Christmas Tour of Homes

BooMama is sponsoring a 2007 Christmas Tour of Homes where we can share our decorations for the Christmas season with all our online friends and family! What a wonderful idea! Click on the button on my sidebar and you can see the complete list of participants.

Here's a summary of our decorations ~ with a family recipe at the end!

Please be sure to check back on Tuesday, when I post this week's holiday giveaway!

We live in Tennessee, where it has just started to get cold. We rarely have any snow, much to the disappointment of my girls and much to my delight. Cold is not my thing! We have 3 little girls, ages 8, 5 and 2 and are a homeschooling family. The girls are my decorating helpers - my 8 year old daughter is developing quite an eye for style, along with the help of my mom and aunt! My 5 year old daughter has been really enjoying this holiday season and my 2 year old has been our main source of re-arranging!

Here is our tree that the girls decorated. It is in the front window of our living room. This year we opted to use our 4 foot artificial tree, mainly because of all the re-arranging help by our 2 year old. We wanted to make sure we didn't have a tree that would cause bodily injury to her if it comes crashing down while she's admiring the ornaments! We have our collection of holiday stuffed animals, books and some packages under the tree.



Here's a quick shot of the girls having fun after their decorating efforts!



Just to the left of the tree is our piano, which we kept a little understated this year



Here is our mantle above the fireplace in our living room. It is a wood-burning fireplace we use lots during the winter to keep our living room area warm.



Here is our nativity set on a end table in the living room. This is by far the decoration that our 2 year old daughter loves to re-arrange the most!



In our kitchen and dining area, we have a little desk with our phone and pens on it across from our dining table. The girls decorated this little tree on the desk.



Here is our dining table:



I have 3 shelves on the wall above a built-in desk area in my kitchen. Mainly for cookbooks, pie plates, etc. I added a couple of Christmas plates and holiday bears to add to the holiday feel.



As you go down the hall from the kitchen toward the stairs, we did a little decorating in our downstairs bathroom - not shown is a delightful peppermint soap bar that leaves this room smelling just heavenly!



Here is the table at the end of the stairs in our hallway. My 8 year old daughter decorated this little tree.



Here is the wreath on our front door. The door color is actually a kind-of brick red color, although it always seems to show up as a cranberry in photos. I made the wreath about 10 years ago - I'm amazed it has held up this well!



I hope you've enjoyed a little peek into our holiday decorating. We like to put a little touch of Christmas in every room. We also have lights on the house outside, along with a little snowman and some packages, but alas I don't have pictures of those yet. Last year when my youngest daughter was 1 and we didn't want a tree inside that she could pull over, we put our Christmas tree outside and decorated it for all the birds and squirrels, which was a big hit!

Here's a family recipe for a Fruit Ambrosia / Salad that you might like to use this holiday season. My mom makes it every Christmas and it is a delicious addition to a heavy holiday meal! You can use any variety of fruits you'd like and it will look very festive in a lovely clear bowl! I make mine like this (it will feed 15-20):

1 bunch of green or purple seedless grapes, cut in half
3 large cans of mandarin oranges, drained well
2 large cans of chunk pineapple, drained well
4 large Gala apples, peeled and cubed
1 can shredded coconut
1 cup or so of walnut pieces
about 1/2 bag of minature marshmallows
1/2 jar marashino cherries, diced
2-3 Tablespoons sour cream - more if needed

I put all of the fruit and nuts and marshmallows in a large mixing bowl. Stir gently with a large spoon to mix. Add the sour cream - just enough to lightly coat all the fruit. I then refrigerate mine overnight to allow the flavors to incorporate. Before serving, I spoon into a clear, decorative bowl with a slotted spoon so any extra juice is left in the mixing bowl - you don't want the final product to be soaking in juice. Keep refrigerated.

Enjoy the tour of homes and have a very Merry Christmas!