Ornaments I Love

Last night I was looking at the Christmas tree and thinking that we need to take it down in a week or two. I feel like I hardly got to enjoy it!

There are so many things I love about Christmas, but the smell of a Fraser Fir all through the house definitely tops the list.

Another thing I love is the collection of ornaments we have for the tree. We have the usual glass bulbs that are just pretty to look at, but we also have some other special ones on the tree.

Some of my favorites...

The ornament that Dan put my engagement ring in - Christmas 2009.

From Aunt Kris - a little extra bling right after I got the ring!

Our first ornament as a married couple

A gem from Dan's sister - our little family

Representing for my high school - Go Rebels!

An ice cream cone from my Grandma, who used to always give me Handel's gift certificates for Christmas.

Christmas Card Tree

This year I was looking for an extra special way to highlight all of the beautiful Christmas Cards that we receive so that we could enjoy them more. I hate that we put them in a pile on the desk. People spend so much time designing them or writing them out. I wanted to see them!

And where do I go when I need inspiration? Pinterest, of course!

I found a fantastic idea and Dan helped me make it happen - a fabulous Christmas Card Tree - courtesy of Martha Stewart!

It was super simple to make - an old vase, branches from the yard, a ribbon, a hole punch and some string! Doesn't get much easier than that!

We spray painted the branches white so that they would "pop" more. We also put some rocks in the vase so that it wouldn't tip over.

Then, it's just a matter of punching a hole in them, tying some string and hanging them up!

You can check out Martha's page here for more information!