Our Christmas 2017

Hey friends! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas this year!  I know we did and although I’m sleepy for days, I wanted to share our Christmas for 2017.  I like to look back on them each year.  Last year at this time I didn’t have my computer.  So I wanted to share our tree from last year and this year.

This was our tree from last year and I had learned how to incorporate ribbon into the Christmas tree.

This year I wanted to use ribbon but I didn’t want to use too much.  Our tree is only 6 feet tall and I didn’t want to overpower my tree with the ribbon.  I got this Joy to the World ribbon from Michael’s during one of their sales and got it for 70% off.  I never pay full price for ribbon because it always goes on sale.  I still have plenty of the red ribbon I used last year because I got so much on sale.

Here’s a couple of close ups of the tree…

I typically am a tad OCD when it comes to the tree ornaments.  I let the kids put them up and then I tweak them to look how I want.  But this year I said to heck with it and where they put them is where they stayed.  The only ornaments I put on the tree are the ones that are fragile and I put them towards the back of the tree just to be safe.

I did end up getting the Santa Tree Topper that I shared in this post for less than $10 on Cyber Monday at Pottery Barn and wanted to use it on the tree this year.  But I couldn’t get it to look right.  I think one reason is that my tree isn’t large enough.  I’d prefer it on a second tree anyway but we’ll see what next year has in store for us and decide then.

This year I didn’t get much in the way of new additions to our holiday decor but I did add this nutcracker that I got from Target. (the black one)  I have them surrounding my holiday candle holder that I got from Bath & Body Works during their annual candle sale.  Other than that I didn’t add much more this year.  I really love my nutcrackers and you’ll see a few on the tree as well.  I don’t know why I have such an obsession towards them.

I have a slight obsession with gift wrap.  I really like the good quality kind that I get from Hallmark or Hobby Lobby.  I told myself that I would not buy any gift wrap before Christmas this year.  For many reasons.  1.  I already had plenty and I wanted to use my collection before adding to it 2.  I needed to keep my coins and not buy more wrapping paper, and 3.  I wanted to limit the amount of my opened rolls of wrapping paper.  I was tempted many times but today I gave into the temptation.  I went to Hobby Lobby to see what was leftover on sale for Christmas.  Now most of the items for the holidays starts off at 40% off from the time they put it on the floor in October.  Today it was marked down to 66% off which left me spending around $2 per roll.  Now that’s more like it and I did go a little overboard…just a little.

I just love all of these cute options.  I love the neutrals and the peppermint foil paper.  As long as it’s not snowflakes then I’m good.  If you’ve been following me on Stories then you know I used a lot of snowflake themed wrapping paper.  I apparently was feeling them for the past couple of years because I still have one almost full roll left to use.  I do love them but I’m kinda over them now.

I didn’t get a ton from Hobby Lobby but I wanted to show you this cute gift bag I got from them today.  I’m really liking going more neutral with my gift wrap and bags.  I don’t buy a lot of gift bags but I always need a few each year mostly for Secret Santa gifts.

This holiday season hasn’t been easy financially for me.  I’m used to getting overtime hours and our overtime has been cut for months so that hasn’t been helpful.  At the beginning of 2017 I opened a Holiday Cash account at my credit union.  I’m going to open it again at the end of the week but I had to close the one I opened earlier this year because some things came up.  I highly suggest looking into it if your financial institution offers it.  I plan to keep a tracker in my new planner to show how much I’m saving.

Even though I couldn’t spend as much as I would have wanted to I was still able to provide a great Christmas for the kids.  They really enjoyed their gifts and I love putting those smiles on their faces 🙂  I also love spending time with my family.  I got to see my niece for the first time in a long time and it just made me so happy.  It’s not about the money you do or don’t have it’s about the memories you’re creating with the ones you love the most.

I wanted to take the time out to say thank you for all of your support of my blog.  It means the world to me.  Thanks for sharing it with others on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.  Thank you for shopping my gift guides.  Thank you for your comments, your emails and your subscribing to my newsletter.  I’m excited for what’s in store for 2018 and your support helps a lot.  Have a great day friends and fingers crossed that we don’t get any snow or ice over the next few days…at least not until 2018! 😉