I love the Christmas season and try to decorate the house indoors and out. Outside we use nothing but small white lights and outline the house and the porch and twine the lights around the columns of the porch.

Our house is pale green with dark green trim so it adds to the seasonal look. We have a lighted green and red holly display that we attach to the patio fence. The patio is just off the porch and between it and the garage so it is easily seen from the street. The porch has a bench on it and a small table.

We usually put a flower pot with artificial poinsettias on the table to add a splash of color. We hang 3 windsocks on the porch – a Santa, a Nutcracker and a reindeer. We have 3 wooden reindeer made from logs that we place in the upper yard near the patio and porch and a sign that reads ‘Reindeer Crossing’.

Inside the tree is placed in front of the window and is decorated with miniature colored lights. (We just recently found LED lights in colors and are using them and they will last for a good long time.)

We have a beautiful angel in a floating gown for the top and the ornaments are arranged on the tree by size with the smallest on the top and the largest on the bottom. We add at least one new ornament every year so the tree will never be the same. Not that there’s a chance of that happening because we have so many ornaments after 45 years of marriage that we don’t get them all on.

There are ones that always make it on the tree and they are ones from our childhood and ones that our parents and, in my husband’s case, grandparents hung on their trees. There are so many special ones and they all have their own story.

When we decorate it takes a few days because we play carols and usually reminisce about some of the ornaments as we take them from the boxes and put them on the tree. We have a large, beautiful Nativity set that takes a prominent place in the living room and I have a collection of angels that are scattered around the room so that almost everywhere your eye lights you can find an angel of some kind.

We have lighted wooden soldiers guarding the fireplace and we hang our Christmas stocking from the mantle. Actually our stockings are red and white replicas of Santa’s boots that I crocheted years ago. They are awesome because they hold a whole lot more than the average stocking does!

The kitchen window gets a new rod across the top of it and on it we hang pot holders with Christmas themes that we have gotten as gifts. Some of them are musical and are fun to play. We hang a “harp” of chimes in the window to catch any breeze.

Special Christmas magnets go on the refrigerator and the dining room bar displays Santa’s cup and dish awaiting Christmas Eve to be filled with hot chocolate and cookies. There is a kissing ball hung between the living room and dining room that my daughter made with mistletoe and white nylon net. Trivets on the table depict silver bells and copper wreaths and holly sprays.

The bathrooms have some sort of candle display to add warmth and scent to the rooms and the main bathroom has a musical snow ball that snows constantly (with the aid of a battery!) and also has a place on top for a tealight. I try to keep the rooms smelling of pine and gardenia because when I was growing up besides the tree my mother was always given a red poinsettia by my dad and a white gardenia from my grandfather so those smells are what I associate with Christmas.

I can’t begin to tell you where and how to get the decorations we use or even how much they cost us since we have had many of them for so long. We do make a lot of our things and we buy one of a kind ornaments at fairs and shops we visit on vacation. I am so happy with the new LED lights and we first used them on the tree and have now added the white ones to our outdoor display. They are a really good deal in today’s economy. I hope you can see my house in your mind’s eye and like it as much as I do.

Merry Christmas.