I'm planning on making something for each immediate family member and have something planned but not started. I usually give my siblings a late or early Bday gift since we stopped doing Christmas -- not sure what those will be, and I have ordered the wreaths we give DH's siblings and cousin. Those are my major gifts -- I just have to get busy making and maybe picking up some smaller giftc. The kids don't want a lot of things, so DS1 and DIL may get tickets to something or a gift card for a dinner and DS2 will likely get some help with a new 3D printer. I am considering a couple of new games for us all to try (last year's was a dud) and we have puzzles to set out. Simplifying and just hoping for time together.

Christmas decorations start before Halloween because the companies that do installations discount the early birds and need the time to do a lot of installs. We are looking into permanent lights so we only have a wreath and bows on the lanterns to put up, maybe change a color or timing setting on the lights. Almost did it last year.

I agree it is too early for Christmas music in stores and such. I'm hearing students working on music for the holiday concerts when I am at the school -- that's okay, but other than that, it should be December.

I am already looking at the calendar to decide when I will start decorating. I have a 10 & 12yo so we still love all things Christmas, including the music! We haven't played it yet but we have started singing it around the house. Maybe this weekend!

I used to decorate the weekend after thanksgiving, but did it the week before one year and loved it. I love having my house festive with Christmas when people visit at Thanksgiving. What a waste to do it after they leave and nobody sees it. Decorating for xmas early doesn't mean I forget about Thanksgiving! It just means I want to get the most out of my time. And also sometimes it's just about what weekend is free on the calendar.

Bah humbugs can make their own post about that. I love this one about CHRISTMAS!

I just wanted to let everyone know here that we had a lot of rain during the evening and last night and my back porch stayed dry! And actually the pans I put under my downspouts, caught the rainwater and I believe Monroe at least has been drinking from them this morning.

Today is my birthday 🤪 imagine that!

Wow! Thank you ladies, I hoped I thanked everyone earlier and now more birthday wishes are coming through. I sure appreciate that. Today I didn’t do anything special really in fact I walked around the house and said OK. Today is my birthday. What should I do lol. I think with everybody busy in the family I know that we can do some celebrating this weekend. So it was pretty low-key but just thankful all the same.

Champagne is my choice with pale blues for our Golden 50th Anniversary. Finally got more of the sequined fabric and are making progress on the tree! It is gorgeous in person. Just one sneak peek. More later.

We had quite a day today! TIP: if you are doing sequined fabric or large bows, they are heavy. So we had to create weight balance but we got it done. I wish you could see it situ! It is so sparkly and totally glam. Just right for Golden Anniversary! Hope you like.

Thanks Alice. I actually recycled many of last year’s ornaments to this tree. Always looking to save a few bucks! Of course, o splurged on the sequin fabric but hey! 50 years — we deserve a celebration!! 😂

I don’t know about gifts and I’m usually trying to stay practical on giving that sometimes the idea of a subscription to a very interesting or fun or unique magazine is something that people enjoy. I’m guessing you could get the first one, then send off for the delivery of each month to their home and add that to some type of goodie basket.

I noticed the National Geographic’s catch my eye at the grocery stores. They always seem to have such interesting subjects that they cover

Books in particular of any subject have always been a favorite for giving in my opinion. In fact, I’ve been picking up small readers along the way for the grandsons stockings and my oldest grandson, of course had told me what he wanted and I had found a Lego airplane that has 420 pieces and it was at a good price so I grabbed that as well.

We finally did the reform to the porch stairs. Still missing the rails and painting touches. I'll post a daylight picture tomorrow.

Have the rest of the furniture and accessories been bought (other than rug)? Hard to suggest without knowing what you already have.

If starting with a couch, choose a color that appeals to you and would like to continue using to pull the space together.

Do you have pets and/or young children, as fabric vs leather and light vs dark are important considerations.

Now that I’m thinking about it, I should go look for that and post it lol