Standing firm against the Christmas Tide

Unless we make Christmas 

an occasion to share our blessings, 

all the snow in Alaska won't make it 'white'." 

-- Bing Crosby

I hope the fact that I'm standing firm that doesn't make me sound Scroogey. Far from it -- this year, I'm very excited about Christmas. And I can't wait to put up Mr. and Mrs. Saint Nicholas, not to mention Chef Santa. That's him below -- at $5.00, he was another Tresori Tuesday candidate -- and his red, white and black apparel fits in perfectly with my  red and black kitchen.

So, despite the fact that I'm looking forward to Christmas, I want to take this Thanksgiving weekend, and let it be Thanksgiving. It seems that everyone who has decorations up at this time of year gets tired of them before New Year arrives, and I just want to treasure the thankful time for what it is. My goal is to take down all the fall decorations by Sunday, and then I'll get my loot of Yuletime treasures out in the weeks to come.

I also want to say that I've decided that fall decorations are probably the best seasonal decorating investment. I had mine up in early September (primarily because I was so sick of the muggy August weather), and, with a little subsidiary dip into and then out of Halloween-themed items, I've had pumpkins and leaves and acorns and turkeys out through this week. That's almost three full months of autumnal accessories! My favorite acquisitions this year were the half price white pumpkin on my dining table, which I snatched in the after-Halloween sale, and the fabulous and very realistic fall garlands that I found everywhere from A.C. Moore to Christmas Tree Shops. I've got three new Rubbermaid containers to pack everything up, so I'll post this as a dare to myself. Let's see what happens by Sunday night! Because, after all:

It is Christmas in the heart 

that puts Christmas in the air."
~ W. T. Ellis