Monday, November 29, 2010

"Haul Out the Holly..."

"Haul out the Holly;
Put up the tree before my spirit falls again.
Fill up the stockings,
I may be rushing things, but deck the halls again now.
For we need a little Christmas,
Right this very minute,
Candles in the window,
Carols at the spinet.
Yes, we need a little Christmas,
Right this very minute....
Need a little Christmas now."
-Mame

I hauled out the holly, all right. And a bunch of other things too.

One of the nice things about hosting Thanksgiving in our home this year was that I had the whole weekend to clear my Fall stuff out and brave the attic stairs to drag all my Christmas loot down. We don't have a basement or a garage, so everything goes up in the attic. It took me a good hour, and a good deal of panting and puffing and climbing over joists, but I did it!

The girls were overjoyed to see Frank (Frankincense) return from his extended attic vacation:


Packing and unpacking decorations is one of the hardest parts of Christmas for me. I tend to feel a bit rushed because Natalie's birthday party always falls on the first Saturday in December. If I wait any longer, people get too busy with their holiday plans and my poor girl would end up with "the fuzzy end of the lollipop." I also know that if I don't get everything decorated before Saturday, I'll be too tired, too wired, and too busy later this month to accomplish anything. I guess I fall somewhere between the folks who have their tree displayed on November 1st and the people like my mom who are so busy and never home and don't get anything out until the week before Christmas...or later!

So, T has his assignment of purchasing our (real) tree on Wednesday so I'll have time to get the ornaments on.  He already took some time yesterday to build his girls a large castle silhouette out of cardboard for the party. Can't wait to show you some pictures!

Do you struggle with lots of boxes and bags, or is Christmas decorating a breeze for you?

I hope you'll stick with me this week. I have a Giveaway planned for Thursday from ME! That's right...I'm going to give away something from my Blessings Unlimited shop and I can't wait to show you what I've chosen.

Until then...it's back to decorating for me. I have some Nutcrackers calling my name!

{How is your Christmas decorating coming?}

15 comments:

  1. As I type, my living room is trashed basically. haha! There are Christmas boxes and totes all over. AND my dining room has a mix of fall being put away and Christmas coming out. The tree is up with lights on it and nothing else. I'm trying to get my mantel done today. I always try to get it all done the weekend of Thanksgiving but it seems like every year it doesn't happen. :) Have fun decorating! Can't wait to see.

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  2. Lovin' Frank! So cute! My tree has been up for awhile, but I still have FAAAAR to go on the decorating. Good luck decorating and getting ready for the party!

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  3. This is EXACTLY what I am doing this morning!!! I even ate some eggs this morning--to give me energy so that I can get psyched up to carry up all the boxes from the basement. And then...dun dun dun...the most dreaded task of all...putting the lights on the (real) tree. But, I think I can do it, I think I can do it.

    Here's my plan:
    1. Open can of cold Coca Cola

    2. Turn on an old episode of Gilmore Girls (they make me happy)

    3. Get. To. It.

    Good luck on yours!! Sure hope you post a "finished" picture!!

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  4. Amanda my hubby got ours down from the garage rafters yesterday so today the decorating will commence. I need at least a few cups of coffee before I start. I have been so excited the last two weeks I am afraid my enthusiasm, after a week of Tday fesitvities is getting harder to muster up!! Have fun and I can't wait to see all your prettyness Happy Monday,Kathysue

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  5. YAY!!! We decorated on Friday afternoon, we don't have much so I finished it within a few hours. How did your shopping go??? :-)

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  6. We got the tree up and decorated this weekend, and most importantly, the boxes back down in the basement! Usually they sit in the family room for a week or so.

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  7. I managed to get the tree up (well, hubby did) and my daughter and I turned on the Christmas music yesterday and decorated it. With a brand new puppy in the house we realized we cannot have any ornaments hanging low so the bottom portion of our tree is bare. Looks silly but it's ok. Haven't tackled the rest yet like my mantle, the dining room, etc. Slowly I'll get it all done this week, I hope.
    And like you, I have a child with a birthday at this time of year. My son turns 7 this coming weekend.
    Hope to have some of my decor featured on my blog by the end of the week (if I get sleep with this puppy, that is!).

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  8. seems like out children must be born around the same time, my son is on the 4th Dec, We used to always put the tree up after his birthday, till he got a bit older and he said he wanted it up first then his birthday!

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  9. Ha ha - love those pictures! I, too, brought all my Christmas tubs up from our dungeon on Saturday. The sad thing is, I bought so much stuff on sale AFTER Christmas last year, that I don't have enough places for all of it now! (At least until we get our basement finished.)

    Looking forward to seeing your home all decked out!

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  10. Yes. YES. This girl can quote Seinfeld or Shakespeare or even Mame. No wonder I love this girl!

    Seriously, your post made me smile. But I understand your feeling a bit stressed as you rush around, trying to deck the halls and prepare for a birthday party. Good luck to you!

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  11. I have such a hard time getting motivated to start decorating! I know it is a huge undertaking and the house will be trashed for a few days until everything makes it to the right spot! Plus all of our stuff is in the attic which means my hubby has to be around to get out all the heavy stuff, and that is not always what he wants to do when he gets home from work:)

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  12. I can't wait to see the castle that T created for the party!

    Decorating is a struggle here, too. It makes such a mess and there's never enough time to get it all done in a weekend. I'm trying to ignore all of the empty surfaces this week and hope to have it all decorated by the end of next weekend (even though I'll only be home Saturday afternoon).

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  13. I can see why you gotta have a plan for the decor and birthday! I don't envy you having to haul everything out of the attic- but I bet that will be me next year. This year I had only 3 bins in my garage, but after all the new stuff I got for the house, I'm gonna need a lot more bins!

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