Christmas Around Our House

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Last year Sophie made this beautiful painted wreath with Nini as a surprise Christmas present for Andy and me. This year my mom transferred a picture of her making it onto fabric and sewed it on the back. We used a tension rod to hang it across the middle window behind our window seat. I love it.

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I needed to turn our dining room centerpiece (Japanese Lantern Stems in a Profile Vase, both from Crate and Barrel) into something more fitting for winter. So I ordered some Iced Birch Branches from Nettleton Hollow, which, I think, did the trick.

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Finally, we have an advent calendar. Sophie enjoyed moving the marker (when we would remember).

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This year I used velvet ribbon from Sundance to wrap presents—upon its arrival I thought it looked so pretty I put it in a handmade wooden bowl and used that as a centerpiece on our kitchen table.

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My mom has made stockings for all of us and this year she had two more to make—one for Owen (top) and one for James (bottom). She continued the tree theme (and each stocking has a small, heart-shaped button near the root of a tree). James got stars out of respect for his middle name—Orion. They’re perfect.

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lighted snowflakes in the window

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Andy’s mom ordered handmade Christmas outfits from her sister, Susan. The kids looked so cute in them and they served as nice bedroom decorations while waiting to be worn.

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Sophie and I spent a particularly cold morning making a Christmas paper chain out of red and green construction paper for her art area—the boys watched the process from a blanket on the floor nearby.

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Christmas cards

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backyard snow

“Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.” —Norman Vincent Peale