Christmas Dining and Living Room

I hope you're all enjoying the holiday season as much as my family and I are!  The news said we have broken a record here in Michigan for not having any snow yet and for warm temperatures this late in the year.  But it has been so cloudy!

I took some pictures this morning and they honestly looked like it was night outside.  I ran errands today and had just gotten home from the grocery store when the sun peaked out for a second.  Less than five minutes.

Fortunately, our dining and living room were neat and clean.  I can't say the same for the kitchen as I had covered the cabinets with groceries.

So I paused and ran around like a banshee taking a few pictures.  They're still not sunny by any means but there's no sunshine in the forecast so I have a feeling this is as good as it's going to get!

I added a boxwood wreath to our china cabinet in the family room and a small tree.  I love having the lights in the evening when we're eating.

I filled this small tree with lights and icicles like the other tree but I also added pillow batting mimicking snow.  I bent the branches of the tree down like they were weighted with the snow to add realism.

My husband made this 'trough' for me a couple of years ago.  I filled it with a faux pine garland for a base then added more cream poinsettias, faux fruit, glittering ornaments and candles.

I showed you our living room in the evening recently.  In the daytime, I love all the fresh white and flowers.

I didn't put anything on this wreath - just added some frosted evergreen bows at the bottom.

I added a faux garland to the mantel with lots of lights and lots of candles, all woven together with a gold sparkly ribbon.

I want to say again how much I've enjoyed everyone's Christmas home tours!  I especially have loved how differently everyone decorates and it's still all so beautiful!  

An article came through my Facebook news feed today from a popular decorating magazine.  In it, designers were sharing the mistakes they feel that people do when decorating for Christmas.  I had done most of them. So did you!  Ha!  So I promptly dealt with it by deleting the magazine from my news feed.

So I want to say - load your tables and shelves with all the knick-knacks that your grandmother gave you!  Fill your house with fake greenery and put a Nativity on every surface!  Buy a poinsettia for everyone you know!  They may be "the mum" of Christmas, but they sure are beautiful!  Decorate your house exactly like you like it and don't compare yourself to anyone else.  It's YOUR house and it's YOUR memories. Traditions and family are far more important than doing things 'right.'  Next year they'll tell you something else is 'in' or 'out' so do it your way.  

Whew!  I feel much better!  Sometimes I get so tired of being told what's 'right' and how to feel about things.

I have heard other bloggers express that they had wondered if their house and their decorating was good enough.  They had compared themselves to someone else and then been afraid they weren't as good.  I've also heard another beautiful blogger express that blogging had changed a lot over the years and sometimes she felt she couldn't keep up.

You don't have to be better.  You don't have to keep up.  It's wonderful to be unique and be yourself. My style and your style may not be liked by everyone.  That's ok.  I really like my house.  And I'm the one who lives in it.

My prayer for you this year is that you find your identity in Christ.  Once you find that, it can't be shaken. When you follow the things that God has for you, you have a confidence that you're doing the right thing... no matter what anyone else thinks.  A new year is coming.  I'm praying it's a new day for each of us!

love and blessings~

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;     your works are wonderful,     I know that full well." Psalm 139:14

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