Christmas Decorating

Here are a few pictures of the decorations I put up this year. I am finding that I like to keep it simple and use things that I already have around the house. I made a lot of my decorations this year in an effort to both save money and make it have more homey feel.
These are the stockings my brother made fore us a couple of years ago.

Here is a picture of our humble Christmas tree. We got it from Costco and it already has ornaments on it. We are using it as a Jesse tree--where we hang ornaments that basically follow humanity from creation to the birth of Jesus. I also had to capture my favorite colored pillow in the pic.

More homemeade decorations. There is a funny shadow this time of night so the picture looks really crooked. Although I wouldn't put it past me to also have made something crooked (I am not super detail-oriented if you don't know me that well)

I used picture frames that I already had on this shelf and filled them with art that I made.

This is our makeshift advent wreath. We wanted to use what we already had. As you can see here, the first candle of hope is lit for this week.

Our favorite item that we own--the nativity. Bob's grandma got this from Israel, made from olive wood. Next to it we have A Prayer Before A Christmas Crib:

I open the stable door

I kneel before the infant

I worship with the shepherds

I adore the Christ child

I give love with Mary and Joseph

I wonder at the Word made flesh

I am aware of the love of God

I sing glory with the angels

I offer my gifts with the wise men

I recieve the living Lord

I hold him in my hands

I go on my way rejoicing, glorifying and praising God

A closer picture of our tree. We like it because it is living still, we can water it and keep it long after Christmas. Starting December 1, each day we will put one Jesse ornament on it until Christmas day.

Dining table centerpiece. I love that we live in an area where we can collect and display items around the house. I gathered some of these pine cones and acorns on hikes we have been on. We had some friends over yesterday and the kids wanted to add to the pile so they collected some extra goodies for us.

Merry Christmas. I love that Bob and I are starting some of our own traditions for the holidays. I would love to see your decorations and hear about traditions your family does.