Kid-Powered Decor

I'm glad to be participating in Jen's Holiday Homes Tour again this year!

My home looks pretty much exactly the same as last year, with a few small adjustments. To really get a feel for my home's holiday decor, click on the link and take a look!

So this year, instead of showing my whole house again, I am going to take you on a "Kid-Powered Decor" tour.

Each year, my kids (ages 9, almost 7, and just-turned-5) do more and more of the decorating themselves.

Let's start here: these are the decorations that have been their domain for several years. I got the Little People Nativity and the little tree when I had toddlers in the house, so that they could play with Christmas decorations while staying away from my breakable ornaments and nativity scene. The kids still look forward to putting these out each year.

Next, the kids put up their school arts and crafts from years past. This display grows each year!

Then they found the window clings and arranged those in the front windows. Mommy was busy with who-knows-what and meanwhile, Christmas decorating was taking place!


Out of the box came a whole bunch of Christmas-themed stuffed animals. They were arranged in groups on the living room speakers.


New this year are these penguin towels for the kids' bathroom. There are some penguin fans in our family!


This one is not due to my kids... but it's still kid-powered! The kids next door collected mistletoe when they were up north at Thanksgiving, and packaged it up to sell! Isn't it adorable?!


Last but definitely not least, ta da! This year's Christmas tree! I'm really happy with it. It's much better than the dud we got last year! Nice shape, nice size, very fresh. It looks lovely!


The kids did most of the tree trimming themselves! They still tend to put ornaments in clumps, so I follow them around to rearrange things just a tad.

This is probably their favorite family tradition. It's so much fun to see them pulling ornaments out of the box and saying, "Oh! I love this one!"

I do that, too!

I have had this one for a long time. It's my beloved alma mater! The hubby got it for me not long after we graduated.


This one commemorates the opening of the big aquarium in our area. I bought the ornament for myself when I took my students there for a field trip. Just a few short years later, I was an employee at the aquarium! That made the ornament even more special!


This one was made by a friend of ours who is a professional artist. Isn't he talented?

Big girl and I picked this one out when she was four. What a fun age: possibly the first time they actually remember Christmas from the year before. Selecting this one was a special moment for both of us. She makes sure this is one of the first ones she puts on the tree each year.