Christmas around here

We're making progress on the bathroom, but our tub is still living on our back porch (I may as well live in a van, down by the river), so I'm not quite satisfied...  But while I was organizing a closet yesterday instead of what I should have been doing (getting ready for Christmas which is nearing at the rate of a high-speed train!), I found something...  A tripod.  I immediately got more excited about using my DSLR now that I can take longer exposure shots!

So, here's a tour of our little Christmas set-up.  And when I say little, I mean little - it's basically just our tree =)

See all those presents mashed underneath the tree?  That's what me with my Christmas shopping DONE looks like.  BOOM!  And see those sconces on the wall?  They're coming down as soon as the tree does in favor of a giant... (leaving you ins suspense b/c I'm going to tell you about it later, heeheehee)

I seriously can barely handle how exciting that tripod is...  I LOVE this long exposure shot of the tree.  It was taken in TOTAL darkness.  OMG, I'm in love.

In other news... I've really enjoyed reading about everyone's creative gift wrapping this year.  People are using everything from wax to stamps to car batteries (OK, maybe not car batteries, but you get the idea...) to help their gifts put their best foot forward.  My family, however has a different tradition.  We like to see how creative we can get using only traditional materials: store bought gift wrap, ribbon and bows.  I like to think I did ok this year.  Here's a gift for my dad...

The paper was from the grocery store and came in a HUGE roll for only $0.99 - score!  The ribbon also came in bulk (a 5 pack of different colors for $2.00), the sticker was stolen off of the wrapping from one of the gifts my students gave to me, and the bow was purchased (along with roughly 20 billion others just like it) from an estate sale for $1.  I'll never have to by bows again! =D  If you divide everything up, I'd say this wrapping job cost me about $0.10, and I think it's pretty cute.

Here's one of the gifts for my parents in-law...  I like to call it, "The Poodle."  It's sort of like a one-ended popper...  with more curls.  You won't see this kind of wrapping in a department store!

IF YOU ARE MY BROTHER-IN-LAW, OR HIS VERY SWEET AND ADORABLE GIRLFRIEND, STOP READING HERE!!!

~

~

~

~

~

~

~

~

~

~

~

~

~

~
~

For the rest of you, I decided to forray into the world of basket creation this year...  I chose some YUMMY bottles of wine, and some cute glasses (love me the glassware section at World Market, I could seriously spend all day in there...), and made a wine-lovers basket.  Something was missing though, until I found these adorable wine charms on Etsy...

They even came in that cute little cigar box *swoon*  I threw it all together in a basket, and sqeeeeezzzzeed it into one of those "cello" bags.  And here you have it!

 We also bought them a set of 12 of those glasses, they were just too cute to pass up.

Can you find the three gifts I featured under my tree?  I barely can!  Also, note the oblong one in the front...  a whiffle bat and balls for my little cousin, not a bad wrapping job, eh?

Ted's favorite thing about Christmas?  (Aside from having me home to take him on daily runs, of course!)  Basking in the glow of the tree.  What a cutie!  **A SHAGGY cutie...  Time for another trim!**

So, that's what Christmas looks like at our house...  It's not much, but then, I don't feel like investing a ton into decorating a house we won't live in forever.  Plus, too much Christmas deco in a small home just starts to feel cluttered to me, and Lord knows I can't stand clutter!

I hope you and yours are enjoying the Holidays.  Happy Thursday, and Merry 3-days-until-Christmas, friends!