Christmas in a box

Friday, since it was hubby's day off and he had to venture into the loft for the curtain rail anyway, I got him to get the christmas decorations down. This has become known as "Christmas in a box" by the girls and usually caused great excitment when hauled out for its annual airing. Mind you somewhere along the line two tatty cardboard boxes containing all of the tree and hanging decs has grown to 5 large plastic lided containers and two smaller plastic storage boxes. Where did it all come from??????

Well lets see...one is full of 'christmas teddies and stockings', so that one is easy because each year, traditionally, Santa bought the girls a new christmas teddy and although Kelly has moved out and taken her share of them, Laura's are still here. And the stockings? We started off with two red fur fabric ones that Martin's mum made for the girls when they were small, complete with their names on cut out of black felt, but gradually the collection has grown as presents of sweets, or just as decorations sent from my Sister-in-Law in America.

Of course I also had to supply the decorations for the classroom at school. We were given £10 eac year but most of that went on the children's christmas party prizes so I consider any decs I bought for the school to me mine. Lets face it a decent artificial tree cost me £30, and during my time there I have had to buy two of them! So that accounts for another three boxes.

I used to put real ivy, holly and large chunks off the laylandi trees on the bannister and over the fire mantle, but the cat (a new addition four years ago) found that rather tasty and kept eating it so now there is a box full of artifical garlands. Its not the same, I miss my greenery, the smell, the hoovering up of dead leaves, but there you go...

A box lablelled 'lights'. Mmmm well..I love lights. That's the whole magic of of Christmas for me, enjoying all the sparkly fairy lights against a dark winter night's sky. On my route home most evenings there is a house with a single reindeer light up on the flat roof of the garage. No over-kill just one single reindeer lit with white lights and it looks fantastic, set against the black backdrop. My lights on the other hand .... well hubby isnt really into the "untangling, sorting through the lights to find the one that has blown, hang them up by climbing up a ladder" thing. But I still manage to drap quite a few little twinkling bulbs about the house. I love the ones peeping through the garlands on the mantle and down the banister. I'm not so keen on the lanterns we have round the porch door though as you can guarrantee that at least once I will have to walk down the road looking for the plastic holders that have blown away in the wind.