It's a Kid's Christmas - Decorating and Gift Ideas

Well this year I LET MY KIDS do the decorating.....was this hard for me??  (hee,hee)  Yes :-)

OK OK, just the tree......my husband and I left one night to go Christmas shopping and when we came home.....the tree was fully decorated in all it's glory......I didn't even touch it.  

So this year we have a candy cane "infested", school ornament decorated tree.  :-)

It's  actually pretty.....just not how I would have decorated it :-)  Their FAVORITE part is the candy canes that they weaved throughout the branches.  (Why is candy so fun for kids?) :-)

Every year, we go to our friend's house for a Christmas party and the she gives each of my kids a special ornament that they can add to their collection for when they have their own family.  (My mother in law does this too.)  They have some of the funniest ornaments ever!  They LOVE collecting them!

This is my friends Christmas tree (the one who hosts the party!)  

Isn't it amazing!! She decorates it with all kinds of Christmas birds.  I LOVE that!

I had fun putting up my reindeer and greenery on the mantel again.

That GIANT 3' wide wreath I got from Michaels craft store for 12 bucks!  (with the store coupon of course) I just hot glued little glittery ball ornaments and put lights in it.

My husband and I put up Christmas lights again......we haven't been thrilled with the icicle lights though.  When a wind storm hits, half the lights go up on the roof!!  He even put fishing weights on most the hanging lights and they STILL don't stay hanging down!  (Anyone know how to solve this problem?)

I wrote a post about good tips and tricks on how to take a great photo of your Christmas lights if you want to read it, just click on over :-)

And lastly.....how's that Christmas shopping going!?!  I posted this last year, but thought I would link to it again.....I wrote out my OWN kids top 5 (NON Electronic) gifts that they have received and enjoyed over the past years.  I am up for ANY good ideas from you wonderful readers too.....my kids are ages 12, 10 and 6.  :-)

ENJOY the season my friends!!!