Christmas at the Lake

Every waking minute the last few weeks has been spent either A. working, or B. trying to have as much holiday fun as humanly possible while NOT working!  Which doesn't leave a whole lot of time for anything else.....luckily, I knew December was going to be crazy - so Ant and I took advantage of a couple of well timed days off early on to get the house ready for the holiday season!  I love that I can now invest in holiday decor without feeling guilty about how much use it will get - I'm not decorating a corner of our temporary apartment living situation....I'm decorating our HOME!  As it turns out, that justifies wayyyyy more adorable little trees :)

 First, I came home with three Christmas trees - two for the mantle and one for our wine rack!

We don't host actual holidays - our schedules make it next to impossible...but we did have both sets of parents over for a "between holidays" meal...the table runner I found at Christmas Tree Shops matches our new Restoration Hardware dinnerware perfectly!  I'm also in love with the "M" votive candle holder I found at Marshalls!

The next three are finished views of our mantle.  This is by far one of my favorite parts of the house, especially this time of year.  Our fireplace has so much character, and when the wood stove is roaring there is nowhere I'd rather be snuggled up!  In addition to the Christmas trees and a collection of candles, Ant and I added a garland this year.  I'd been talking about buying one and asking Ant for his opinion - and he suggested we make our own!  So we did just that.  For a first attempt, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out....and it's even more special that it was made from our own backyard!  I'm not especially crafty, but it's fun to try sometimes.

What is your favorite holiday decor?? and how early do you start putting it up?

xoxo