Christmas Decorations

I have always been intrigued by tradition, especially at the holidays. Some of my favorites have to do with cooking and decorating. My mom's family is Italian, so Christmas day is all about the Italian feast. Antipasto, ravioli, stuffed shells, etc. It's an amazing tradition that I know myself and my sisters will carry on for the rest of our lives. It's just not Christmas without it. This year, our grandma gave us a lesson in making gnocchi, her specialty. It's one of several lessons over the years, but the first one I really remember. I must say, it's quite the task (spanning several hours), but it's definitely worth it.

As far as decorating, it's a tradition in my family to start decorating for Christmas on the Saturday after Thanksgiving... which usually means getting the real Christmas tree that day. Unfortunately, we get our tree late this year, but it still turned out wonderfully! In my parents' house over the last 15 years or so, we have had two Christmas trees. The "theme" tree in the living room that matches the decor in that room, and the "memory" tree that has all of our ornaments from growing up. I cannot wait to have two trees once our family is more than my husband and I, but for now, we have only a "theme" tree. Here's our tree this year:



My mom does a fabulous job decorating my parents' house - she changes out virtually everything. I love the different feel that it always gives, and I wanted to do something similar when I first moved into my own place. The colors that I chose for Christmas at my house a few years ago were silver, lime green, turquoise and navy blue. This year I decided to transition the house for Christmas, and I will keep these colors in the house through the Winter/early Spring. When it starts to get really hot (or just when I feel like changing), we will go back to the greens/purples/oranges that are typically for our general living space. This pillow below is one of two new pillows I got this year - I love the new addition to the house!


Another important aspect of Christmas to me is gift wrapping... I didn't go all out this year, but beautiful paper and pretty adornments are always important to me. These are just a few of the gifts that I have left to give this year!

Conclusion: I'm sad to put away the decorations this weekend, but at least I know the house will continue to have a little different feel going forward! What traditions does your family observe at the Holidays?