First Annual BLOOM Christmas Show-n-Tell

First up today, we want to spread the word about a fabulous, unique, charitable giveaway going on today at This Little Miggy Stayed Home. Get this: It's a Giveaway Giveaway. What? In Miggy's words: "Instead of signing up for yourself in hopes of winning, you will sign up in behalf of someone you know who needs the extra help this Christmas season." How much do you love that? It's going on this whole week, so head on over and check it out. Again, HERE is the link.


Now for some Christmas decor inspiration from YOU.

From Lindy: "Anders and I have a little tradition of making a gingerbread house every year. It's messy and not the most beautiful creation in the world, but we love making it!""Hanging ornaments: With an 18 month on the loose, I have to keep all decorations at least 3 feet of the ground. So, I hung these colorful balls from our chandelier. It looks festive and pretty and I don't have to worry about any broken ornaments!" Smart girl, that Lindy!

Megan says, "We have several images of the nativity which I love and our bookshelves had been extremely messy. So this year I cleared it off and made it decorative. The nice thing is that my two boys cannot reach these shelves(the only place in our house where this was even possible). I really enjoy looking at it, it makes me happy." Way to mix the practical and the pretty!

This darling wreath comes from Nikki, who says, "I made a felt wreath for our front door this year. It makes me happy every time I come home and see it hanging on our door." Love it!

Next, Sarah inspires with her glorious mantle and advent jars. She says, "The mantle is my favorite spot in the house: berries, stockings, and stories."


And you're in luck because the how-to for these darling (DARLING!) advent jars is HERE.

This advent calendar comes from Karen, who says, "I had to send my advent calendar! This is the same thing I used to fill up as a child and my mom bought each of us one of our own. It’s just an old coke box and we fill it with an ornament every day and on the 24^th I put Santa Claus coming down the chimney. It’s one of my favorite traditions!" Love those lasting traditions!

This festive mantle came from Joslyn, who says, "My husband's birthday in on the 11th, so we have a no-tree-till-the-12th rule. The snow men are homemade by Steve's Grandparents, G-pa does the woodwork and G-ma does the painting and decoration. So cute and very special!" (p.s. Joslyn, we love your built-in shelves and that flying bird canvas. Fab!)

These next two come from Tiffany. First, this cute fabric chain garland. Get the tutorial HERE.
and then her fun Advent, with the tutorial HERE. Thanks, Tiffany!
This cheery tree and darling advent calendar are by Abbie. Just love the use of bold colors and the wrapping paper on the wall behind the tree!

Cozy & Rustic. Cranberry Wreath & Lantern from Carissa:

We'd like to come over for cocoa, mmmkay, Carissa?

Next up, Mandi says: "I guess we went for a DIY Christmas this year -- first off, broken ornaments. So sad, but they look gawgeous in a lil bowl on the counter. And then this ornament wreath tutorial is apparently floating around blogland this year-- we decided to try it (wire hanger, wire cutters, ornaments, and a hot glue gun is all ya need.) And finally, a simple "JOY" on my mirror."

Thanks, Mandi - we love DIY. and giving new life to "broken" things :) and your pretty photos

We were immediately smitten by the "littleness" of the stockings in this next photo. Why is everything cute in miniature? Julie Nelson says this about her darling creation:
"This is a board that hangs in our house. The letters are just rub-on letters and I knit the little stockings."

This tree (which pretty much makes us want to sing !JOY TO THE WORLD! a la National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation) was submitted by Amy, who said:

"This is the tree in our front yard. When we went house hunting, my husband saw this tree and said, "wow, wouldn't that make a great Christmas tree." I thought he was insane-especially the first year when we maxed out the electricity on our house. Now we have LEDs so that problem is solved. We rent a crane every year to fix the lights and make them perfect. Last year we even added a snow machine to the roof. We love pulling onto our street and feeling the spirit of Christmas!"

Joy!

Advent calendar from Emily:



Traci's advent post got the count-down giddies in my blood and I just had to make one. Other than the fact that I cannot get it to stay up on my wall (without leaving poster putty goo behind, or taking pieces of the wall down with it) this little addition to our Christmas collection has infused this holiday season with more meaning and excitement than anything else we've done. I don't know who likes it more, me or Henry!

From Anne:

This year's mantle is another testament to using other people's old stuff. Nearly everything up there is a result of my pack-rat mother or my husband's grandmother, and I love it all!

Peppermint sticks in vintage apothecary jars (thanks, ebay) make me ridiculously cheerful.
I think standing in this exact spot of my kitchen is my favorite thing this year. I can see my shining stars, my advent boxes (which I tried out on the mantle and piano before settling with the buffet), even our red tree outside. It is layer upon layer of happy!


Thanks for playing, everyone! Hope your December is full of cheer.

(p.s. Scroll on down to see who won Friday's giveaway!)