falalalala.lala.la.la.

oh my goodness oh my goodness it's almost CHRISTMAS!

I just love Christmas. And now that I have a house, I love decorating for Christmas. Well, I got to decorate last year in our apartment, and that was fun... but this year is even better.

Here's a cute little banner that cost me a whopping $1 to make:

I just bought a couple sheets of scrapbook paper at Hobby Lobby, cut out triangles (I was all professional and stuff and actually measured them) then hole punched the edges and threaded them though some twine. 

Here's a close up of the paper, since it's hard to see in that picture:

I'm not a really big fan of bright red and green, so I stuck with this light blue pattern with white polka dots (reminds me of snow) for the letters, then alternated with this subtle Christmas-y pattern one. I drew the font with a Sharpie based on a cute font I saw online.

Our stockings are kinda goofy and childish (we picked them up on sale last year), and I would really love to replace them.

I want some pretty, neutral-y ones, like these: 

These would be sooo cheap to make if I could sew! But alas, I cannot... all this cute stuff I keep seeing on Pinterest is making me want to learn, though. Hmmm....

I would also like for us to have a pretty tree skirt. Right now we're using an old white tablecloth, and it doesn't even reach all the way around the tree. Why is it that all the tree skirts I find in stores are (a) bright red (b) super shiny gold or (c) velvet? I'm just not a bright red or shiny gold kind of gal, and the texture of velvet gives me the heebie-jeebies. 

Is it so wrong that I want a sort of plain one like the lovely quilted cream-colored one that I was going to have monogrammed from Pottery Barn? It was so sad. I had it picked out, thread color and all, but waited to see if it would go on sale and...they discontinued it. Grrrr.

I've also been working on some ornaments. Here's one I made from a ribbon. 

If you feel like making one (they're pretty easy), here's the tutorial, courtesy of Martha Stewart.

I also made a very special ornament for my dear, sweet husband...although I may like it more than he does. Behold, the snitch!

"I open at the close."

Yeah, I love me some Harry Potter. I didn't come up with this idea on my own, here's the link to where it came from. 

I can't wait til next Wednesday at approximately noon when my last final is over, and I am finally finished with this miserable semester and can enjoy my Christmas break! I'm planning to do lots of house stuff over the holiday so we'll see how that goes. The downstairs bath is coming along nicely so I'll hopefully have pics up soon. :)