just couldn't resist...

so, i have to admit something...i'm a bit of a christmas freak. and this year, i went a little overboard. i mean, not like WAY overboard, because let's face it, interior designers don't make as much as people think they do. i can pretty much barely live on what i make with student loans, bills, etc.

anyway, i digress. i actually went a little overboard this year because i FINALLY HAD AN EXCUSE! :)

i debated for about two days over where to put my christmas decorations up, kyle's apartment or mine. we were going to be there more often leading up to christmas, but the week of, we'll be at mine. so i thought on it and finally came to the decision that i would put them all up at kyle's. i love my decorations up there, they are purple and white (of course...go to www.ksu.edu and you'll see why...) and they are mostly my mom's old stuff. and then some other stuff i had from when i was younger including an angel cheeks nativity scene like this one.

SO CUTE! and from my mom's store (an ace hardware.)

and then his mom called. and gave me the BEST NEWS! she replaced her old christmas tree and wanted to know if kyle wanted it! but i had already put mine up at his house...so I GOT IT! YAY! so i'm working on getting the decorations for it, i'm looking for lime green and red ornaments, so everyone let me know where i can get them (preferably inexpensively) and i'd love you forever! i have green and red lights up already, with a star topper that i got at target tonight on sale ($11 instead of $12.99!)

so anyway, while i'm working on the tree and getting pictures up of it, here's some other small things i've done around my tiny apartment...

my middle name is joy, so i collect christmas items that are joy. (i'll just warn you now...there are a lot that say joy!)

this one is above my bedroom door. i actually made these out of left over tiles (like bathroom tiles) from a project at work. we had them as samples from an elementary school project, but didn't need them anymore. i already had the puffy paint, so these puppies were free! best part is, the paint peels off and i can reuse them another way!

my kitchen is already red, and i found these little gems at kmart (i went in for chapstick...came out with twenty dollars in christmas decorations...) the striped one i already had, the polka dot one says cheer, noel, merry and joy. the other one is what caught my eye, it's got a joy dot in the middle!

i couldn't get pictures of the outside decorations because it was dark outside, but i got cute vinyl polka dot placemats with joy, cheer and jingle written on them, but i stuck them up with water to my windows and they are backlight with my snowflake lights (also from the ace store.)

i had both of these already, too. the santa hat is a hand-me-down from mom and the believe iron piece is something i always have up (i got it at a dillon's marketplace for $10). it reminds me to believe in myself every day, but here, it's to remind me of the big RED guy!

on to the table! as you can see here, my dining room is 50s, so i already had the enamelware bowl, but i filled it with christmas bulbs (again, from my mom's ace). the plates and the little pails are from the dollar tree (just picked them up today!) so are the plastic cranberries in the noel tin, the joy tin is filled with andes mints, another fav of mine! (a trick if you are cheap like me...i didn't get enough cranberries or mines to fill the whole bucket, so i put tissue paper in them to look full...) [excuse the cat mess in the background.]


love this one, it's also from my mom's ace, the other side says nice! i love the polka dots.

more of the tiles i got from work with a spring of the fake cranberries! this greets you when you walk in the door. the little snowman i already had, he's from my mom's store from ages ago.

these adorable tea light candle holders are also from mom's store. i got tea light candles at dollar tree...20 for a buck! the green box is from the origin's face products i got, i just loved the color. and i put the christmas ribbon on it. the vase i made in ceramics forever ago and it's always in that spot, but i put some of the cranberries in it to add to the holiday decor!

and finally my favorite! i saw something really similar to this five years ago in hobby lobby and my mom has been looking forever for some for me, but we could never find any. she saw them at the ace show and ordered these just for me! i LOVE them and have a feeling that they will be up all year! the cranberries helped pop the letters from the books.

hope you enjoyed my little christmas tour!