I didn’t have access to my own computer for a while, so I couldn’t post any pictures, which means that I completely forgot to write a post about my Christmas decorations this year. I hope it’s not too late to share them with you.

I decided I wanted some giant ornaments for the outside decorations this year, even though we don’t have a convenient tree to put them in. I planned to hang them from the porch, along with some green garland and lights. Home Depot had a pretty sad selection by the time I got there to buy some – the glitter was missing from many of them, and some were dented. They weren’t individually packaged, just all jumbled in a big cardboard box. Luckily Costco came through for me – I found a set of 6 big ornaments for about $20, and they’re pretty!

I spaced them out evenly and hung them from little white cup-hooks, which will stay there for future years’ decorations. Dave was kind enough to climb up with a drill and help me get those installed. I strung simple white lights along the hooks, and skipped the fake spruce garland because I was missing about 2 feet of length and I didn’t feel like going out to buy more. The hydrangea bush on the right also got some white lights draped in it. None of my nighttime pictures turned out at all, so you’ll have to use some imagination.

I made this wreath last year, so it went back up on the center post, since the front door has a big window in it and doesn’t lend itself well to Christmas decorations. Look at the giant ornaments! Aren’t they great?

Oh, and our friend Solar Duck got dressed up for Christmas too. So dapper and festive!

That’s it for the outdoor decorations. I have grand hopes for the future, with more lights strung across the front of the house, and maybe “candles” for the windows, but we’ll see how much work (and money) we’re actually willing to put into decorating.

We got our tree up and decorated right after Thanksgiving. I bought an awesome Yoda tree topper this year, so we could stop arguing over whether an angel or a star should top the tree, but his LED lightsaber was broken, so I had to return him. I’m a little bummed about that, because I was looking forward to our new nerdy tradition. So this year, the angel won out, and while she looks headless in this picture, I assure you she isn’t. The bright colored lights are bubble lights(!!!), which I bought last year and didn’t use. They’re a throwback to my childhood and while they’re much bigger than the ones I’m used to, they still make mesmerizing bubbles. I’m not sure if it looks tacky to have them on there when the tree is already pre-lit with white LEDs, but I really wanted them this year, so we did it anyway. Go, tacky!

The cats , especially Horton, spent a lot of time under the tree impersonating presents! We didn’t hang out much in that room, though, because our TV and usable fireplace are downstairs. We put up a small tree where we always spend our evenings, and we put our stockings up by the fire.

I enjoyed having all this stuff up for a month – it helped make things feel more Christmassy even without the snow outside. I took it all down today, taking advantage of the almost-70-degree weather. In Montreal, we leave that crap up outside until April because it’s too cold to contemplate wrestling with it wearing huge mittens!