Lighten Up! (Simplify!)

This year, I've done my Christmas decorating a little differently.

Instead of pulling out every box, I went searching for things that I knew I wanted to decorate with. I knew I wanted our nativity set out -- so, I pulled out that box.  There were a couple of other Christmas boxes under it -- but, I left those on the shelf.

My approach this year has been more about making little vignettes around the house rather than thinking I have to decorate every corner, every flat surface, every wall, and every door with every single Christmas decoration that we own.

I knew I wanted only a few mugs out, and we have a rather large collection.  Typically, I take all of our everyday mugs out of the cupboard, and replace them with the Christmas mugs.  This means several trips up and down the steps to store the everyday mugs for the Christmas season.  Instead, only six mugs now grace a rectangular serving dish on the kitchen counter.  (The everyday mugs are still in the cupboard.)

Check it out:  a Christmas hot-beverage station!

On the wall, a favorite painted-chalkboard piece made by my sister.
A rectangular serving piece holds up to six mugs.

Add a pretty snow-scene jar filled with peppermint candies and teabags, and a homemade tag (made from the teabag box).

A sugar-bowl:

And an empty candle jar filled with a small string of lights and some larger red Christmas bulbs:

I'm pretty happy with the results!

What's YOUR key to Christmas decorating?

What have you done to make Christmas simpler, allowing you to be MORE in the moment this year?

A Funny Story About My Christmas Mugs:

Several years ago, my sweet hubby bought me the first four in the series of "12 days of Christmas" mugs to match my Christmas serving pieces.  The following year, he bought me the next four in the series.  The next year?  The previous sets were discontinued, and the third set in the series was never even produced.  No twelve days of Christmas for me!  Now, I can laugh.  At the time, I was incredulous that they could do such a thing!
These days, I have the EIGHT days of Christmas
MINUS TWO due to breakage.
Somehow those last four don't seem quite as important any more.
                                                         

via Cottage Magpie