Christmas Homes Tour

Today I am joining Kelly from Kelly's Korner in her Christmas Homes Tour.  Head over to see all the lovely homes decorated for the holidays!

We built our home in 2013 and had our first Christmas there in 2013.  This year we were asked to be on the New Town Christmas Home Tour.  What a delight!  The proceeds from this event go to support our local food banks.  I was happy to be a part of such an event.

Welcome to our home!  You will be greeted by the wood Santa that has been a part of the family for ten years.  He was made by a friend of ours from Jefferson City.  Two years ago he had an adventure when he was stolen off our porch and dumped into the lake in front of our home.  Some neighbors saw him and reported his location to us.  It was so great to have him back.

The countdown to Christmas board is a new purchase.  I found this at my local grocery store!  Our store has a wonderful gift department and I always look!  This darling countdown was only $13.  Love it.

The santa and sleigh that appears in the transom window is actually a vinyl sticker made by a woman in my neighborhood.  I love how it looks both inside and outside the house!

The next stop is our living room.  The tree holds ornaments that are sentimental to the family.  The oldest ornament is from 1958, my birth year.  It is decorated with plaid bows and a garland made of loops and beads.

My grandfather built this barrister cabinet.  It holds our David Winter cottage collection.

 The next stop is the kitchen. My husband is the designer as he is now the primary cook. I gave that job away when our daughter left for college. I still love to cook and bake, just not on a daily basis! Mr. and Mrs. Claus have been celebrating Christmas with me since the early 70s. My mom passed them on to me about ten years ago. The oreo tins were collected for a few years. The eggnog bowl on the island was a purchase from an antique store a couple of years ago.

The dining area is attached to the kitchen.  The tree in this room is filled with gingerbread ornaments, cinnamon ornaments and dried oranges. It smells delicious!  Our puppies think so, too!

 

The dining room table is decorated with a plaid wool reindeer and a plaid bowl filled with apples and pomegranates.  The place setting is a rattan charger, white plate, Christmas mug and a red napkin, all ready for Christmas brunch.  The chandelier has a wreath of greens, burlap bow and ornaments hanging from it.  The Be Merry banner has plaid paper backing!

We have three bedrooms in this house, one which is used for my office. Our daughter has claimed the guest room as her very own.  The tree in her room reflects our love of the beach.  The tree in our bedroom is full of ornaments collected on our travels. The tree in the office is filled with handmade ornaments given to me by friends from all over the world. We do an ornament exchange each year!

The quilt was made by friends and me.  Each contributed a square and we had them put together for a quilt!

The last room in our house is our loft.  It is upstairs with two bedrooms.  This is where we will eventually watch sports.  It is decorated with memorabilia from different sporting events we've been to or support.  Go Tigers! Go Cardinals!

The last few pictures are just of special places throughout the house that have a little Christmas magic.  Check the captions for information!

Wedding photo of our daughter.  The words above are a decal from the Dollar Store!

My piano stool plus a stocking from a very special friend!

The peacock was stitched by my mother-in-law and the ceramic tree painted by my mom.

The nativity set was painted by my mother-in-law and the shed made by my father-in-law

The pink stockings were a gift from a friend in Australia.  The box holds a collection of Christmas mice.

The chair was my great grandmothers, the desk belong to an aunt of my husband's 

and the pillow was made by a dear friend.

I made this wreath using items from the various schools I have been associated with over the years.

I hope you enjoyed the house tour!  Wouldn't it be awesome if we could all actually come to one another's home?