touches of christmas at comfy house

Now that the focus is all about Christmas, it seems like Thanksgiving was months ago, doesn't it? Since I haven't posted since before Thanksgiving - which, hard to believe was just two weeks ago - I had to share at least one Thanksgiving photo with you. I didn't take many photos this year, but this was one of my favorites: My sister and brother-in-law's new rescue pup, Piper eyeballing the ham that my brother-in-law and Brian were carving.

So, here we all are getting ready for Christmas (or any other December holiday you celebrate). Every year I tell myself I'm not going to do as much as I did the year before and yes, I have been pretty good about this. But somehow it still gets a little crazy. This year, one of the things I cut back on was the decorating. I dragged out all my decorations, went through everything, and ended up using half of what I had. Even with our little Christmas tree, I went minimal with the ornaments.

Bits of Christmas cheer in the kitchen...

In the living room, a vintage sleigh and mouse grace the entry table.

We don't put up a large tree anymore. Haven't done so ever since Phil passed away. None of us have the desire for a big tree and now we feel like it's too much work. Instead, we put up this tabletop tree on the buffet and adorn it with a few ornaments from Phil and Tim's childhoods. I kept the area beside the tree sparse, as this is where I'll put the presents after I wrap them.

Dig my new kitty runner! I couldn't resist when I saw this at HomeGoods last week. 

A small tree by the bookcase...

On the bookcase, a silver _______ (what would you call this?) I found it years ago at Goodwill, still in its original box. I don't think it's an angel. I guess I should see if the box tells what it is, but I certainly don't feel like digging through storage boxes again until it's time to box the decorations back up.

This photo collage of the boys when they were little comes out every Christmas.

Looking from the kitchen into the living room...

This is my first Christmas decorating a mantel. It probably needs garland of some sort, but maybe next year.

Not Christmasy on top of the end table, but I wanted to show you two recent purchases. There's a couple of women from my former yoga class that have a small local business where they make hand-poured soy wax candles from recycled wine and beer bottles. This is my latest purchase of one of their creations. I really liked this wine bottle label. (And yes, I have bought wine just because of a cool label.) The scent is really nice, too. It's called Harvest, so it smells like pumpkin, cinnamon and cloves, with a hint of sweetness. The felted wool coasters are from another local business where the owner travels all over the world and brings back artisan treasures. These were handmade in Mexico.

My aunt made this ceramic reindeer and sleigh many years ago and gifted it to me. It's one Christmas decoration that will have a place of honor every year. This little nook is at the end of the hallway.

And thus ends the tour of Christmasy Comfy House. I don't decorate our bedroom or my office/yoga room (formerly Phil's bedroom) except for a couple of tchotckes.

How's your holiday decorating/shopping/wrapping/baking/partying going?