Yep, it's that day!!! The first of December…well, there is about an hour left of the first…

but it has started!! The countdown!! yipeeeee!!

So all of that advent calendaring has led to this day! 

Here is the calendar that started it all…mine!! 🙂

It's hanging on my craft studio closet door. And see that little bag underneath the calendar??

that is holding all of my sweet little guys that I am putting in each pocket each day! So fun!

I whipped that up in a few minutes using Sweetwater's Countdown to Christmas fabric. LOVE!!

Each day this month, I will post with the pic of what little guy I put in the pocket! I know you will want to know…for sure!! LOL!!

What else is going on, you ask???

Well, we've started to really decorate here! As we get closer to the day I start my 12 days of Christmas (which you remember, is the 13th of December!! yay!!!), I am keeping a bunch of my projects secret so that I can share them with you then…

BUT…

there are some I have to share!!

Here is our Christmas tree…

We have our traditional ornaments that we've had since our wedding which was exactly 20 years ago, December 21st…you'll see more about that soon, I'm sure!!

Since we got married in late December, we received a bunch of ornaments with and as our presents…so fun!! So each year, when I unwrap them, I get nostalgic, of course…maybe a little weepy! Well, this particular glass cardinal means so much to me! A couple gave it to us for our wedding. And I'm not sure if they knew or not, but it was my father's favorite bird. He would always point out cardinals and blue jays. So my sister and I always (especially at Christmas time) give cardinals or include some mention of them just to give a shout out to my dad. (He passed away the year before Mr Gorgeous and I got married.) 

My aunt always sends us a hallmark ornament! Love these!!

we LOVE these decoupage balls…there are 6 of them. So they are the first ornaments we put on the tree every year. Each of us gets one! what a tradition….

the magic of Christmas…Lil putting a snowflake on. Each of us gets 8 snowflakes to put up. Of course, there's a story about them, too. When we got married, we had our reception in our fellowship hall of our church, and there were two gorgeously huge trees that decorated the room. My two aunts decorated them, and these snowflakes were the main decoration. Tulle and snowflakes…pure gorgeousness!! So I bought my own snowflakes (since my aunt had used hers for our trees) and we've had them on our tree ever since!

Look at that ornament on the bottom of the pic. That was made by my friend Dixie the year Lil was born. It's the baby Jesus in a manger… a little stuffed felt ornament. Sooo cute! And this year, Lil asked for it. While I was unwrapping the ornaments, she kept asking…"where's my ornament? the little baby?? it says 2002 on the back!!" Sure enough, it says Christmas 2002 on the back! And Lil said, "Ohhhh, it's just like me when I was born!!" Soooo cute!!

 I love the crocheted snowflakes…and the elf hat…and this senior!!

 and this man…such a great sport!! (dollar store antlers!! LOVE!!!)

and our star…….*sigh* beautiful!!!

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Before I go, I have to tell you what is going on at the O…

GO HERE to see all of the excitement!! yay!!!

and how cool is this??? The day after this ends is the first day of my 12 days! So basically if you follow both the Oscraps blog and my blog, you will get 24 days of holiday inspiration!! Doesn't get any better than that!!! 🙂

Santa says to have a great December…don't let it pass by too fast!! Embrace every moment!!