Starting Small with Holiday Decorating

Okay, so I’m kind of a freak when it comes to holidays, marriage, and traditions.  I’ve been dreaming, since the moment I knew I was going to marry Mr. Converse Sneakers, of these winter holidays and all of the traditions that come with them.  Before we got married, I never did much to decorate for Christmas, since I was in college with little money (not much has changed there) and lived either by myself or with roommates.  Now that I am with the man of my dreams, we can finally (says the 22-year-old) start our own traditions and buy decorations our future kiddos will remember and cherish.

I grew up in a home that went all out for Christmas.  My mom is a great decorator and uses Christmas time as an excuse to completely deck out the house from head to toe with beautiful decorations (in addition to her already beautiful home).  My childhood Christmases were complete with garland around each doorway, bows on every pine tree outside, a wooden train on the mantel, an aroma of cookies throughout the house, and a beautiful Christmas tree with sentimental ornaments that reminded me that family and Jesus are the most important things in life.  Obviously, I hope to carry on the tradition of bringing in the Christmas spirit by decorating as well, although I plan to put my own spin on it, and it will take many years to build up the bounty of Christmas decorations that my mom has.

I was not sure where to start with the decorating, until I was at Target perusing the back aisles where the holiday displays just happen to be.  Yeah right, I was totally ready to drool over all the Christmas decorations!

Then, like a bolt of lightening striking me right in the chest, I saw this aisle and about fainted.



And that was only half on the aisle!  Does Target have this aisle every year?  How did I miss it?  What have I been doing with my life before this moment?  I must have looked completely crazy running around the aisle taking photos, but I was enamored at the colors, the shiny packaging, the prices above them that all read a glorious $2.50 for a pretty thick roll.

Growing up, I would always set aside a time to wrap all the presents I was giving friends and family at once.  I would carefully think about which wrapping paper, ribbons, bows, labels, etc. to put on each gift to fit the present and the receiver of the gift.  My mom has always had plenty of wrapping paper to choose from, which I thought was so fun.  I loved seeing all the different kinds under the tree.

When I spotted this aisle at Target, I realized I can now start a tradition of building up a wrapping paper collection, since I never have any and always have to go buy a really crappy kind when the time comes.  The best part is that some of this paper doesn’t scream “Christmas” so they can be used for birthdays as well.
Here are some of my faves:



The striped one above caught my attention right away.  It’s got my favorite colors AND polka dots, which I love more than words can describe.  I am hoping to find some vintage ornaments with the pinks, blues, and greens, for our first tree this year (fingers crossed), so this paper would tie it all together.



Although we don’t have one yet (apartment doesn’t allow them), Mr. Converse Sneakers and I are slightly obsessed with dogs.  My parents have a Scottish Terrier named Stewart Wallace who I love like my own baby.  I always joke that Westies get more recognition than Scotties, which is unjust, but Scotties always make a grand appearance around Christmas time.  Here they are on some blue polka dot wrapping paper!  Definitely picking up some of that.



I adore the "”Joy” wrapping paper with the the snow flakes, vintage font, and bright colors.



I honestly don’t think any holiday, room, or outfit is complete without polka dots, so I’m definitely going to be buying a couple rolls of simple red and white polka dot wrapping paper.



I will probably be sticking with paper that doesn’t necessarily go together, because that’s how I grew up and I’ve always thought it was fun, but I wouldn’t mind once in a while sticking to a theme with the colors of the paper under the tree.  Since I’m mildly passionate (to euphemize my neurotic condition) and have declared blue as my favorite color for quite some time, I’m sure blue ornaments will be all over the tree (maybe because I’ve bought some already . . .) so mimicking that look under the tree would be a fun option.  I’m not sure I will do it this year because I’m in love with the multicolored paper, but I’ll add it to my list of things to do in the future!

Now, if you’ve stayed reading through this whole rambling, obsessive, crazy post, I commend you!  It’s not even after Thanksgiving and I’m already rattling my mouth about wrapping paper, of all things.  Man, I am crazy!  But, I am all about the little things in life, and since this is my first Christmas with my prince, I get excited about everything!  Plus, blame Target for breaking out this wondrous aisle before Thanksgiving.  I wanted to make sure I wrote about it before it became old news.

What was something you looked forward to, that you had dreamed of for years, when you got married?  Or, what is something you dream of doing when you get married?