Decorating for Christmas! Come tour our house...

Let me just say that I LOOOOOOOVE to decorate for Christmas.

l-o-v-e, LOVE it!

When I was a little girl, I can remember decorating for Christmas with my mama -

now, she is the master decorator of the season, and she had a method to her madness.

We weren't allowed to just throw the ornaments up anywhere we pleased.

She taught us how to fill in holes, make it look full and more than anything,

how to make a tree look magical.

Just the other day, we were laughing about how she would let us put

ornaments on the tree, and then she would move them to the right spot.

Oh my gosh, I'm my mother.

Anyways, I tend to go crazy at Christmas.

If I could have a tree in every room, I think I would do it.

My poor husband has had to make extra room in our attic...not for baby stuff, but for more Christmas decorations!

And with the so addicting pinterest,

it's so easy to find ideas and make them for your own home!

So many things that I did this year, I found on pinterest!

If you're not on there, you are seriously missing out!

So, I'll give you my tips and advice as we go room by room...

First up, Miss Annie Louise's tiny pink tree!

I bought this tree for $8 at Wal-Mart.

And it already had the lights on it....SCORE!

I put all of her ornaments that she received last year that said

"2010" or "Baby's First Christmas".

Then, I bought a box of little pink ornaments and filled the tree up with them!

I seriously love this tree and all it's specialness!!!

Sweet little porcelin shoes with AL's birth date and measurements.

To this day, I still can't believe I had a 9 pound baby!

I love this adorable ornament from Coton Colors

that my Granny gave AL last year...so precious!

Now, we'll head to the office/playroom!

This is a NEW tree for us, as we totally re-did this room this summer.

I wanted something fun and festive - I mean, hello, it's an orange playroom...

so we went with an all WHITE tree for this room,

and I used all of our decorations that we had previously used in the den!

When people see this tree, they seriously ask me how many ornaments I have on there.

I have NO idea - I know it's a bunch, but that's why it looks so good.

Really, if you want your tree to look full, buy tons and tons of regular balls - in all sorts of colors.

Put all of your nice ornaments on first, then fill in all the holes

(and stick some inside, towards the center of the tree).

This will make it look full and fun!

I love pulling out all of these ornaments and remembering when I bought them,

who gave them to me, etc...so sentimental!

Also, the topper of this tree is usually a topic of discussion -

most of the time, I'll do the topper first (I get lots of long, sparkly, dangly picks)

- just stick them in the top - there's no rhyme or reason!

If you do it first, it's so much easier, and you're not knocking off ornaments!

Add Christmas pieces all through your house...even in the bathroom -

your guests will love seeing things in unexpected places!

I got this sweet bird last year at a local shop, and she is just perfect for

AL's funky bird bathroom!

Now, to our den...

since I took all of ornaments that we've always had and

put them on the white tree in the playroom,

I had to come up with something else for our den.

I'm so into burlap/woodland/woodsy things this year,

so that's what we went with for this room!

It was a perfect accent to our pretty neutral + touches of green decor.

I had a strict budget for this room, and I stuck to it!

Most of the ornaments I found at Wal-Mart and Kohl's, and vI'll be on the lookout after Christmas, too, as I have seen tons of woodland theme ornaments,

just can't justify spending that much right now!

I also wanted to make burlap stockings, but never got around to it,

so those are our gigantic felt stockings I made last year!

And here's a closer picture of the tree...this just doesn't do it justice!

It has a really nice "amber" glow"...I am really pleased with it!

Oh, and I made the no-sew ruffle burlap tree skirt, too (fron pinterest)!

I was going to fill in the whole skirt with ruffles,

but by the time I got to the third row, I was DONE!

A picture of our topper made with wired burlap ribbon!

This was a new purchase, too!

I saw this at our Junior League Hollyday Marketplace,

but by the time I got to her booth (I'm on the committee), she had already sold out of them! Thankfully, she got another order in, and I think it's just perfect for our Christmas cards!

I may end up using this for pictures throughout the year!

Our kitchen!

I always run garland, lights and ribbon at the top of our cabinets...

so easy, and it always looks so cute in there!

Ornaments and wicker balls hanging from the chandelier

I tried to keep the burlap/twine feel into the kitchen since it connects with the den.

A rag wreath my girlfriends and I made a craft night I hosted back in November.

Seriously, look up rag wreaths on pinterest...you wouldn't believe how easy these were!

Tedious, but easy!

Also, add some Christmas ribbon to pieces you already have in your home to

give them a more festive look like we've done with our chicken!

Well, that's it!

I hope you've enjoyed our little "tour" through my house...

and I hope you've picked up a few tips and tricks for your own holiday decorating!

Merry Christmas!

LeeLee