We have a front door, but our family’s most used entrance is the mudroom door.  I got this swag from Trader Joe’s to hang on it:

This is the view of the lights from the outside.  The colored lights are new, our 4yo really wanted colored lights, so when I found these LED lights on sale at K-Mart, I went for it.

We also have wreaths and candles in the windows.

When you step inside our front door, the entry way is pretty bare.  But we do have a ginormous advent calendar our neighbors gave the kids:  (please forgive the flash glare)

It’s just one of many advent calendars we have going on in our house.   I’ve mentioned them before, but we have this one:

This chocolate filled calendar (courtesy of the same neighbors):

A countdown chain:

And this is my favorite advent calendar/nativity. It’s magnetic and the kids have fun rearranging the pieces:

Most of my decorating is done in our family room.  This is a view looking into the room, from the kitchen/mudroom entrance.  We have a “kissing ball” that hangs in the opening to the family room:

The fireplace is the central focus on the room and my best display area.    I love the PEACE stocking holders I got from Pottery Barn (I got them on clearance after Christmas one year when I was 8 months pregnant with the 5th member of our family – we had to upgrade our “NOEL” holders).

Our stockings are a precious family heirloom to me.  I made them, with help from my mom, who passed away this spring.

Another view of our PEACE.

This is the left side of the mantle.   It’s kind of hodge-podgy.  The nutcrackers are from a local performance of the ballet my daughter and I go to every year.   They sit atop my collection of Christmasy books.  My ornament tree in the background needs some work…

The right side of the mantle houses this nativity collection.  I got it on clearance after Christmas last year and love them!

The other focal point of the room is, of course, our tree.  We get a live one every year and I love how it turned out.

These are some of my favorite ornaments:

In addition to our main tree, we have a kids tree that we set up in a little alcove at the back of the room.  It is kid-friendly and I don’t freak out if anything on it gets handled or broken.  I also collect a special ornament for each kid each year and put them on that tree.  Some day it will go with them when they start their own families.

Here are some of the ornaments from that tree:

The other part of the family room that I like to decorate is the kids corner.  It’s where their craft table is and it has a bulletin board.  I cover it in wrapping paper and hang some colored lights on it.

Next to our mudroom entrance, we have another bulletin board.  I normally have it covered with things like school events and reminders, but at Christmas time, I cover it in Christmas paper and hang all of our photo cards on it and the surrounding wall:

My kitchen has been pretty messy, so I couldn’t find a good angle that didn’t highlight the crud.  This is a shot of the dividing wall between the kitchen and family room.  I have various knick knacks displayed there.

My mom always had a display of candy canes out and I’ve continued the tradition.

Another area that is poorly decorated is my dining room.  The table is a dumping ground and the wrapping station, so it doesn’t have much holiday glitz.   Despite that, we have taken to eating by candlelight this month and it’s given the room a soft, festive feel.

I also got this spinning angel/candle/chime thing that the kids are mesmerized by: