Denial

I'm in the holiday spirit, and I refuse to acknowledge the fact that I have two tests next week and two finals the following week, not to mention, a huge load of other crap I have to get done/attend between now and then. No, no, I keep thinking that I have lots of money to spend on new Christmas decor and loads of time to sit around and knit hats and sew stockings and put up lights. Sooner or later reality is going to set in, but until then... I'm just going to keep baking and decorating and try to steer clear of going to the store.

Earlier today I cleared off the computer desk (which was quite a feat). I cleaned it because I usually put the Christmas tree in front of the big window, which is by the computer desk, and I refuse to put up a Christmas tree in a cluttered area. However, after I did all my cleaning, I decided that I was going to put the tree next to the couch instead. It worked out pretty well because you can see the twinkling little lights through the glass on our front door. Our old front door was more or less solid, so if I wanted the Christmas tree to be visible from the street (which I always do), I had to put it in front of the window. But not anymore!

As you can see, we just have a small tree. It works fine for us. I always duct tape it to this table to keep it from getting knocked over and then put a tree skirt over it. And every year I have to decorate it completely different than I have any other year. As a result, my Christmas decoration box is overflowing. This year, I went to CVS to get some plain white lights since my old ones seem to have died. When I was there, I saw these LED star lights that change color. I had to have them. They're actually really pretty. Each star changes from purple to blue to green, etc. I thought they might look a little tacky, but I think I pulled it off ok. Actually, I should say WE pulled it off. Chloe was a very good helper. She was so into it that she insisted we put the entire box of ornaments on the tree.

Handing the bobbin of thread to mom.

Carefully picking up the bobbin.
Selecting the perfect ornament.

Leyla wasn't as much help. I was using a pretty iridescent thread to hang the ornaments on the tree, but she quickly pulled on one of the ornaments on broke the thread right off. So then I switched to upholstery thread. This time the thread didn't break, but the top of the ornament came off. So I decided to hot glue the top of the ornament on. Between the hot glue and firmly tying the ornament to the tree with upholstery thread, she seemed unable to remove the ornaments... for tonight anyway.

Here's a picture of Leyla wearing the first knit hat I've ever made. I made it baby size. As much as I hate to admit it, Leyla's not exactly a baby anymore. I was testing the hat's ability to stretch by putting it on her noggin. It looked hilarious, so I tried to get a picture. This was the best I could do...The hat is actually very cute and will fit a little baby wonderfully. I think I may send it to one of my little nephews. Probably Jayden since he lives in a cold area. I don't know how cold South Carolina gets. Mr. Dom is too big, and little baby Holmes hasn't been born yet, so Jayden it is. But I'm hoping I'll have enough time to knit hats for all my nephews this year.

I do have one more Christmas item that I want to get. I have some coupons for JoAnne fabric/craft store, so I think I'm going to go there tomorrow and get some unadorned pine garland. My mom sent me these really pretty glittery ornaments sometime earlier this year, but they looked really weird next to the star lights, so I want to put them in a garland and hang it over the front door. We don't have an outdoor outlet, which means I can't put up lights, so a garland around the door is the best we can do for now. Plus, Christmas lights just look weird here since there's no snow and most the trees still have leaves. Ok, I'm tired so I'll stop rambling now.