchen - all decorated for Christmas!

The gnome potholders came from Etsy. I love them so.

I picked up my mischievous Elf on the Shelf and some cute tins from a local antique store. I LOVE old Christmas decorations and knickknacks. It's so fun to be reminded that people have been getting excited about Christmas for years and years and years.

And there you have it! :o)