Finished! (Well...almost.)

Hello, dear readers!

Today is a happy day - I'll get to play in my craft room again.  Yay!  I've spent the last couple of days decorating the house for Christmas and am a little behind on making cards, and I have several that need to be made, a couple of deadlines to keep, so I'll be back at it today.  But I am so happy that I am, for the most part, finished with the decorating.  My DD came over yesterday to help with the tree, but other than that, I do it all myself which seems to take forever.

You know how you 're supposed to turn on all the lights before you decorate to make sure that they're all lit?  I did that.  And when I was finished and turned them all on again, guess what - one of the strands is out and I have no idea how to fix it.  One thing's for certain, I'm not going to take anything off.  This is an artificial tree that already had the lights attached (live trees don't fare well for more than a couple of weeks down here in Texas, or so has been my experience), and it's only four years old, so a strand shouldn't be burning out yet.  But there you have it - an unlit patch right there up front for all the world to see.  *sigh*

The treetop angel is handmade (by me) as are many of the ornaments.  Some of them (from Cracker Box) took anywhere from 20-60 hours.  And this back when I put in 50-hour work weeks! (Click on pictures to enlarge them.)

Here's my mantel with its motley crew of unmatched stockings.  Look closely and you'll see a couple of kitties peeking out from the middle two.  Those are courtesy of my DD who has given me a fine collection of Hello Kitties for various holidays.

(The red object under the far left stocking is a blown glass heart hanging from a wrought iron hook that my mother brought back to me from her trip to Puerto Vallarta last year.)

Here is my stairwell.  I love the glow it gives the room when it's lit up.  This is the first year that I've hung the oversize blown glass ornaments from it.  They add a lovely sparkle to the whole arrangement.

The Nativity set on the desk was given to me by my parents 30 years ago when they lived in Brazil, and it was my first set.  The little figures have suffered dings and minor breaks over the years but they've been glued and patched and will continue to hold pride of place, though I have other, more elegant sets.

And that's it for the decorating.  Still have the upstairs and dining room to do, but I will be in the craft room for sure with a new card for tomorrow's post.  Or maybe even for later today!

Thank you so much for joining me, and here's wishing you happy decorating.

And happy crafting!