December has arrived and we finally finished decorating. The biggest thing I was excited about this year wasn’t really any new additions, as much as it was finally finding an aluminum tree set up I liked! Although we still didn’t put up all of the trees! If you’ve been reading for awhile, you’ll see the 6 foot green tree is missing, and we also re-acquired our old 6 foot silver one from my dad, but I chose not to put it up either, because once again I simply love our coconut chair.

A couple years ago we had some pretty bad Santa Ana winds that blew off our blow mold Santa, sleigh, and reindeer, damaging two of them. Thankfully we scored some replacements off of ebay, and we have since come up with a better method of securing them. I couldn’t part with the damaged ones, then Patrick came up with this idea of putting them on poles and using them inside. I love how it turned out!

We did a lot of house projects this year (with at least one more before the year is out!), including the removal of the old AC unit, and painting of the large living room wall, which really makes everything pop! And I’m loving it.

While I collect many things, one of my favorites is vintage California amusement park souvenirs, including Santa’s Village, which I decorate with during Christmas. After years of being abandoned, it underwent some changes, but some of the most iconic elements are still there! You can check out our visit from last year here.

If you’re new to the blog, I am required to say those are not real gifts around our trees! They are part of my cat-proofing of our aluminum trees. So if you’re in need of protecting your tree, fake or otherwise, check out my tips to help save your tree or trees from your feline friends. This year we switched things up a little and bought more nesting boxes from HomeGoods, which take up less room than previous years where I wrapped empty boxes.

Are you all ready for the holidays? I haven’t done too much gift shopping yet, but I’m a firm believer in not buying gifts to simply buy something for someone. I only get something if the item really screams my friends’ or family members’ names. I also still have yet to write our Christmas cards! So I better get on that!