Just a quick post today to share a few scenes from around our Christmas home! With the way our house is laid out – one main open room on the first floor, so only a few walls and corners – we just don’t have that many surfaces to decorate. While our nativity may be clustered around our TV instead of luxuriating on a foyer table or piano top, I think this year more than ever we made the most of what we do have. Come on in! Before we step inside, let’s pause on the porch. I envisioned Christmas wreaths on our front gates before they were even built and they live up to all my dreams! Wreaths are from Trader Joe’s and the bows are from Etsy. Our cheery red front door never shines more than at Christmas. Wreath is from Jordan Lake Christmas Tree Farm and the bow is from Etsy. My beloved Advent calendar! These cardboard gingerbread houses were a very fun after-school project last week! I cut shapes from a delivery box and we all used white paint and white paint pens to add detail. The paint pens made it easy to achieve an elegant look even for our five year old. We didn’t trust Annie with them, but she had fun going to town with the white paint – the kids decided her houses were in the midst of a snowstorm, ha. Popping a few bows in unexpected places was a new addition this year. We had a German Christmas pyramid growing up and it was one of my very favorite decorations. I asked for the exact same one as a gift the first year we were in our house – this is it! The tablecloth is from HomeGoods. All dressed up for Articles Club

A blue and white Christmas inspiration board to start your week off on a peaceful note. China hutch photo from Veranda by Max Kim-Bee; blue and white ornaments; window box + wreath from Martha Stewart; monogrammed napkin from Carolyne Roehm; ginger jar centerpiece; mini angel food cake from Martha Stewart Weddings; vintage napkin rings from Southern Living; blue and white present from Carolyne Roehm; blue and white china tablescape from Traditional Home P.S. More Christmas boards: cherry + sky, icy blue + gold, and soft pastels

My hand-lettered cupcake flags are always completely customizable, but sometimes I like to whip up something special to show the possibilities. I just listed two sets especially for Christmas, and thought you might like to see! The first is oh so classic in red and green. The second is colorful and fun in blue, turquoise, pink, and red orange! All sets (plus holiday stripe drink stirrers!) are available in my shop! Now for the hilarious part. My little helper was patiently watching from the sidelines while I photographed these goodies. After about a half an hour, though, she just couldn’t stand it anymore! She spent the rest of the photo session on the other side of the guest room door, grumpy. Aaaaand I’ll just take this one, thankyouverymuch

To end our little Em for Marvelous Christmas series, I thought I’d share a snippet of our apartment decor! We don’t have a ton of space to work with, so I try to keep things minimal and small-scale — but still colorful :) Here’s our baby tree. The “skirt” is actually an extra pashmina! Colorful balls in a berry basket on the coffee table These are foot-high kraft letters I bought from JoAnn Fabrics a few years ago and painted red. Every Christmas I realize how few available flat spaces we have in our apartment, which is why our poor nativity is clustered around the TV. I collect the Willow Tree version. It’s kind of expensive, so I just started with Mary, Joseph, and Jesus, and then have added a piece every year. This year it was the stars! I hope you enjoyed the tour! I’m happy to say that I almost feel ready to do a more extensive tour of our apartment, so look for that (kind of) soon!