A progressive Christmas tour

Years ago my mom and her sisters started a tradition of setting aside an afternoon to visit each other’s houses to ooh and aah over their Christmas decorations. Snacks were served at each house, of course, and there was lots of visiting and complimenting and loving on each other.

My sisters, cousins, and I are now invited to tag along and share our own homes, and it’s one of the Christmas traditions I look forward to the most. I love seeing how my loved ones live, and I love seeing how creative our family is.

So here’s a few highlights from this year’s progressive Christmas tour. I think you’ll see how talented my family members are, and I’ll try to keep the commentary to a minimum.

Such a beautiful, full fireplace display, and I love the birch branch on the mantel.

One of the best ways to add festivity to your house is to add holiday picks or sprigs of greenery to clocks and pictures on the wall.

Those last six photos are from my mom’s house. Here she is by one of her five trees. She is a decorating wizard and one of the most creative people I know. I love everything she does, and she can figure out how to do absolutely anything. Love that mom of mine.

Vintage sled for holding gifts. This aunt also has nativities all over her house, and I love the constant reminders of the reason for the season.

Such pretty bedding for Christmastime. And how about that wall treatment?

This is one of the cleanest, calmest bedrooms I’ve seen lately. Such beautiful light.

One of the highlights today was seeing this poinsettia quilt my great-grandma made 73 years ago. My grandpa (in the photo below, smooching my grandma) told his mom it was the only thing he wanted when she passed away. He remembers playing under it while his mom and her friends quilted it. It’s a treasure.

See those sweet French knots in the center of each poinsettia? It’s the details I love!

My cousin Nicole is one of the most resourceful people I know. She crafted this unit from her childhood dresser, a garage-sale shelf, and different pieces from a four-poster bed. It fills the wall so nicely in her kitchen.

One of the best things to happen in the last year was that my sister bought a historic house less than a mile from mine. It’s a Tudor on a street filled with other darling Tudors, and I adore it. She and her husband are fixing it up—three cheers for loving on an old house rather than building new!

Shut up, fireplace. You are too awesome. And yes, those sconces are original, and she is NOT going to paint them.

 

Such a sweet nursery for her new baby. My mom made the airplane quilt, and the moose rocker and otomi pillow are from IKEA.

This cute girl took the tour today too.

No matter your style, it’s worthwhile to look at how others decorate their houses. You can’t help but come up with ideas of your own when you surround yourself with creative ideas and people. Today was a good day. •

 

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