The Christmas Living Room

I promised you a look at the Christmas living room.  I had big plans for decorating this year, but as time went on I ended up with a pretty simple, farmhouse look to the room.  This is the year of "less is more" in so many of the tours I have seen. I'm all on board with that :)

 The sofa is primed with a ticking stripe covered pillow for long winter naps and some big red checks. If you have been around here for any time at all, you know I can't resist the gingham. The painting above the sofa was a gift from My youngest daughter, Victoria.  She knew that being a farm girl, I loved a certain famous cow painting that I had seen on a favorite blog.  This is not that painting.  Being her mother's daughter, rather than pay a rather hefty price for the original she painted this one herself and presented it to me on my birthday this past May.

 I love her version even more, of course. I had some old shutters in the basement that I painted and placed on either side. I like how the green shutters and blue and white plates pick up the colors in "Bessie's" painting.   I may have her knock off the Mona Lisa for me next ;)

 Our little reading chair by the window. You can't tell, but today is dark and rainy. Temps in the 40's and destined to be in the mid-50's by Friday. No white Christmas here! This chair catches the best light for reading though.  I brightened up the window sill with Poinsettias and the old red truck.  You can see the poinsettias are already dropping leaves. I never have much luck with them, but after Christmas I don't really want them to hang around anyway.  Do your poinsettias last or are you a killer like me?

 This is the first time I have ever had a table top tree.  We found the library table for a song at a yard sale this summer. I have always loved library tables and as the guy selling it was lowering his price just because we showed an interest in it how could I leave it behind?  It takes up the space we usually use for the tree so here we are.  To tell you the truth this little tree is a little too perfect for me.  We are talking about clearing a spot in the woods and planting a few trees every year so we can cut our own. We should have a magical crop by the time we have grandkids old enough to help us look for the perfect tree.  No, there aren't any grands on the way yet, but when they come along we will be ready! The mercury glass globe lights were a gift from Victoria, and she and Lauren hung them for me when everyone was home for Thanksgiving.  The little church on the bottom of the table was a replica of a church that still stands in a small nearby town. It was made by Earl's great grandfather who helped build the original church.  I saved this from a church "clean out" years ago without even knowing the family history that went with it!

 When I first decorated the tree I was going to be all coordinated and matchy for once.  No more kids at home, all I had to please was myself! Well, it just didn't look right.  Too bare, missing all the love and history our family has built into Christmas.  I ended up retrieving the old ornament box and hanging those ornaments that had been with us so many beautiful years. The canning lid photo of Victoria, made in first grade.

 the pretzel ornament Lauren made in Kindergarten, (amazing that those pretzels haven't turned to dust!),

 the little angel made entirely of pasta that one of them made in Sunday School, isn't she adorable!?

And the little bird ornament Victoria got for Earl on a first grade school field trip. She presented it to him and told him it was "the bird full of love", and that is what we have called it ever since :)

 My little collection of glitter houses continues to grow,

 and this year a very talented niece crocheted 3 tiny birds to add to Earl's collection. They are already treasured and will be added to the tree from now on.  Each one of these little beauties is not much bigger that a quarter!

It's all the warm little memory makers and touches that make me happy in my Christmas home.  Surrounded by handmade gifts and sparkling lights, my home makes me happy.

I will be enjoying time with family and friends, baking, and just relaxing for the rest of the week. I hope you can do the same. Thank you for stopping by, for saying hello and for sharing my little corner of the blog world.

Merry Christmas Everyone!