Christmas At My Parents' House

Hello everyone!  It's been a while since I've done a regular post; I hope I can still remember how.  :)  Have you had a nice weekend?  Have you bought your turkey and your cranberry sauce?  How about your sweet potatoes, pecans, green beans, and french fried onions in a can for all those veggie casseroles?  Do you have your pumpkin and whipping cream, broccoli, brussels sprouts, eggs for deviling, rolls and cornbread?  No?  Me neither.  :)

I'm not going to skip over Thanksgiving, but I don't have anything Thanksgiving-related to share today.  Instead, I've got some pictures of my parents' house from Christmas last year -- hope you enjoy them.

This picture was taken on Christmas night in my parents' family room.  The french doors lead to their screened porch.  This is not the house my sister and I grew up in; my parents had it built about nine years ago this past summer.  It has lots of big windows; my parents love all the sunlight and my mom loves to decorate the windows at Christmas.

The hubby and I returned about a week after Christmas to take some more pictures during the daytime.  It's hard to take a lot of pictures on Christmas day when everyone is trying to eat, visit, and open gifts.

window decorations...

I love how she decorated the mantel last year.

Bookshelves are always fun to decorate.  :)

I love the afternoon sunlight on the chair and bookcase above; it looks so warm and cozy.

Festive, peppermint-striped candles.

This is a German Christmas tree, made by a member of my parents' church.  My parents attend the Moravian Church, where they observe many German traditions.

I dearly love this nativity set.  My mom bought it at Woolworth's many, many years ago.  We had it when my sister and I were very young and our family lived in our first little house.  I can still remember the excitement and anticipation I felt when my mom brought this out of storage to put out for Christmas.  My mom said I was so excited to help her set it up, I could barely stand still.  :)

The candles on the wooden tray are Moravian Love Feast candles.  They're hand-dipped beeswax, and they smell wonderful.  They're made in Old Salem, as well as in some of the other Moravian churches in our area.

The candle above is an electric Moravian candle; the outside of the candle is covered with beeswax.  Many people here put these in their windows at Christmas, and they have such a soft light, they look like real candles from outside.

A vintage book of Christmas carols.

And finally, some close-ups of the Christmas tree in the family room.

I'll show the rest of mom's decorations in a second post.  I'll also share some pics from my in-laws' house last Christmas.  I love the way our moms decorate for Christmas; their homes always look so pretty and welcoming.  I can't wait to start decorating our house, but I have a few other things to finish first.  So tell me; have you started your Christmas decorating yet?  Do you like to decorate inside or outside first?

Thank you for your visit and have a good Monday!

  I'm linking to:
Seasonal Sundays, hosted by The Tablescaper
                              Amaze Me Monday, hosted by Cindy
Metamorphosis Monday, hosted by Susan at BNOTP

Please stop by these parties for lots of great seasonal ideas!



Denise