Decking the halls…

I loved autumn this year. I have embraced the dark and have the holiday spirit. This hasn’t happened since our boys were younger. 

The change that occurred in me after being diagnosed with lung disease has been life-changing in the best kind of way.

I began getting excited for Christmas at the beginning of October. With Nelly still a curious and playful puppy, I knew I needed to simplify things. 

I made “nature ornaments for the two small trees in the two front windows of our living room, which I took out of the neighbor’s trash.

The tree ornaments are white and brown: snowballs, icicles, pine cones, and tiny acorns. The trees are pretty much identical, like twins.

The trees came out exactly how I imagined. If I stick with the woodland tree theme next year, I will have to forage for regular-size acorns instead of the teeny ones I used this year.

I would not be using my collection of vintage glass Christmas balls from the 1940s that belonged to my Mema. They are too precious to me if one gets broken from the chaos.

I’ve always wanted a Christmas tree in my bedroom, and this was the perfect year to dig out that 3 ft tree we had in the basement. 

I purchased inexpensive plastic Christmas balls and wired ribbons to decorate my small French tree. 

This tree is very romantic and fits in perfectly with our Parisian bedroom. I love this tree and how beautiful it came out.

Next, I got out another tree from the basement, a tiny tree I used in the dining room with those vintage ornaments. I decided to put the little tree in the kitchen.

I’ve always loved when kitchens are decorated, but I’ve only seen them done in magazines and home/decor shows. I finally got to do mine on a very small scale.

I also found a use for a chalkboard I missed when we took it down when we renovated the kitchen two years ago. An idea sprung into my head, and voila, it’s now a menu board for the upcoming week.

I think it’s finally time to talk about the title of this piece, Decking the halls, which is named after the song Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly.

The lyrics to this famous song were written in 1862 by a Scottish musician, Thomas Oliphant.

The word deck comes from the Dutch word dekken, which means to adorn with something ornamental. The word deck is also used when describing a well-dressed man; “He’s all decked out in his Sunday best.”

As a child, I knew the words to Deck the Halls; we all did, but I never thought about them. Until this year, I still never gave the lyrics a thought.

Decking the halls means to decorate one’s home, not just the halls at Christmas time., everywhere. Decking the halls was initially done for entertaining purposes. 

This year, I “decked the halls” very minimalistic and understated. It suits this period of time in our empty nest home and decor.

I changed things up outside as well. The front porch is different than I have for years. It looks much better with the greenery and lights than the usual icicle lights that found their way to the back deck this year.

I decked the halls over three weeks and didn’t kill myself to finish it in one day. Now that I think of it, that was ridiculous. Why the hell did it have to be one day?

This is a different year and a different holiday season to go with the different me. It took me until this year to realize I didn’t have to run around and stress myself out over Christmas.

I also realized I didn’t always have to spend hours trying to find those perfect gifts for people.

This year, I bought gifts with my heart and am looking forward to wrapping them; this has never happened before. I hated to wrap Christmas gifts and left them until the last minute.

Sam is a perfectionist in gift wrapping and puts us all to shame. 😂

I wish you all a great week and wanted to remind you to slow down, enjoy the holidays for what they are, and be grateful for the people you spend them with. Cheers!