CHRISTMAS EVE HOME TOUR 2019

 Merry Christmas Eve, friends!!  

I'm so excited it's finally here but also so sad that it's almost over!  Man, I'm so hard to please.  😂  This season just flies by every year and REALLY makes me long for my innocent childhood days with letters to Santa, Christmas musicals with the children's choir at church, searching the skies on the way home from Grandma's on Christmas Eve looking for Santa's sleigh, and trying so hard to stay awake so you could catch Santa in the act.  As much as I hate that, as adults, we lose a lot of that Christmas magic, I love creating as much of it as I can for my kids.

And apparently, we've done a pretty bang-up job because, believe it or not, BOTH of my boys still believe in Santa and our elf.  Although, they actually believe in the Elf 100% and raise an eyebrow when I mention Santa.  🤷‍♀️  

Matthew is in 6th grade so I definitely thought he'd have figured this whole thing out by now and I think he knows the truth but just doesn't want to admit it--to himself or anyone else.  Not just yet.  I think this whole Elf on the Shelf tradition is keeping kids believing longer than they used to when we were growing up.  #seeingisbelieving  I'd say about half of his friends still believe and the other half say he's not real.  I almost feel like I should tell him myself at this point.  I mean, I can't let him go to 7th grade still believing, right?!  🤦‍♀️  I even try dropping hints or being overly enthusiastic at the mention of Santa so he'll pick up on my sarcasm.  But as of now, I think he's just going to play it safe because PRESENTS.

Anyway, on this Christmas Eve, I thought I'd give you guys a little home tour for the holidays!  You've probably seen most of these pictures on the blog or on Instagram over the past month or so but here they are again, all in one place.  

My Christmas decor style is bright, cheery, colorful with a little whimsy.  Some may think it borders on tacky and I'm ok with that.  haha  I've slowly started letting go of some of the more "babyish" pieces as my boys get older but again, they still believe in the magic so I try to keep it fun.  

As much as I LOVE all those gorgeous, Pinterest-worthy homes with the whites/champagnes/silvers and flocked trees...it's just not us right now.  Maybe someday but for now, we are all color, merry & bright!

This is my favorite spot in the whole house during Christmas.  It looks gorgeous during the day and so warm and festive at night.  It's my favorite spot to curl up with my people and watch a Christmas movie.

Or drink my coffee alone while everyone else is gone.  That's fun too. ;)

Almost all of my decor is from Kirkland's, Michael's or Hobby Lobby.

We've had this little tree as our "boy" tree for years.  We decorate it with all these cute trucks, cars, and the sock monkey.  It has colored lights on it which is fun too.

I LOVE my new red sign!  I got it this year and I'm going to be so sad to take it down.  It's 50% off right now but I'm not sure if it's still available online.  You may have to check your local store.

 I love these little wooden Santas so much.

And I picked these little handmade snowmen up at a boutique in downtown Mckinney a few years ago. 

This mercury glass tree set lights up (on timers...I love timers) and is a new addition this year.  They were out of stock last time I checked but are so pretty! 

We leave the little Christmas lights phone charger plugged in all the time on the table behind our couch for another festive touch.  This was one of my favorite finds this season!!  I know a lot of y'all snagged them too!  I've also got one in my car.  (They are on sale right now for just $8.99! I bought mine when they were $14. Boo.)

This is the first year we've done a full-size tree in our bedroom.  We used to have a corner unit there but sold it a few months ago and I haven't filled the space yet.  And then I noticed a Christmas tree box up in our attic and remembered that we had this gorgeous one from when we lived in Green Bay and Buffalo!  We got a taller one for the dining room when we moved here and there wasn't a place for this one to go so it has been sitting in it's box for 10 years!  And all the lights still work!!

I got Buffalo Plaid crazy in here and I love it!

My buffalo plaid comforter was an impulse buy on Amazon and I'm so glad I did it!

I LOVE this tree so much!  #givemeallthebuffaloplaid

I brought some of my buffalo plaid love to the garland on the stairs this year with some simple bows.

Underneath the garland is one of my favorite parts of my Christmas decor!  My Christmas village!  Every year, we take the leaf out of the dining table and push it up against the stairs because if we keep it in it's place in the dining room, it hides our tree!  So I just use it as another space to decorate. :)

When Craig and I were living in Buffalo, I decided I wanted to be that house with the big Christmas village every year.  So I bought up several of these little houses and have been adding new touches over the years.  My mother-in-law gifts me new little accessories for it sometimes too.

This is something my kids AND their friends love so much...although it's really REALLY hard to keep boys from wanting to touch all the things! 

This year, I bought this new fountain for the center of town.  It lights up and changes colors and the fountain really works.  I have to refill it every day or two because it evaporates so fast but I keep it running pretty much day and night.

And one more at night.

I totally failed at taking good pictures of our main tree this year!  But our tree sits directly across from our village (see how the table would be completely blocking it?) and I incorporated some more of that pretty black and white buffalo plaid ribbon into it this year to change it up a little.  I'll definitely be adding a lot more of that ribbon next year because I loved the look with all the colors!

The little tree by the front door is cut from wood and I bought it at a craft show one year.  I love that piece!

The little elf on the ladder behind the boys is from my childhood.  So it's vintage. haha  Straight out of the '80s but I loved seeing it every year on our tree or next to our fireplace so when I was pregnant with Matthew, I asked my mom if she'd be willing to pass it on down to me.

I don't have a lot of pictures in our kitchen and breakfast area because things are always a mess but my little setup on my buffet table in the breakfast nook makes me happy!  These are my only "twinkle" lights in the house and they flash and roll and blink all the time.  I've had to change the batteries twice now.  😂

And I put Ralphie's house (from a Christmas Story) on our kitchen counter.  I got this on MAJOR sale the day after Christmas last year and it makes me smile.  The front window has the leg lamp in it too.  It's $56 (as I type this) but the day after Christmas last year, it was $24.95.  So just a heads up if you want to see if you can score the same deal this year! (Check it here.)

The living room at night is so pretty.

Our sweet pups passed away after 14 and 15.5 years and so we keep these pillows with their pictures on them under this little tree.  I knew last year at Christmas that there wouldn't be dogs in the house for the first time since we've been married at Christmas.

Our elf loves the fireplace.  He was concentrating hard during a particularly riveting game of Solitaire one night. ;)  The boys will be sad to see him go tonight!  I, on the other hand, will not.

And here's what I'll be looking at tonight.  All the boys "Santa" gifts are easy to set up for possibly the first time ever so we won't have to stay up super late to build anything.  I'm hoping to send them to bed early and then convince Craig to watch The Family Stone with me just one more time.

I hope you enjoyed this little holiday home tour!  I'm not sure if I'll be back on the blog this week or not but I tend to keep you guessing around here when it comes to posts so who knows!  ;)

If you're still in the mood to do some fun reading, you might want to check out my post I did a few years ago on things you may never have known about one of our favorite movies--Home Alone!  It was a fun post to do!  Find it HERE.

Wishing you all the merriest of Christmases and the happiest of New Years!!