Nester's Tour of Homes

Hey, y'all! I thought I was getting a head start over here so I'd be all ready for Nester's Christmas Tour of Homes, but that tricky Nester started a day early. No telling whether I'll get any visitors being so far down the list, but if you made it this far, welcome and rest your tired touring feet...uh, fingers.

Somehow we ended up with a cute little itty bitty tree this year, which is a result of either a) waiting until all the 7-8 foot trees are gone from the lot, b) letting people under 5 feet tall select the family tree, or c) both. Every time I walk past the living room I giggle ruefully, because it is such a wee little thing. It smells divine, though, and that's the most important thing to me.



This paper angel has topped our tree for 16 years, since my mom gave it to us the year we got married. Her halo is a little crooked, but heck, so is mine.



This is one of several nativity sets that grace our living room. My mom bought it for about five bucks when the kids were small, and it has remained intact.



Here's another one that sits on the coffee table. It was a gift from one of my Sunday School students years ago.



This is the "main" nativity set, from Jim Shore's Heartwood Creek collection, which my hubby gave me a couple of years ago. I cannot tell a lie: This photo was taken last year, but it looks just the same this year minus the garland in the background.



Our fireplace is gas and has no mantel, so for years we have hung our stockings from pushpins stuck into wood shims wedged under the TV. We are very fancy over here. This year I finally stuck some of those 3M Command hooks on the fireplace and the kids wanted to know where our "regular hangers" were. You get used to a certain standard of living and it's hard to let it go.



Here's my Hoosier cabinet in the kitchen, stuffed full of Christmasy stuff. It's maybe a little busy, but it makes me happy when I eat my cereal.



This is the living room area that's just inside the front door. It's mostly the same as last year, except for the ladder which I picked up recently at a cute antique store and the relocated cookie cutter garland which is no longer looking over Bethlehem.



We are trying something new this year called "Not Spending More Money Than We Have," which has required me to not buy any new decorations. I did, however, buy $4.99 worth of mixed evergreens when we bought our tree, and I split them between a wooden caddy on the Hoosier and the two arrangements shown below. I like to think that Nester would be proud of my thriftiness and shopping my house for the other stuff.





And finally, I bought this window really cheap at the same antique store where I got the ladder, added a banner I made using scrapbook supplies, and several years of Christmas photos. This will hang on the wall as soon as I can track down some picture hanging wire. I'll take a better photo of it then too.



Merry Christmas, and thanks for stopping by!! I'm off to visit the other homes on the tour.