Holly Jolly Decorating

Since I'm not waiting until after super-late-Thanksgiving to get my Christmas decorations out, I thought I might as well share it all now, even if we haven't hit "December," yet. It's amazing how using the exact same decor year-to-year can be changed up dramatically with a few simple pieces. This year, I kept the navy and gold going on, but spruced it up a bit with tiny colorful (pom-pom) pops and black and white stripes here and there. 

Our special ornaments blend right in on our colorful tree. My cousin and grandma gifted us the first two, marking our first wedded Christmas together and our once-broken honeymoon ornament is, surprisingly, still in one piece. 

Since our living room ceilings are pretty high, I never want my tree to look too puny...and I definitely don't want to go out and buy another one, of course. Last year I used a box-ottoman, but I a week ago, I realized that our coffee table was the perfect size for our tree area. It adds about a foot and a half to our tree, plus the gifts can be piled over and under the table. 

Our tree is dressed with items from just a few of my favorite after-holiday shopping stops (everything was purchased last year, on clearance): Large navy & black ornaments: Hobby Lobby, Small silver & gold ornaments: Dollar Tree, Gold icicle ornaments: Wal*Mart, Colorful craft pom poms: Dollar Tree and the black and white striped crepe paper is from Target.

My favorite new addition to our holiday decor this year are these super-cheap-stupid-simple-stringed-pom-poms. Really guys: 2 bags of craft-aisle poms from The Dollar Tree, a strand of fishing line and a needle are all you need to get this done. Thread the needle and punch it through the poms. Watch some tv while you're going and it will feel done in no-time (except, don't prick yourself. I did on my very last pom, of all things!)

I've also changed out our gallery images from their fall leaves and trees. Now we've got a jumping reindeer, christmas tree and "Married and Merry." I created these in photoshop elements using the included graphics and two free chalkboard fonts: Chalk Line Outline and Chalk Hand Lettering Shaded

Hope you're having fun decorating (or preparing for Thanksgiving)!

I'm off to go listen to my new favorite holiday music: Bieber. 

"With you, shawty with you, With you, shawty with you, With you, under the mistletoe,"

I'm kind of ashamed and all, but it's kind of awesome too.