Christmas Home Tour 2012, Part One, the Front of our Home!

 MERRY CHRISTMAS!! ( I have just been dying to say that all year long!! ) LOL!!

and WELCOME to my Christmas Blog!!

I will be posting on this blog rather than on my regular Blog, Debbie-Dabble, for the next few weeks until the Holidays are over....

Today is the beginning of our Annual Christmas Home Tour 2012......

 There are 7 Parts to the Home Tour.
I will take you through each room of our home decorated for Christmas and share with you our 19 trees!!
 Yes, you did read that right... 19 trees!!
There is a link at the end of each post that will take you to the next part of the Tour until you go through all 7 Parts.

Enjoy the Tour of our home for Christmas 2012!

We are going to start with the Front of Our Home decorated for Christmas.

Now if you have followed this blog and/or my regular Blog, Debbie- Dabble, you know that we live in a townhouse.
We are the 3rd home in from the end in a row of 10 homes.
And we have to walk up 13 steps from our parking lot to reach our front porch.

So this picture has been taken standing in front of my car looking up from the parking lot at our home.....

 We are up quite a hill.....

 I haven't really changed much since last year except for lighting....

 I wanted the house to really stand out front the street and parking lot and I think the large wreaths on each window accomplishes that.....

 Last year, I added the shatterproof balls to the wreaths and I think they held up beautifully through the Christmas season here in Northeast Pa.

 If you are wondering, they are held on the windows by 2 large suction cups per wreath from the Dollar Store . I have used these for many years and even with the winds that we get being up on a hill, I have NEVER had a wreath  blow or fall off a window!!!!

 The large wreath in the center of the house lights up and is attached to a screw.  This year I have changed the lights on this wreath to Warm White LED lights which you will see later in this post....

 We have gone for a more energy efficient approach this year and you can see that there is a red CFL bulb in the light post. This and a green one ( that I have yet to put in) in the Porch Light were bought at Lowe's.

For several years, we had light up Penguins( Joe's Hockey team) in front of the light post but those have found a new home at my niece's house as part of her Christmas outdoor display....

 Now we are walking up those 13 steps ( which will be the death of me as I get older) to our front porch....

 My next door neighbor's home is identical to mine...

 I do like to decorate the little front porch that we have....

 I have used the garland around the door and railing for many years....

 This year, we have used Warm White LED lights on the garland..... One set of 150 was enough for the railing on the side and around the door.
I bought them at Sam's Club last season on Clearance after Christmas....

 I made the wreath a few years ago and added the shatterproof balls last year.....

 I love this tin stocking and the rust that is on it from several seasons of use....

 We have to have a penguin for Joe ( Go Wilkes Barre Scranton Penguins!)!!!

Over to the right side of the front door....

Many of you already know that this sled is my childhood sled.....

I did a lot of sleigh riding when I was a child and a teenager so this sled holds a lot of fond memories for me......

 This is all faux greenery...

 A sweet slate with a nostalgic feel....

This wooden reindeer is near and dear to my heart as it was made for me by my oldest son, Joey , when he was in Cub Scouts....

And this is also another piece that is near and dear to me as this wooden sleigh was made for me by my younger son, Jimmy, when he was in Cub Scouts.....

This is my 3-5 and 7-9 basket.....

I had a friend visit a few years ago and she said she remembers seeing these outside of Funeral Homes , hence, the 3-5 and 7-9 basket( the times that Viewings used to be)....

I bought it at our church Flea Market.....

You can see we also used the Warm White LED lights on this railing along with on the garland around the front door, cutting back from 5-6 sets of lights to two sets of 150 lights for all the garland...

 Looking from the other side of the house.....

 

The flower bed under the Living Room window....

There is a new set of Warm White LED net lights , bought at Target this year, on the bushes ....

We decorated the outside on Veteran's Day last week since we had good weather with temps. in the 60's however, it is our tradition not to "light" the outside of the house until Thanksgiving Day night, ushering in the Christmas season.
Even though on my way to work at night, I have seen many homes already lit with their Christmas decorations.....

So tonight, on Thanksgiving night, the lights were turned on......

Just the 2 sets of LED were enough lighting...

 We do have a spotlight on the center of the house on the wreath which also has Warm White LED lights on it.
And there is the green CFL bulb lit in the front porch light.....

 This is looking out my front door...
Soon the shopping center to the side of us will be filled with Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday shoppers....

 The flower bed under the window and the Warm White LED net lights on the shrubs.....

 Looking up from our parking lot....

 There is the red CFL light bulb in the lantern....

So this was Part One of our Christmas Home Tour 2012. I hope you enjoyed it...

For Christmas Home Tour  Part Two , the Living Room, please click HERE

I will be linking up to these great parties this week:

Weekend Warmth Party
Home Sweet Home Friday
Show and Tell Friday
Potpourri Friday
Vintage Inspiration Friday
Simple and Sweet Fridays
Tickled Pink Party
Inspire Me Fridays 
 Flaunt It Fridays 
Fall into the Holidays

Saturday Nite Special
Pink Saturday- December 1-Holiday Porches
 Strut Your Stuff Saturdays
One Great Idea Saturday Party

Seasonal Sunday
Sunday's Best- Monthly-December 1
Sunny Simple Sundays
Bouquet of Talent Linky Party
Sunday SHOW-licious Craft Showcase  

Masterpiece Monday

Mod Vintage Mix Monday
Metamorphosis Monday

Make It Pretty Monday
Mop It Up Mondays
 DIY Project Parade

Cowgirl Up! Creative Linky Party
Knick of Time Tuesday

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Tweak It Tuesdays
Totally Transformed Tuesdays 
Show Me What You Got Tuesdays
 Tout It Tuesdays

All Star Blogger Block Party
What's It Wednesday
Wow Us Wednesday
Rednesday
Fall into Fall Party
Wednesdays Adorned From Above Linky Party
Primp Your Stuff Wednesdays
HOME Party on Wednesdays
Welcome Home Wednesday Party

DIY Holiday Highlights
Delightfully Inspiring Thursday
Treasure Hunt Thursdays
Show Off Your Stuff Party on Thursdays
Home and Garden Party Thursday
Share your Creations Thursday
Share Your Cup Thursday
Vintage Thingie Thursday
Transformation Thursday
Inspired Creations Linky Party
Time Travel Thursday
 Open House Party

   Inspiration Fridays 
 Weekend ShowOff Party
 Farm Girl Friday Blog Fest

Clever Chicks Blog hop

Christmas Tour of Homes 2012
It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas Blog Hop
Tis the Season Holiday Link Party- Outdoor Decorations
Better Late Than Never Christmas Blog Hop
  Winter Wonderings and Holiday Happenings
Countdown to Christmas 
Holiday Housewalk Linky Party
12 Days of Christmas Outdoor Christmas Decor
 Deck the Halls - Doors
Tis the Season Holiday link Party- Holiday Home Tour

Please take some time to visit these terrific hosts and all those joining in on the fun!

Thanks so much for stopping by today and every day that you take the time to visit with me!

Hugs,
Debbie