Last year when I was taking down all the fresh garland from the banisters and the dried out branches were breaking off everywhere in tiny little pieces I decided that I was not going to use fresh greenery there again… Then as I was starting to pull out everything this year to put up Vu asked what I was going to put up there and he decided that he wanted the fresh greenery as opposed to the wood stick springs that I have from a few years ago.  This may not see like a big deal, but it is HUGE!  Every single time I put out something living in the decor, from fresh flowers to pumpkins to greenery he ALWAYS dislikes it.  Because you know he has a really strong aversion to having decaying things lying around our house…  so when he suggested the fresh greenery I was completely shocked and of course I had to go with it.  Next year I will try and remember to buy some fake garland in advance to go there since, that is what he really wanted.

My favorite new addition this year is the days til Christmas advent calendar that I made at my annual girls craft weekend.  This year I figured out how to make a vinyl template to paint over instead of doing all the painting by hand, and it turned out so nice.  One of my friends almost felt like it was too nice, she wanted it to make sure it looked homemade and not store bought.  And of course my other favorite new addition this year is the Joyeux Noel print!  I decided to pull out the “broken” glass ornaments from the St. Patrick’s decorations and use them on the mantle with just some simple garland and candles.  It feels very french to me, so of course I love that.  And of course I love the 2 new ornaments that I bought from Magnolia.