Christmas Decorating, Then and Now...

I was looking back through some of my old photos today, and came across some old Christmas things I made back in 2011 that I thought I'd share with you today!  Looking back, I can't believe I actually had that much time on my hands.  How "easy" life was (as easy as life can be that is) with just one child!  And she was 4 1/2 at the time, which also made a big difference in how much I was able to accomplish... this year is an entirely different story with a toddler in the mix, but we're more than grateful for that little tot to join our family, so I'm not complaining here.  ;)  Because I decided to minimize,  I got all of my Christmas decor up in one short day!  I didn't do half the decorating I have done in the past, and it just didn't matter this year.  The tree was up, and that's all the kids really care about anyway.  ;)

Anyway, here is some of my "old" Christmas crafts I made...

Our Activity Advent Calendar:

This was more time consuming than I thought it would be, and the sad thing is we only used it the year I made it.  I still hang it up though, because I had put so much time into making it, and I think it's pretty.  ;)  But an elf "joined our family" last year, and it just got to be too much to keep up with the activity advent AND the elf.  The kids seem to get more excited about our elf (and he offers some fun family activities for us to do as well) so we've just kept up with his tradition instead.  :)

 My ruffle tree skirt was the MOST time consuming project, despite it being a no-sew project. I sure do love it though.  Well worth the energy put into making it.  :)  (Tutorial found over at Miss Mustard Seed)

 I took up hand embroidery that year, and FELL IN LOVE with it!!  Seriously, I can't get enough.

 I have yet to finish a few projects, I'll get around to them... eventually.  ;)

 I didn't even decorate my table/kitchen area this year, so here it is from years past:

 Everything else pretty much stayed the same...

 Well, the gallery wall up the stairs is new this year, and yes, you're looking at a few empty frames there.  I'll fill them up after I've found the perfect photos for them.  ;)

 I love this sleigh!!  It is the perfect place to keep all of our Christmas books.  It's getting pretty full... not quite sure what I'm going to do when there's no more room in it, but one thing I know for sure: One cannot have too many books!  :)

 My Mantle this year:

 This year we got a new tree topper!  Santa and his reindeer actually fly around the top of our tree!  (Sorry, I can never get video to upload to the blog)  The kids LOVE this new addition to the tree!

So that's a quick wrap-up of my "peak in the past" and Holiday Decor THIS year.  Today is my daugher's last day of school before Christmas break, I can't wait for some extra family time, and no stress of homework!  I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year too!!