Holiday Mode: Around The House + Activities We Have Been Doing

 

We are in full holiday mode over here! And it has been so fun. I was on the fence of how soon is too soon to start decorating for Christmas. So I decided whatever would bring me the most joy would be the appropriate time. So two days after Halloween the kids and I started decking the halls!

We still have a small nod to Thanksgiving, but with another year of being on our own during this holiday (four years now!), I figured nobody would care! Plus last Christmas we were still unpacking as we had just moved into this house. So this truly felt like our first real Christmas season here and I wanted to savor it and enjoy it. Plus being pregnant meant I could check it off my list and sit back and relax! 

I still cannot believe it has already been a year since we left Virginia. So many mixed emotions. But overall we are happy to be here. Just feeling kind of gipped that we haven't really been able to experience Washington as much as we would like. But all in all we are grateful. So many blessings can still be found in the midst of this hard year.

This fun feathery turkey is from our Magic Playbook subscription that comes full of cute ideas and adorable printables. We have been so happy with the easy and aesthetically pleasing activities!

We also did this fall tree activity. My son (4) used a glue stick and for my daughter (1.5) I put little double sided stickers on her leaves to place on her own.

They turned out so sweet and I just love the muted colors. We also have a little collection of jewel stickers that can add a sparkle to our projects.

We have a small display in our dining room where I hang the kid's art. It is a perfect little display for our Thanksgiving projects. The other printables are also all from the Magic Playbook.

We then did a similar project but with decorating a gingerbread house. Same concept, but still adorably different.

I also started to wrap the few gifts we have already. I am using paper grocery bags this year because we have SO many! I purchased some little white doilies and added more Christmas printables from our Magic Playbook. It truly is the little everyday things that are bringing so much joy right now!

And finally, a few photos of our in progress outdoor decor. I put up red bows on all our lamp posts in the yard and it is making it feel like our own little Christmas wonderland! Figuring out how to decorate our home for the season for the first time has been a lot of fun.

I hung up wreaths on all the windows of our first story and am waiting on my husband to help with the second story wreaths. I am still loving these $3 wreaths and $1 bows from Walmart! We purchased them for our Virginia home and they are still looking great. See our home in Virginia all decked out with wreaths here.

Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving and holiday season. I know that things can still feel heavy. But it is in remembering what we are grateful for and spending our time doing fun and creative things has been a welcome distraction for me personally. We truly can still make the everyday beautiful!