Post Christmas-After Party-Slow Sort

 Good Morning.  I hope all is well with you!  The day after all the Merriness is always a great day to just chill!

It is a gorgeous warm day here.  Texas can be a sweet place to live!  The birds are singing and the sun is out. 

Today I am beginning what I call the . . . 

Slow Sort

Looking around the house at the Christmas decorations and all the Merry and Bright I am deciding what to change and maybe what pieces I might retire. 

Honestly I had a really hard time decorating this year because we've had to move furniture around to make things easier for the Cowboy.

And now; post Christmas I am looking around the living room beginning Slow Sort.

I am also changing how I store everything because I had an unpleasant surprise when I unboxed.  Everything was stored in the garage In all the years and all the places we've lived we've never had mice.  But yep Hello 2020!

I am looking around and making plans for what I will do different next year.  Like the main tree in the Living Room . . .

This was 2018.  I thought this tree was so pretty.  This tree was in the greenhouse that year.

This year I brought the same tree into the living room.

This is the funniest picture of Domino.  She jumped in this chair realized she didn't fit because there was a throw and a pillow in the seat.

 I didn't use the snowmen and snow flakes on the tree. Instead I did the Cowboy theme this year. In 2018 I had 3 different themed trees.  I combined everything to one tree this year.  We retired the big living room tree. And now we have the tall skinny tree.

I added the ribbon to the tree and the lariat rope.  I think the ribbon makes the difference.  I put the rope on the tree first then added the ribbon. It was super hard. Next time I will put the ribbon on first.

I was super excited with the topper.  I thought about it before but wasn't sure how to do it . . .

. . . The Cowboy swinging the rope is metal and super heavy.  Before I put it on the tree I used hard tube from a  vacuum cleaner the hard tube for the hose.   I attached it to the tree to make it sturdy.  And Wa La.  It held up the Cowboy!

Merry and Bright

I know I have to think about things differently for 2021 because we will have a 1 year old so we will have to do a bit of baby proofing.

I didn't get to put wrapped presents under the tree this year like this . . . 

In all the years I have say this is my favorite from 2016 I think.   The apartment we were in before moving to this house.  I used the printer in the complex media center to print the photos.  I love this idea! 

I also loved the tree skirt.  The lighting is super bad causing it to look yellow but it is really white.  This is my 43 year old wedding dress.

I won't be making any changes to the mantle.  I love it just the way it is.  This year we added hot pink lights behind the Boa.  

I had a heck of a time with the bells.  I don't know who put them away before or maybe those mice got into them! Ick!  The wires were all tangled.  I plan to leave them attached to the greenery this time instead of storing in the box.  

It seems in down sizing over the last few years that my color palette has evolved to Red, Silver and Gold.

I use a lot of Red because I can reuse items for Valentine's and Patriotic themes. 

The wreath and boa will stay till Spring when the Bunnies come out.   

In the kitchen dining area I made some changes . . .

I have tried in several posts to show this area but it is so dark I can't get a decent picture.  I bought the lamp in from my morning room area in the greenhouse.  It adds a cozy feel to the area.

I move the vase from the table  into the kitchen by my mixer now and us it year round. I turn it so the tree faces the wall.

 My kitchen has evolved into Red too.  The vase is  perfect to hold the paper towel and I don't have to worry about storing it.   It wasn't expensive at all but I love it! I bought back in the day like 1998 or so at Big Lots. It was probably on sale.  

This year I changed the Hot Cocoa station.  I have had it on Mama's tea Cart for several years.  

Here is how it looked before 

I liked it but with having to change things and move things this year I changed it a bit.  

I had to move the Santa print and it fit perfectly.

My plate holder had to be moved but I think it looks good and I can display the Sugar bowl and Creamer I found when I cleaned out Mama's apartment.

I set the mugs and mixes in this white tray.  I think it works better than before.

It's fun planning and deciding what to do to make things easier so that everything is in more Merry and Bright.

We had a Blessed Christmas this year and welcomed Noah just in time for Christmas!

Wow I can only imagine what Christmas 2021 will be like! I am looking forward to it and so I plan and Slow Sort.

I hope your  holidays have been Merry and Bright.  Thanks for visiting!

I'll be linking at the Fabulous Party.  I hope you'll come by and link your posts too!

 

I have a list of the parties I link on my new updated party page.  Click here.