Our holiday decorations are simple and mostly handmade. All of our stockings were made by my mother-in-law. Michael’s is the one his mother made him as a child, Damian received his one his first Christmas and Ivy and I both received ones this year (they are lovely, check them out.) Elsewhere in the house we have a quilted banner hanging with angels, also from Michael’s family. I have a few Wintery cookie tins and candle holders scattered around too.

Our tree is a small live dwarf Alberta spruce that stays on our altar for a few weeks before going back outside. We have to watch for spidermites so I mist it a few times a week and crack the window beside it daily so it doesn’t get too warm for it. We decorate it with a handful of small ornaments, little painted wooden figurines and small beaded baubles, a crocheted mouse (Damian’s first ornament) and my one of my great-grandma’s little bells (Ivy’s first ornament,) a wood bead garland and a short string of big colored led lights. Santa/Odin stands beside our tree decked out in a fur and greenery with birds perched on him. We have a few glass ornaments that are too large for the tree (from when we had a large fake one) so we hang them from the ceiling above the tree, I think they make a great “topper.” They catch the light and this time of year is all about welcoming the return of the light for us.

I admit I love outdoor decorations more then indoor ones, so we have a couple strings of white ones on our porch and a wreath I made on the front door. Over the years I would like to pick up more lights, maybe the icicle ones if I can find led ones to line our roof with. On Christmas Eve we usually go around our neighborhood and look at all the decked out yards, but we will see how that goes with a newborn this year. Tonight after Michael gets home, we will delivery the last cookie plates to our neighbors and watch our favorite Christmas movies during our “finger food feast”. I am making all our favorite finger foods (and a ham) because nothing says holidays like eating too much (or something like that… Hey, it’s tradition!)

I love our Solstice traditions and for us today is the last day of Saturnalia and tomorrow is the first day of Brumalia, but it is also Christmas. We choose to honor Christmas in a secular way because of our family traditions. I love mixing Michael and my family traditions with our new ones as a family. And lets face it, this time of year is so much more fun with a young family. I can’t wait to see Damian unwrap his gifts tomorrow.