It's beginning to look a lot like . . . Hogwarts?

As you can imagine, all the mice in Cobblestone Circle are busy with their Christmas preparations.  As am I. 

Every year seems to bring a combination of tradition and newness to my decorating.  Some of the newness is by choice, or I simply don't remember where I placed certain items in previous years ~ but some is forced.  Although the concept empty-nest is firmly rooted in my and Mr. Cobblestone's brains, downsizing has not yet hit our psyche.  Due to some rather large new furniture purchases, I find that some of my Christmas collection has had to find new locations.  This takes me waaaaaaaaay longer than you'd think it should.

Aside:  It was Mr. Cobblestone who pointed out years ago that it is indeed Christmas 'Collection' that I possess ~ much like a museum in that you don't showcase it all at once, but rather choose which items to display in any given year.  Yes, I'm a Christmas junkie on some level.  *gasp*

Anyway, the first change this year was in our dining room.  We used to have two light fixtures above the table, but changed to one large one this year ~ and added the architectural detailing on the ceiling.  I had only just begun to create my Hogwarts effect (for lack of  a better term) last year and here already I had to come up with a new plan.  But fear not ~ armed with my invisible sewing thread, and a few well placed pins, I managed to hang all my crystal snowflakes and golden ornaments from the ceiling once again.  The effect is really stunning when we dine in the evenings with the candles lit.  I'm toying with the idea of getting some of those battery operated votives and hanging them as well ~ you know, kinda like the floating candles in Hogwarts dining hall.  The falling snow is definitley out of the question.  Hmmm . . . .

Today I will decorate the large tree in the living room, which once again will be a change for me.  We no longer have room for the largest tree from the Christmas Tree Farm (I told ya ~ junkie) so I will definitely have to do some editing of what actually makes it onto the tree this year. 

I hope each of you are enjoying your holiday preparations ~ and that you and yours have a peaceful and joyous season!