Pet Friendly Christmas Cheer

Yesterday, I brought out a few holiday decorations.  I can't seem to get in the mood for pulling out everything like I do some years.  In fact, I don't think I'll even do my main tree this year.  Some of our furry four legged babies are getting old and have issues.  A bit of incontinence. (That part is driving me slowly insane.)  Not as sure footed as they once were.  And one of our cats seems to be almost completely blind.  The younger fur babies are destructive crazy overly playful.  Decorating in a zoo can be tricky and I'm not prepared to create a pet friendly Christmas wonderland.  Less will be more this year.

The easiest spots to decorate are those up high.  So that's mostly what I did.

These trees were meant to be part of a porch vignette, near the front door.  Our black labs (also affectionately know as  The Little Heathens) are still requiring a minimalist look on the porch.  They are still in the chew and destroy years.  So, I set up the trees inside.  It's not great, but I wanted to see them.  The Heathens will probably (hopefully) be past the worst of their chewing by next year.  Meanwhile, they are so much fun that it seems silly to worry about where those trees are.

I put a 36 inch tree on top of the old wardrobe in our family room.  This photo doesn't do it justice.  It has some really really pretty ornaments on it.  Many of the prettiest ones came from two different yard sales.  Both were ones where the people these items had belonged to had significant stories that really impacted me.  Some of the other ornaments were ones I've had for years.  I've never really been particularly into the all gold Christmas tree look.  It seems too formal for us.  Still, I'm enjoying it and not letting the fact that it doesn't go with our look bother me at all.

The Christmas card holder hanging on the knob is actually a walker bag.  I had made several of these bags for my sweet mother-in-law years ago.  This one was just for Christmas with a cross stitched Santa. My mother-in-law has been gone for a long time, but I kept this bag and use it to hold Christmas cards.  I sure do miss her.

I usually put old Christmas photos under the glass on this table every year.  I save all the photos and photo cards I get every year.  The table full of photo memories really is one of my favorite holiday decorations.  Yesterday, I didn't even want to bother with it.  What is wrong with me?  I really am happy about the upcoming holidays.  I'm not in a bad mood.  I just don't feel like pulling out all the stuff.  Instead, I stuck a Christmas tree skirt under the glass.  I like the skirt.  I didn't have a Christmas tablecloth.  I wanted some color.  It's a little bit tacky, but who cares!  By the way, the bowl in the center is not filled with potpourri.  It's cat food.  If the cat food is left in the floor, the dogs will get it.  They know not to get it when we are nearby, but they are incredibly clever about getting it when we are in another room.  The food needed to be put out of reach from the dogs.  Since Rudy and I seldom dine at this table, it became the cats dining table.  Oh my gosh.  I am fully aware of just how low we have sunk.

I put out some other decor, too and hope the mood will hit me for a little more.  We'll see!