Haul out the Holly...

It's December... have you noticed?! Which means it's time to get out the holiday decorations.

Normally I love this time of year, and I love getting the tree up early and putting bits of Christmas all over the house. This year, though, things have been rather distracting. My mom is in a rehab facility after having broken her shoulder and her hip, and while she's doing great, it's just thrown all of us into a sort of strange place.  Of course, because life just seems to happen this way, work has suddenly gotten crazy so I've had a ton to do. And, frankly, the weird state of US politics and the feeling of dire bad things emerging from the White House every day has not helped to put me in a festive mood. 

Still, I know that having the tree up and decorations around always cheers me up no matter what.  So after a friend and I had a lovely shopping day on Friday, she came to spend the night and we had a fun decorating day.

 

 So -- the tree is up!  The festive pillows are scattered about!  

 

 

 This White Christmas pillow was when I first got a machine with an embroidery function. I love bringing it out every year.. and think I need to make a few more, after I remember how to use that embroidery module again.

Yes, Bing, Danny and Rosemary are back in the family room.

 

They look a little freaky in this shot, but trust me, they're kind of wonderful in person.

My favorite bird is dressed for the holiday. 

Speaking of birds, I decided to use an old birdcage I found at a yard sale this past summer. I have a few of these crowned silver birds which I just love -- and somehow it seemed to go with the glittery brush trees. But I'm not sure if it's festive or vaguely threatening. I mean, Prisoner Holiday decor?  Hmmm, maybe opening the door will fix that. Not sure. What do you think, is it weird?!

Here's another past holiday project now adorning a narrow wall in my dining room:

Shhh, don't tell... there are still some boxes on the dining room table to put away. But I've decorated as much as I'm going to this year, and I'm pooped. So I'm done for the day --  and now I'm just going to sit here by the fireplace and enjoy it. 

Have you decorated yet? And do you have a favorite decoration?