The Halls are Decked

Well, after a week spent taking things out, sorting through, crafting, and finally placing, I am thrilled to report that our house has officially been transformed for the holidays.  Honestly, when we first took the stuff down from last year, I looked at it and was extremely unenthusiastic about what I found.  I wanted to trash all of it and start all over with a different color scheme, but let's face it...that would be pretty freaking expensive...and therefore just wasn't happening.  So, I played with it over the course of the week, and in the end, I'm pretty happy with how it all came together.
The living room got the vast majority of the treatment.  And when I say living room, I really mean our mantle because every other surface in there is way too low and tempting for the small bodies in our house.  But luckily the mantle turned out festive enough that it kind of speaks for the whole room, at least in my opinion.

I also convinced Josh to put the tree in the living room this year (we usually put it in our dining room).  I am loving having it there...it's where we spend 90% of our time at home, so it gives us more chances to enjoy it, especially at night when it's all lit up and pretty.

The kitchen also got a couple special touches.  Our cardholders made a reappearance from last year (hopefully this year we get more cards for them!).

And then I just filled a couple vases with ornaments and yummies and called it a day.

For now, our dining room is housing the menorah the boys (and I) made.  Considering it's currently Hanukkah, it seemed the most appropriate.  I feel like the room needs some more sprucing, but I just don't know where/what, so I'm leaving it.

And then, of course, there's our front entrance.  The wreath is probably our oldest holiday decoration, and I must say it still makes me happy.  The trees are tomato cage trees (a la Pinterest) that I made last year.  Actually, after making them last year, I realized I had used the wrong kind of tomato cages, so this year I went back to try to correct them.  Well, clearly tomatoes aren't a winter thing because I was only able to track down one cage in three stores.  So, I redid one, and figured I would attack the other one next year (hence the size difference).  They look a bit tacky this year, but I figure we're sacrificing one year for the better good?

But here's the thing with all those decorations: I made the vast majority of them myself.  As usual, I had a hard time tracking down holiday decor that both satisfied my taste and budget, so I just made my own stuff.  And I've decided to take this week to share all the details with you all, so check back daily for a different tutorial!