Christmas Decorating 101.

I surprised myself and my immediate family members that know me so well, when a small part of me did not want to decorate for Christmas this year. We had just purchased our house 3 months earlier, and we were still working on the basic decor of the home, the thought of putting up a Christmas tree in every room exhausted me! But then our relatives that live far away decided this Christmas was the perfect time to come down from Canada to celebrate the season with us, so in true Julie Ann Events tradition, the Christmas trees went up the day after Halloween. We pulled out all of our trees and decorations that had been sitting in storage for the past four years and decked our halls.

In our formal living room, we went with a basic tree and trimmed it with neutral color palette, using primarily all white and silver decorations. The tree popped nicely off of our bright pink floor rug. After four years of not seeing our annual holiday decorations, it was fun to pull out what we have had and incorporate the Christmas decorations we purchased in Hong Kong and China. There was a fun mix of bespoke ornaments interspersed with Ikea ornaments!

How many Christmas trees is too many? I asked that question out on our Instagram feed. In our family room, I put up three trees around our television. I used colored ornaments that I had purchased on clearance from Target 4 years ago and never had an opportunity to use since we moved. Unconsciously I had also purchased a garland in a coordinating color scheme from a market in Hong Kong. It worked perfectly to tie all three trees together. White star tree toppers on each tree pulled the look together.

One room in our home held our family tree, which is hands down my favorite tree of the house. We wait till the day after (American) Thanksgiving to pick out a live tree and hang our family ornaments on it that hold sentimental meaning to us throughout the years. There's a heart ornament I made in the third grade, snowmen footprints that all three of our kids made that one year we had three kids living in our house, the yearly ornaments that we buy each of our kids which one day they will take with them to their own homes, and the ornaments from our first Christmas spent together. It's under this tree that the gifts we give out reside, and where we sit in front of on Christmas morning to open stockings and read Luke 2 as a family.

We managed to put up eight trees up this year, and next year we hope to add four more to that number. Christmas is the one holiday I go all out in decorating for, since it's such a significant holiday in the spiritual life of our personal family. We truly enjoy celebrating the birth of Jesus, and continuing the traditions we have established as a family. It's such a special time in the year to celebrate with those we love dearly.


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How To Host A Gingerbread Party.

Every year during the Christmas season, one of our traditions as a family is to decorate gingerbread houses. This year we figured we would make a party out of it, inviting a bunch of friends in our building and community over for the evening for dinner and decorating.

I took a trip to any expat's favorite store... Ikea, where I purchased the gingerbread house kits and majority of the holiday party decor. For a fun festive twist, I decided to tie a red ribbon around each individual package and top it off with an ornament that each guest could take home with them at the end of the evening. Wrapping paper in a coordinating color and style was lined down the center of the table, and on it was placed bowls for the different candies that would be used to decorate each house. The white candy bowls are the perfect backdrop to hold all the colorful candies. 

We Decorated For Christmas But We're Not Going To Be Here.

Yup, you read that correct. I put up a Christmas tree, hung our stockings, and played Sufjan Stevens' Christmas albums, all the while knowing that we weren't even going to be in the country for the actual holiday. Our family had planned a full three week vacation exploring the country of Vietnam during the advent season. But as a mother with two smallish children, we all needed to have some semblance of tradition, so up went the decorations. That Ikea Christmas tree has done wonders for us for the past four years. It comes with such easy set up and easy take down as well.

Christmas In Beijing.

Out came our trusty Christmas tree that we had shipped over from Hong Kong along with our four Christmas stockings that I had purchased from the Flower Market in Prince Edward. Seeing the familiar ornaments and continuing family traditions keeps the excitement going from year to year for our two children that move from country to country.

We kept our decorations minimal and simple. I made a holiday banner out of white card stock, which I hung above our dining room hutch. The landscapers for our apartment complex trimmed the trees in front of our building, and I placed some of the branches in a vase and hung ornaments from them.

Holiday Tour Of Our Home.

The day after Thanksgiving we went out in search of Christmas decorations for our little flat. Once our tree was purchased {from Ikea} we had the dilemma of where to place it our home. After having my assistant move our furniture around several times, we finally settled on the best place for the tree.

My one handmade holiday contribution to our decorations this year was to make the "O Holy Night" sign and cover it in silver glitter.  I really miss not having my Silhouette Cameo here with me in Hong Kong. I've gotten spoiled with having a machine do my cutting for me, so I just managed to hand cut my one sign before I decided it was enough.

In past years, I've put up a tree in every room of our home. We've always waited till after Thanksgiving to put up the live tree. I didn't have the heart to purchase a large live tree this year, but when I was walking through the flower market in Mong Kok, I couldn't resist bringing home a little tree that now sits on our kitchen counter.

Happy Birthday Jesus.

I've mentioned in the past that our family celebrates the birth of Christ at Christmas. Every year since having children, we have some type of birthday cake for Jesus. My husband and I did not grow up with this tradition, but we were looking for some way to make this special time of the year meaningful for our children. Since I love parties and celebrating birthdays, my husband and I thought this might be a great way for our toddlers to interact with and grasp the significance of the holiday for our family. Our birthday cake for Jesus varies every year. Last year I was physically sick on Christmas day, and we used leftover cupcakes that were in our house from a Christmas party. We put a candle on each one and let the kids blow out the candle after we sang the traditional "Happy Birthday" song. Back in 2009 I made a six layered rainbow cake specifically for the birthday cake for Jesus. One year we joined up with another family who had kids the same ages as our kids, and put together a whole birthday party for Jesus.

This year, our kids are part of a weekly Awana club. After their Christmas program, they served a reception of refreshments featuring a gigantic layered birthday cake for Jesus. I knew this year I wanted to recreate thae cake in our own home. This cake visually told a story. The chocolate layer reminds us that we are all sinful. There is a layer of red velvet cake, which reminds us that Jesus died on the cross and shed His blood for our sins. The final layer is green and reminds us to grow in our spiritual relationship with Christ. The whole cake is iced in white frosting to remind us that through Jesus' death and resurrection we can have a clean heart and experience new life {everlasting life} in Him when we ask Him to forgive our sins.  Yellow decorations are used on top of the cake to symbolize heaven. And finally the candles on the cake are a visual reminder that Jesus is the Light of the World.

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." {Romans 5:8}

Happy Christmas.

From our family to yours, we wish you peace and joy this holiday season. Wishing you too experience the fullness of life in Him this Christmas. "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full" {John 10:10}

Christmas Cookie Exchange.

Nothing puts you in the spirit of the season quite like a cookie exchange party. The cookies themselves are the main focal point of the party, which makes this type of party a very affordable and easy way to entertain.We asked each guest to bring four dozen home-made cookies with them. They specified which cookie they would bring when they responded to the invite. This way it prevented duplicate cookie recipes. However, there did seem to be a running peppermint theme throughout the night.

Since our cookie buffet was the focal point of the party, we designed the table so guests could have easy access to all of the treats. To add visual interest to our buffet, we elevated platters and used cake pedestals to create height. For a unified look, as well as to create a blank canvas for the different varieties of cookies, we used white dishware. We filled in the gaps of our table with fresh flowers and white unscented candles.

While we had a main buffet table dedicated to the cookies, we also created another buffet with carafes of hot chocolate, coffee, and ice water. We set up a small hot chocolate bar so guests could customize their beverage. We offered whipped cream, sprinkles, peppermint sticks, miniature marshmallows, and chocolate chips to add to their hot beverage. 

Cookie Exchange Awards.

As in previous years of hosting a cookie exchange, we gave out awards again this year. We let our guests anonymously vote on which cookie they thought was "The Prettiest Cookie", "The Tastiest Cookie", and "The Most Unique Cookie". We made the awards using white card stock, brown card stock, glitter, and two cupcake wrappers. The prettiest cookie award went to the Peppermint Crinkle Kiss cookie. The tastiest cookie was awarded to the Oreo Truffles. And finally, there was a tie between the Bourbon Pecan Chew cookie and the Peppermint Bliss Bar for the most unique cookie of the evening.