I know it's only November..

I figure if the shops can stock Christmas decorations from the end of August, then it's okay for me to start decorating in November. I have been trying to hold off, just spreading a little Christmas cheer here and there, so as you'd hardly notice - but suddenly it's November 14 already and today Ellie hopped in to the car and demanded: "Mum! Where's that snowman figure we have that says how many days till Christmas?"

I tried to answer calmly. "Under the house in a box of decorations. Why do you want to know?"

"Because Mum!" she looked at me accusingly, "It's only 40 days till Christmas and we've got to get moving!"

 

Who am I to argue with an eight year old?

 

So love it when the kids get as excited about the upcoming Christmas season as I do. We will definitely be dragging the boxes out from under the house tomorrow.

Meanwhile, last week I found some very cute resin nativity scenes ($5 at Koorong) and bought one each for the three big kids. Have put them into these lovely gift bags ($2ea by Dayspring) and will present them on Dec 1. Each child can place it next to their bed - to remind them every night and morning of the reason for the season...

And taking my inspiration from these bags, I'm going to go with a red, green and pink colour scheme. Love these colours together, and should be able to pull it off without having to buy hordes of new ornaments and tinsel and other things...well, that's the official line anyhow!

One bargain buy from the post-Christmas sales last year was four hot pink trees - reduced to $1 each at Big W (Why didn't I buy 10 of them, why? why?) I've placed them inside silver tins and they look great against the yellow walls in our back room. If I ever finish my bunting, sorry, WHEN I finish my bunting, I'll hang it up between them.

Also, this week's fab find at the op shop was something I'd admired long ago: Wedgwood's Sarah's Garden limited edition (made in the UK in the 1990s) Christmas range. This cup and saucer was sitting high up on the shelf, complete with box and department store stickers still attached. Thank you to whoever kept it so pristine and then gave it to the charity shop (I paid them well for it!).

 

I'm going to be drinking my new christmassy tea in my new holly cup and saucer with great satisfaction!

 

 

PNTEREST comes into its own at Christmas time. I love the arrangement pictured below - lanterns are fabulous and can be found everywhere from $2 shops to high end decorating stores. Plus, love the blackboard - got one free with purchases at Typo recently and it's crying out for a Christmas message, maybe something like:

Hold on, it's only mid-November! I'm getting to the decorating!!!

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