Preparing Early For The Christmas Season

It's hard to image that Halloween will be over next week and we'll fully have entered the Holiday Season. I have decided to get out my Thanksgiving decorations this week, just because I think it will take a bit to find them in the new house. When you're unpacking an entire life it's hard to remember where you put everything. Once I know where they are it won't take much to get things decorated a bit. I didn't do anything for Halloween except put up a really cute new garland I picked up at Homegoods and hang a few cute paper bats (also from Homegoods) in the big window of our dining room that overlooks out backyard.

Now is the time to start gathering ideas to do some fun creative things without a lot of stress this holiday season. I always enjoy the holidays more when I get things done well in advance and can just drink in all the holiday fun instead of working long hours.

My first stop for inspiration in my Christmas Pinterest board. This week I've been especially interested in front door holiday decor. As I've mentioned before, you can't see our house from the road so we have no one driving by looking at our house. But we do have people coming by occasionally and I've been wanting to spruce up our front entryway even though it's rather hidden on the side of the house.

I realized though, as I was driving out of the driveway the other day that the double doors that lead into our living room are much more visible when guests come. There is also a nice broad entryway from the outside, including a patio, so this would be a fantastic place to decorate. I'm thinking about having a few small get togethers during the holidays and have realized that using this door allows guests to enter our living room for gatherings, rather than coming to our true front door that opens up right into our dining room and kitchen which isn't always a view I want as a first impression. Open concept DOES have it's downfalls despite it's mass appeal in the home decor world right now.

With two pretty wood framed glass doors along with windows on each side, this entryway into our living room seems like a great place to create a visible, welcoming entryway to our home for guests and events. I have a few bits and pieces in mind to spruce that area up and will look through what we already have and what we can use from the yard since we have a lot of nature all around us.

The Bug is talking daily about how excited she is to sit by the fire with all the holiday decorations up. It does sound cozy and I'll look forward to those first few big snowstorms here on the mountain. We do get the best, most gigantic snowflakes.

The second place I am looking for inspiration is going back through blog posts for ideas I've shared that I'd like to repeat or just try for the first time. Here are a few links you might enjoy that include some fun holiday inspiration.

Here is a fantastic hot cocoa recipe I am going planning to incorporate into our holiday hosting this year.

We love making our holidays more special by enjoying our 25 Days of Christ advent created by our dear friends.

A few suggestions for family gift ideas that will keep the family active, outside and enjoying fresh air together.

From my time living in Denmark, I am pretty deeply in love with Scandinavian holiday traditions. Here are a few favorite inspirations.

And lastly here are some fun ideas for Christmas Tree stands beyond the red and green plastic stand.

During the next few weeks I'll keep posting some holiday inspiration including fun DIY gifts under $10, gift wrap inspiration and more. If there's anything specific you're looking for inspiration on this holiday season, let me know. Hope you have a fun and safe Halloween weekend. We're having a short date night on Saturday while Kiddo goes to a party with a bunch of lively girls. Should be fun for us all.