Gettin' My Christmas Inspiration On

I don't know how it happened.  I'm one of those people who have always been adamant about waiting until after Thanksgiving to start thinking about Christmas.  Maybe it's the cold weather that has moved in this past week.  Maybe it was my going to the Trees n Trends Christmas bazaar yesterday.  But, I am SO ready to start decorating and shopping for Christmas!  I don't want to shortchange Thanksgiving.  I LOVE that holiday because it is a time for your family to get together just to celebrate what we are all thankful for, without any expectations.  But, the Christmas bug has already bit me, and I am starting to get really excited!  I have even already started to buy a few gifts.  Imagine that!  Me, little miss wait-'til-the-last-minute to buy everything, and then scramble around to get it all wrapped before Christmas morning.  Just last week my boys asked me if I wanted to listen to Christmas music.  I responded with a resounding NO!!  IT'S NOT TIME!!!  But this week my perspective has changed completely.  I've begun to reason with myself about how that maybe the reason I am always behind at Christmas is because I don't get started early enough.  Sounds logical, right?  EXACTLY!!  SEE?!!  I told ya.
 
Anyway, I thought I'd share some of the lovely Christmas arrangements & decorating ideas that were presented at the Chrismas decor presentation yesterday.  What I'm going to try to do is study these pictures, and then figure out how to do it cheaper.  That's my thing.  I love being thrifty, yet stylish.  So here are the pictures.  Enjoy the Christmas eye candy.

Sorry that this one is a bit fuzzy, but you can get the idea.  They showed us how to add the ribbon to the garland.  See that "tree?"  It is actually what they call a "teardrop" turned upside down & hung from a hook to make a tree.  This would be good for a wall in your home or office.

Again, this is fuzzy. (It gets better.)  This was a regular crafty giftbox that has lights inside.  It had a boring bow.  She cut off the boring bow & added her own, along with some branches & bling.

This section of the store was decorated sooo beautifully.  In the upper right hand corner you will see plain bare branches strung with silver icicles/tinsel.  Beautiful!!

This is just a random pic that I took.

This is a beautiful piece that she showed us how to make with 3 berry stems & foliage.

This is cute and should be easy to make.

So CUTE!!!

I love the peppermint look of this.

One of my favs.

Another favorite

I love how they decorated a picture with a garland.

This caught my eye because it is our high school's colors.

I love the playfulness of this.

An elegant mantle

A traditional room

I'm in love with the lime green decorations.

Another beauty

Pretty red, cream & white decor.  I love the presents stacked on top of each other.  Who's that in the mirror, I wonder? ;)