I am officially in Christmas mode.
The holidays last year were a bit rough. The world was still shut down and it didn’t really feel like the holiday season. That is changing this year though – I am determined to get into the Christmas spirit, early. As of November 1st, my house has been decorated, although, I am saving a large portion of the decorating until after Thanksgiving, when we get our tree.
I know a lot of people feel some type of way about celebrating the holidays early but let me be clear. I love Christmas but I also love Halloween and Thanksgiving. My favorite part of the year is October 1st through January 1st. I don’t like listening to Christmas music or put up a tree until after Thanksgiving.
Wreaths & Garlands
My stairs and fireplace are fully decked out with faux pine garlands. I also took out some of my favorite thrifted brass candlesticks and decorated the fireplace mantle. I bought some battery operated candlesticks a while back that are perfect for the entirety of the holidays. It helps save some money for nightly use for the next two months.
Traditional Filipino Parols
I hung a couple traditional Filipino parols in the house, too. But what is a parol? It’s a star-shaped Christmas lantern symbolizing the star the three wise men followed. This is something that most Filipino households have during this time of year. My mom, sister, and myself made these parols last year for Christmas. We haven’t made parols since I was a little girl, and since these are very time consuming to make, I wanted to preserve them for this year.
Christmas Tree Candles
As I was looking for Holiday decor inspiration, I stumbled across Crate & Barrel’s small white tree tealight candles. I knew I had to make a larger scale version of this with a Christmas tree scent, so that’s exactly what I did! Don’t they look so great on my fireplace mantle? I can’t bring myself to burn mine but you can purchase your own Christmas Tree scented + shaped candle on my Etsy shop.
Are you decorating for the holidays already?
