Merry Christmas...again?

I have had this collection of pictures that I have been meaning to post....so let's pretend for a few minutes like it is still December and these aren't a little late.

I cut way back on Christmas decorations this year for a few reasons. I didn't have time to go all out. I have a small child. We spent a lot of our December out of town. I also decided to change up our decor scheme a little, but didn't want to spend an arm and a leg getting all new decorations this year. And I made that decision about halfway through December. I used a lot of pieces I already have and just added holiday flair for low budget decor. Here is a touch a Christmas at the McCormick's!

Our stockings came from Pottery Barn. Funny story. Ryan and I started dating in September of 2008. In November, I ordered us matching stockings. Good thing he was as crazy about me as I was about him...or else I might have appeared to be crazy.

My mantle garland I have used the past few years didn't survive last Christmas, so I used some holiday ribbon and plastic silver ornaments instead. I already had the ribbon and ornaments on hand, so it was a quick fix  I used our Christmas card on a small easel I already had to spruce things up. We ordered our cards from Minted this year. I received an awesome credit to their website and had to take advantage of it.

These vases are from my Southern Living at Home collection and usually have wicker balls in them. I added my glass ornaments that I was afraid to put on the tree...due to the small child:) I added the berry stems from my box o' Christmas and done!

This green vase always sits on our bookshelf, so I added the rest of my berry stems. You might recognize this book from a previous post. It was my favorite as a child and I found a copy at Marshall's for Hayes. I put another cute Christmas shot of Hayes on an easel and I was done with decorating!

I love love love wrapping Christmas gifts. I almost look at them as part of my decor. I love making them all match and creating cute gift tags. Hobby Lobby is my favorite place to buy wrapping paper and these are the reasons why: the roll has soooo much paper on it; the paper has a grid printed on the back for easy cutting; oh and the paper is pretty. The day I bought my gift wrapping supplies, Hobby Lobby had them all 50% off...another reason to love them!

I made my gift tags from cardstock I had at home. I used stamps to add the first letter of the recipient's name, then filled in the rest with a sharpie. They all looked so beautiful...it was a shame they had to be opened:)

I made Hayes's daycare teachers Oreo bark for a Christmas treat. It was super easy and delicious. I love making bark and I just made this one up with supplies in my kitchen.

Hayes's Oreo Bark

1 pack oreos (1 row)

1 pkg vanilla bark

3 squares semi-sweet baking chocolate

Line a cookie sheet with wax paper. Melt vanilla bark. Crush one row of Oreos from the package. Mix vanilla and oreos together. Place on cookie sheet in a checkerboard pattern. Melt chocolate and fill in spaces on cookie sheet. Drag a knife through the bark to create a fun swirly design. Place in fridge. Once hardened, break into pieces and eat!

*There is more vanilla/oreo mixture, so leave your holes for the chocolate small.

For the teacher's cards, I used the same template as the gift tags. To create the background, I used a fleur de lis stamp and light blue ink.

Our first Christmas with Hayes was fun! For next year, my plan is to do a light blue and red color scheme. I am also on the hunt for a plush nativity so that Hayes can enjoy it too.