Temporary Christmas.

I love the holiday season. It is such a magical time, even for those of us over 8 years of age! Or perhaps some of us only turn into oversized eight year olds. There is so much going on - festivals, gatherings, and light displays, to name a few. The atmosphere is great. The music, the smells, the pretties, the closeness and warmth, the anticipation - it all makes me happy.

I'm one of those people who would start putting up decorations in October if I had my way. Alas, I am forbidden from unleashing the holidays on the house until the first weekend in December. Sort of a yearly tradition (more like a limitation!). This year December first fell on a Monday, so I am impatiently waiting until then.

It seems that the rest of the world began decorating weeks ago, and I just couldn't stand it any longer, so I began a 'Christmas Shelf'. The favourites can be found on one little shelf, hidden away from everyone but me. My little piece of the holidays, just a little bit early. My favourite part of holiday decorating is pulling each item out of the box and reminiscing. This is why it takes us an entire day to put up the tree. We like to remember where each thing came from and why it's so special to us. I thought it would be fun to share a little with you.

A good mix of old and new, gifted and handmade, found and thrifted, and some store bought. There has never been a theme, just a mish mash of things that make us happy.

There are some old favourites that the holidays cannot be without. This little wooden nativity scene is probably the most important of those. I am a spiritual person, not religious, so to some it would seem a little strange that my favourite decoration would be one with such religious symbolism, but we've had this one since I was a small girl and it has always been my favourite. It just would not be the same without it.

These are another old favourite. Tiny story books that open into pop-up star shaped books to hang on the Christmas tree. So sweet.

The stories are a little dumbed down because they need to fit in only a few lines on five little pages, but the illustrations and pop-ups are beautiful. I'm sure we had more of these, but I don't know what happened to them.

Then there are the new favourites. I added this Erzgebirge arch ornament this year. We usually add at least one each year, although that probably is not the smartest idea as our tree is already overcrowded as it is. I would love to eventually add an Erzgebirge pyramid. We could definitely find room for that!

Another new favourite. If you know me, you can imagine why!

I've been keeping an eye out for Holiday decorating posts in the blogs I frequent. I love getting a little peak into the traditions of others. Everyone has their own style and their own favourites.