Mrs Ohtobe: Nester's Christmas 2010 Tour of Homes

Once again I am joining Nester's Christmas 2010 Tour of Homes. Come on in!

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you enjoy our little tour and celebrate the holidays with us!

I always decorate my Great Grandmother's Danish china in little red bows.

This year I found some elephant fabric I used for a tree skirt on Mom's Elephant Tree. While the fabric isn't Christmasy, I think the stars give the illusion that it blends in.

A few of the elephants ornaments.

And to give you a little background: this tree Mom purchased after Christmas in 2004. She never got to put it up. I thought it would be fitting to dedicate the tree to her and I have only decorated it with things she loved. Like her German ornaments, red apples and of course elephants!

What Elephant tree wouldn't be complete without Horton?

The China cabinet with the Christmas card garland I made last year.

Mom's Christmas village.

Looking from the kitchen into the office: Do you spy Okie sleeping on the couch?

This year I decorated a few cabinets with some wreaths I threw together. The reindeer ornaments are some Mom had bought the year before she died.

A close up of the 3 wise men.

Joseph, Mary and the Baby Jesus with Fred the sheep.

My inherited Nativity.

A Peeping Santa that I painted years ago. Butter thinks that Santa looks like a creeper. I love it for the details I painted with a toothpick - like the little plates on the right side.

My beaded tree that sits on the coffee table.

Another view of Mom's Elephant Tree. I am so happy with the way it turned out!

The topper on Mom's tree was made by my Great Aunt Rosella who passed away before the twins were born. My grandmother gave me the angel when I was 15 and I have loved it ever since.

Have you wondered what 97 nutcrackers might look like?

I think I need just 3 more and then I am done!

On the main tree. We started collecting ornaments from our travels. The ornament on the left is from our trip to Seattle in 2007.

Aunt Ro's Mrs. Claus. Love. Her. Last year she didn't get hung on the tree and I thought she got lost. This year I made sure she was hung in a prominent place on the tree.

Much to the kids' chagrin - I still hang up every little thing they ever made for me!

And I like putting oddball momentos on the tree as well. Here we have Frodo's baby shoes.

The Star Wars section of the tree. Each year we get the kids ornaments with the intention of them taking the ornaments with them when they move out. That way their first Christmas away from home they have a little piece of home with them.

The main tree. Lights on.

Lights off. Does it seem to tilt left? Just cock your head to the right and it straightens right out! And I am sad to report that our Angel topper died this year hence how dark the top of the tree looks. Am I the only one having problems finding a decent tree topper because I couldn't find anything I liked.

Do you like my Christmas pillow? I'll let you in on a little secret but don't tell anyone okay? It used to be a sweater! Yeti gave my Mom that sweater and she would wear it during the holidays and I even borrowed it on a few occassions. However it was huge on both her and I and there was no way I could wear it now because I have lost a little weight in the last few years. So I cut the arms off the sweater and tried my best to square it up on the sewing machine. Then I stuffed it with fiberfill and voila! Instant Christmas pillow packed with tons of meaning.