I have to admit that when Rob and I were house hunting, I kept Christmas decorating in the back of my mind. There were certain things I was looking for in a home for the specific enjoyment of decorating for the holidays. I won’t dare list them all but a few were lots of windows in the front of the house for candles, banisters to hang garland around, and a fireplace for garland, candles and stockings.

While I will never be able to compete with the number of Christmas trees (of all sizes) at my parents house, the the same yardage of garland, I think we did really well for our first Christmas in the new house!

   
I love having bells on the door that jungle when Rob gets home from work! 
Visit My Crafting Attic blog to see more on how I made the banner! 
I have several countdowns around the house but this was my first one and still a favorite because I get an M&M!  
This was a bonus when we bought the house purely for decorating! I already had a cute Charlie Brown Christmas tree and we found the gift box lights at Walmart and thought they were perfect on the ledge! 
Like I said, banisters for stringing garland was pretty much a requirement! I have had the stockings since high school when I worked at TRU. After the holiday, they use to put their merchandise at 90% off and I have been lugging them around the country ever since waiting for the perfect place to use them. 
The tree looks so magical at night but I wanted to show off Rob’s train under the tree. To him, a train means Christmas. I can’t wait to he can set up his entire train garden! 
Parker was very interested in all the ornaments we were unwrapping.   
 

  
My Mom gives me these adorable Hallmark music boxes every year. It was slightly humorous to watch Rob and I trying to turn them all on and get the picture in enough time. I am sure they will be getting their use in another year or two when small hands can get to them! 

I definitely wanted to have a Christmas tree in our room. There is just something about the lights that make me smile! I decided with a green bow and Christmas balls because we plan to paint our room green someday!  
This is Parker’s room. I put the little Christmas tree I had in my room growing up in his 🙂 I can’t wait until he is older and wakes up on Christmas morning with a small gift underneath! Since we named him Peanut, I thought it would be cute to get him something Peanut’s related from Hallmark each year.  

I hope you enjoyed! I can’t wait to share our next two traditions about adopting a family for Christmas and volunteering as a family. In the meantime, don’t forget to check out some of these amazing link-ups I am participating in for more holiday ideas! 

      Full Hands, Full Hearts
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