A CHRISTMAS FIRST

Will and I had the best weekend with my mom visiting from Connecticut. I don’t know about your mom but I feel like mine has endless energy — no task is too daunting or time-consuming and every time I’d rather be scrolling through Instagram or taking a nap she’s up and at ’em ready for the next task on the to do list. Can some of her energy rub off on me please?!

We got so much accomplished in just a few short days, from hosting the second Design Darling shopping event in our new office to picking out our first Christmas tree together! Will had never had a real Christmas tree so even though it’s a bit more work I was adamant that we pick out a tree, tie it to the roof, the whole nine yards. We’re hosting our first Christmas party together this weekend and it was great to get the house tidied up and start our holiday decorating!

Because we both moved to Dallas from tiny apartments in New York, neither of us had ever bothered to put up Christmas decorations before now. (Who was going to haul a tree up my three flights of stairs?!) So while we’re super excited about decorating for the first time since childhood, we also have no idea where to start because we have next to no decorations!

I’m pretty picky about decorating for the holidays (no colored Christmas lights, no fake snow, no Santa Claus figurines, etc.) but I do think it’s fun to think about starting new holiday traditions and collecting things like Christmas ornaments together over time. Many of the ornaments on my family’s Christmas tree growing up were of the macaroni-on-construction-paper sentimental-but-not-beautiful variety with a few pretty glass ornaments and picture frames in the mix. We always loved unpacking the ornaments every year with each sibling getting to hang the ones he or she loved most (and hiding the least favorite ornaments on the back of the three).

Though I know our favorite ornaments will ultimately be ones like these (handmade and collected over many Christmases), I do want to add a few ornaments to our tree this year so it’s not totally bare when our guests arrive next weekend. In case any of you are looking to do the same, I’ve rounded up several favorites that I’d love to find a home for this year!

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{St. Jude heart ornament, $6}

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{Car ornaments, $10 for four}

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{Moonlight ornament, $12}

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{Gold star ornament, $16}

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{Santa’s hat ornament, $8}

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{Camera ornament, $8.50}

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{Beaded ball ornament, $10}

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{Lucky horseshoe ornament, $8}

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{Glitter alphabet ornament, $3.50}

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{Seashell ornament, $15}

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{Chinese floral ornaments, $39 for four}

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{Glass pineapple ornament, $16}

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{Magenta globe ornament, $20}

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{Macaron ornaments, $28 for four}

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{Faux fur ornament, $7}

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{Assorted ocean ornaments, $23 for twelve}

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{Champagne bucket ornament, $22}

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{Kate Spade ornament, $30}

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{Milk glass globe ornaments, $24 for six}

Are you starting any new Christmas traditions this year? I’d love to hear!

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