Chestnuts roasting on an open fire…

Well its 29 days until Christmas and I am the biggest sucker for this particular holiday. From the time I can remember it was a very big deal in my house. My sister Jeanette would plan out the theme and colour scheme (yeah that’s right) for our living room. The fireplace, tree, stairwell, bathrooms and even kitchen were full decorated from ceiling to floor in the most beautiful way. It wasn’t until I was about 11 or 12 that I learned that this wasn’t really “normal”. My other sister Sandra would bake dozens upon dozens of cookies while my dad would fill his secret locked cabinets in the garage full of gifts for everyone!!! My mom would clean the entire house from top to bottom and it would sparkle before the guests arrived. I cannot think of anything more enjoyable to me then those times. Our family had so many traditions I probably couldn’t list them all even if I tried.

This explains my true and untainted love for Christmas, no matter how many I experience I never tire of stringing lights, wrapping gifts, decorating trees & baking cookies. So when we moved into this little bungalow in the west end of the city I was so excited to decorate the front of my house for the first time! I started with a candyland theme which I tired of after one season and this year was very different. Mostly because we have done so many changes to the house and I decided to take things in a new direction. This year I kept things really natural, birch, evergreens, magnolia & cones to compliment the look of our little modern cottage. 

I will tackle the inside this weekend and will start building new traditions with my husband. A few tips for dealing with evergreens and outdoor decorating. If it has dipped below freezing before you started just pour a few very hot pots of water into the soil of the containers and wait 20 minutes…this should loosen everything up enough to insert the branches for your arrangements. Also to rid your hands of that pesky sap, first put a dime size amount of olive oil on your palm and rub your hands together, then apply soap and wash as usual. This will remove the sticky residue and moisturize your skin after being out in the cold during your holiday decorating!!!

More holiday post are in the works so check back soon…