Come on in! [Christmas edition]

 

Happy Thursday, friends! Welcome to our home that is all decked out for Christmas. As much as I love this time of year and the season, I want it to point to Jesus. To me that is what the whole point of decorating is for—of course I want it to be pretty so that we will enjoy looking at it, but it represents Jesus as the Light of the world. That is what my prayer is for our home as well, that it would be a welcome refuge for everyone who enters and that all who enter in would feel the love of Jesus. I often ask the Holy Spirit to fill the spaces in our home and I believe that He does just that. 

Enjoy your look around our home. 

I've already posted about the tree, but I have to start there because it's my favorite. I love the box it sits in—about three years ago, Todd and Jonah made this for me one Saturday afternoon. We have burlap inside of it to act as the "skirt", but I love how rustic it is and that they made it together. I'll have it forever for that reason alone.

Our tree is very nostalgic. Here are a few of our ornaments.

Handmade and sentimental ornaments are the best, in my opinion. I love the ones with pictures of the boys—I love seeing their sweet little faces from within the tree. That cupcake is a favorite because of the year that all Noah wanted were "pupcakes" from Santa. You better believe my sister Lisa made him an entire batch of cupcakes that year. I have many more ornaments, but we kept the tree simple this year and didn't add them all. 

Our stockings are new from Amazon and I love them. I love the hearth too, with all the bright red and the pillows and lanterns. 

I just did our dining room Tuesday afternoon. I turned the table around after Jonah and I put the leaf back in it to extend it, then I added this tablecloth I already had and the arrangement that my mom made a couple of years ago. This table gets used more than our kitchen table, believe it or not. All the boys love to sit here while they eat their lunch and watch shows on Netflix or YouTube. 

I love this Santa. He used to light up, but I still hang him here without the lights. 

This is the bookcase that sits in our living room. I love my wooden blocks! My talented friend Tiffany gave me these last year—I love that I can look up and think of her when I see them.

The peace sign is new to me, a gift from my mom—I love it when she shares with me! 

These two pictures above are what sits in the downstairs bathroom—the snowmen were a gift from Drew's first kindergarten teacher (he had two teachers that year). 

Mr. and Mrs. Claus belonged to my dad—I can't remember exactly how I ended up with them, but I love them because they bring back memories from my childhood. 

Don't ask me why I love these little snowmen so much, but I do—the larger of the two is broken, but I can't seem to part with him. 

I feel like this is a spiritual picture of the grace of God—how we are broken when we first come to know Him and then how He restores us and makes us new again once we accept Him as our Lord and Savior. 

This hangs on the door going out to the garage. This is another treasure Mom made and gave to me about seven years ago. 

This tree is one of my favorite things! My stepdad Bill made this for me a few years ago, but last year I brought it inside because the outside of our house was torn up because of the remodeling—and now I'm never putting it outside again. It's a tree made from a wood pallet.

My kitchen table and iron snowman. I love the bowl full of colored ornaments from my mom-in-love.

This snowman belonged to my mom when I was a young girl. I love this little guy and will never get rid of him. He sits on the red cabinet in the kitchen, that is beside my spot at the table. 

This is the three tiered stand that sits on the corner of the kitchen counter. I love this thing, even three years later—it was a gift from my mom-in-love one year for my birthday. I love to decorate this for the seasons. 

These are the last of the decorations in the kitchen. I love how cozy it all looks and the pretty pops of color. 

I love these cabinets above the kitchen sink—I just added these on Wednesday after a trip to Hobby Lobby. I went there for a new journal and found these little wreaths for $4 each. I already had that ribbon, so I used it and taped it to the inside of the cabinet door. My super talented friend Michele inspired me to do this, because she did this in her home last week and shared it on social media. I love it when friends inspire me! 

I love our bedroom! It's so cozy and comfy and the dark paint on the walls has proven to be very restful.

I have gingerbread men on our bathroom counter, but I don't have pictures. 

These pictures above are the landing area at the top of our stairs. I still love this flocked tree that I got as a birthday gift a few years ago. Wouldn't it be cute with lights?

Our front door has a really cute huge sign that says Merry Christmas, another thing Mom had that she wasn't using this year. I have a few decorations on the front porch, too, but I plan on changing that soon. I'll share more when I have pictures. I won't win any awards for decorating, but what we have makes me so happy. I love for things to be bright and festive and I love for our home to feel warm, cozy and inviting. Most of what I have are things from my family members who were cleaning out their Christmas stuff and nothing in my home is very expensive. 

I'd love to see pictures of your decorated home, so feel free to post on social media if we're friends there. I am on Instagram as jenlloydgoodwin. 

Thanks for reading my blog, friends! Love to all.