The Colors of Christmas

There are eight days until Christmas!  (From my part of the world)  

How are your Christmas preparations going?  We hosted a get-together with friends at home (which was SO MUCH fun, hilaaarious actually haha!), and another party on Christmas day, have a few more gifts to buy, to wrap and to bake! (Homebaked goodies make nice gifts.  This banana loaf recipe never fails me.  Friends have been asking for the recipe!)  But you know, Hubby has a more difficult job to do for the Holidays which requires some assembly (hint: it's the kids' Christmas gifts), haha!

I meant to put up this post at the onset of December (because it is all about our Christmas decors) but didn't have the time to sit and start writing it until today.  But as they say, it's better late than never! (A phrase I seem to be using quite a lot these days!)

We really don't have a theme for our Christmas decors at home.  We have old ones and we just added a few more.  We went with the traditional and classic Christmas colors of red, green and gold.

Christmas this year is extra special because we are spending it in a home we can call our own.  =)

Initially, I wanted to have a fresh tree but I was so excited to decorate for Christmas that I started thinking about it before Thanksgiving, haha!  So we decided to buy an artificial tree and get a fresh one next year.

* Play "O Christmas Tree" song here*

Sharing with you the other decors we have at home:

1. Wreaths and Garlands - I love putting a big wreath on the front door because it is sends out a happy Christmas vibe.  It is like a simple way of greeting and wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!

We may not have a fresh tree but. . . we got ourselves a fresh wreath!  Haha!

2. Door hangers - Don't they just put a smile on your face?  They put one on mine. =)

3. Table Runners - They do add that special touch in any table =)

4. Christmas Stockings - One of my fondest Christmas memories growing up was waking up every morning and checking my Christmas Stockings (I still remember that it was made of a felt material and has a Snowman on it) to see what Santa put in it!  

The kids' stockings with their favorite characters on it.

5. Something Shiny, Shimmering, Splendid! - It's Christmas!  I think an element of glitter (or a spray of gold) is needed. . . somewhere, haha!

4. Little Details - some of the things I found useful while looking for Christmas decors were:

 Decorative Gift boxes --- which can also be used as Christmas decors.  And what is nice about doing this is they are not expensive and if you ran out of wrapping paper, you can just easily get one from your decors, haha! 

If you have a decorative tray, you may put any thing that is Christmas-sy in it.  I got a pack of pine cones and a candle as accent for the tray.

Yep, the house is ready for Christmas!  

The house may be full of bright lights and these beautiful Christmas colors but truth be told, there is a certain sadness and emptiness in my heart because this is the first Christmas without Dad (he passed away last April).

I guess deep in my heart the reason why I wasn't too keen on getting a fresh tree was it just reminded me of my Dad.  Growing up in the Philippines, we didn't have fresh cut Christmas trees!  But one day, Dad brought home a fresh one!  We were so excited!  He was able to get hold of one from Clark Air Base (a US military facility) which was located in our province. Waking up and smelling those fresh Christmas trees remain to be one of my favorite memories with him.  

And these are the same memories that would warm my heart as Winter comes.

I love you Daddy. . . and I know that you know . . . I miss you every single day.