Christmas Tour of Homes

It's time for the Christmas Tour of Homes with the Nester, and I'm excited to join to the party. This is my first bloggy Christmas, and am I ever enjoying myself! It's such fun to get to take a look at everyone's homes all decked out for the holidays.

Welcome to my house!

I showed you some of my house here. Now for a little further look:

First, the dining room. I've had a red dining room for years, with the shade of red changing over the years. Right now I'm enjoying a red that's very brown, and I love the way it looks at Christmastime. I know red dining rooms are a little passe', but I'm just not ready to give mine up yet.

On the antique primitive sideboard is one of our Nativity scenes, this one made of olive wood:

Our other Nativity set is in the living room. I like it displayed here with my collection of crosses. Many of us celebrate Christ's birth at Christmastime. I like to remember that He came to live among us and to teach us, but ultimately to give His life for us. So what began at the manger was completed at the cross.

I decorate my Christmastime kitchen with snowmen. My husband and I moved to Michigan when our oldest son was 10 weeks old, and we lived there for seven years. The kids loved the Michigan winters, and we had plenty of real snowmen. After we moved away, some dear friends who are native Michiganders gave us this set of snowman plates:

And a collection was born. Most of them reside on my antique dough cabinet:

Just outside the kitchen is my screened porch, which was easy to gussy up for Christmas: a little red ribbon and some greenery, and it's ready to roll.

It's fun to add a few little Christmas touches here and there throughout the house. For instance, I've dressed this little hall table with a red vase that I got at Nester's Swap Meet:

I added sticks from my yard, some greenery (part fake, part fresh), and two antique Santa mugs that belonged to my grandmother. The mugs look really pretty at night because I put those little battery-operated votive candles in them. I've seen the battery-operated votives for awhile, but never bought any until this Christmas. Oh, my goodness! I didn't know what I was missing. The glow and flicker of candlelight without the danger of fire.

And though I don't really do too much Christmas decorating in my bedroom, I did place some greenery around one of my favorite lamps:

I wish you could meet you all in person, but getting to look around one another's homes is the next best thing. Thanks, Nester, for hosting all of us!