Christmas Decorations

In a previous post I mentioned my love of pine cones. Here are a few ways I have used them. They are scattered all over the house. There are some giant ones in an old green wood tool box with greenery and clear lights underneath. I have them on top of my kitchen cabinets in wooden vintage Pepsi and Coca Cola crates; I have them around my orchid on the kitchen table; they are in a vintage five gallon crock with greenery as you walk in the front door. I can't get enough.


Did you notice the vintage crocks on the porch? My Mom had dug most of them up from my Dad's farm when they first moved there and started breaking ground for the farm crops. She was a city girl who was willing to change her whole way of being to help support my Dad. It is a great reminder of her spirit and who she was.

The old door in my front yard comes from the original tiny farm house on my Dad's farm. The house is original to the farm and so old that it is falling down. You literally can't step foot into it anymore.... unless you are my husband who was on a mission about five years ago to get me an old door. What a hero!

Gene found the cutest vintage window frame at the thrift store on post. I pulled some of the dated decorations off of it, added some pine cones, and a burlap bow. I love it and I love him for noticing it and thinking of me.

Our main tree is a beauty. I don't mean the decorations, although they do add something to it, it is just a gorgeous tree. The most wonderful part about it is that it is donation from Tree For Troops. I cried a couple of mornings ago as I sat and appreciated our tree and the donation from the Kidman Tree Farm in Polk City, Iowa. This tree was money out of their pockets during the holidays. It means something special to me... a thank you to our family for the ups and downs of being a military family. Gene is home alive, healthy, and with us this Christmas.

This is the first Christmas I haven't had a Macoroni Tree in the family room. That's what I lovingly call our tree with all the handmade with love ornaments that we have collected over the years. That tree is set up downstairs in the play area. The girls decorated it all on their own. It is a bit bottom heavy but it is beautiful because the girls are proud of their handy work and they love it.

Have any other pine cone ideas for me?