Does anyone out there love Christmas as much as I do? I'm sure I'm not the biggest fanatic out there, but I have to admit, I REALLY love Christmas. I don't know what it is though honestly; I guess it's the combination of the music, the decorations, the general vibe of the holiday

​The first Christmas that my husband and I were in our home, we had almost zero decorations and almost zero money to spend on any. We had two Christmas stockings and that was pretty much it. Don't get me wrong, I love our stockings. We got married right before Christmas a few years ago spent our honeymoon at my grandparents old farmhouse. A few of my aunts and cousins got together and jazzed the place to make it feel special for us and made us these fabulous stockings with elf toes in red and white stripes with "Mr." and "Mrs." in green sequins across the top. Not only did it make me feel so incredibly special, but they 100% fit my aesthetic. They are so me! I even make and sell Christmas stockings now and I can't bring myself to replace them.

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So that first year I did some searching and found instructions on Pinterest to make big paper stars. I used leftover paper bags from the grocery store and bought a glue gun and glitter at Hobby Lobby and I was convinced I was going to paper-star the whole darn house. Welllll it turns out they actually take a while to make and it took me two whole weeks to finish up 20-30 stars. Each one was different with some being just plain paper, some having glitter, and a few painted white. I took long strands of ribbon and strung them up, creating a sort of garland and hung each strand around one of the large doorways in our living room. And that was the extent of our Christmas decorations that year. We did return home to our families in Texas for the holidays so it wasn't that big of a deal, but I was determined that the next year I was going to have better decorations.  

I had started going to estate sales that Fall so when we got back to Georgia after the holidays, despite it being January, I picked up practically everything Christmas-y that caught my eye. The next thing I knew I had four rubbermaid boxes of Christmas decorations and I'd found a free Christmas tree on Craigslist!  

My decorations have gotten a bit classier each year but I still hang up those strands of stars, our stockings from our honeymoon, and my same free Christmas tree.

Some of my favorite, newer decorations aren't actually new at all. In case it isn't obvious, I am a lover of all things vintage. The older the better. A few things have come from estate sales and antique malls and a few things have actually come from my family or I've made myself. 

I'm a particular fan of classic and mid-century Christmas. I haven't been able to get my hands on one yet, but one of these days I'm going to get my hands on a Coca-Cola Santa Clause advertising piece. That Santa is just so perfect. This year I'm on a reindeer kick apparently and I want every ornament that has pink and gold!

Obviously there is way more to the Christmas season than decorations and certainly, the holiday can be celebrated without any of it. But it warms my home and during the Winter months, when its cold, and really helps get me during a season when I really don't want to go outside. Plus, I hate the notion that you have to spend thousands of dollars to decorate for Christmas. Even if you don't have a lot of time, find an easy craft to do with the kids, look for deals on Etsy and Ebay. You can often find some good deals right after the holiday if you don't mind waiting a year to put them up!

Merry Christmas and Happy Decorating!