the holiday spirit

Since I work from home, I try to keep the house as cozy and stress free as possible. It can be tricky to separate business from home life, especially at this time of year, when I am fulfilling gift cards from the dining room table, receiving inventory for the store,  and finding hiding places for presents.

One way I do this is to throw splashes of holiday wherever I can, to remind me that the holiday is about being jolly, not stressed out.

Pulling out red and green that I already own in the kitchen:

Decorating my shipping area for my Etsy shop-it's been a busy December for bracelets!

Using things I already have to create a festive touch:

I found this edition of The Night Before Christmas a few years ago, it was the exact book we had growing up (that had long since been sold at a yard sale).  Love it!  There is a little mouse hiding in a shoe on the shelf next to it.

This is the one new holiday decoration I purchased this year, I found it at Gypsy Moon (one of my favorite local little stores).  Isn't it sweet?  I used to do paper cutting, but no longer have the patience (or eyesight) for it:

Some years I like to decorate the same spots as the year before, but usually I like to shake things up and see  what new ideas I come up with.  But some items always have to be in the same spot, or it just isn't Christmas-this little stocking has hung in the same spot for almost 20 Christmases:

How do you like to decorate?  Is your tree up yet?