2008 Christmas Tour of Homes

To see the other homes on tour, click on the logo above or HERE. You'll see the hostess' home (Boo Mama) followed by a LONG LONG list of links for other decor tours.

Welcome to our Wisconsin home. This is our second year in this home, and our first "tour."

When you enter our front door, you are in a spacious foyer. The wall directly in front of you holds the chalkboard. The doorway to the living room is pictured to the left, and the coffee bar is the doorway to the right. We love to add personalized greetings to the chalkboard.

The coffee bar is behind pocket doors which are always open. You can grab a cup, and make the coffee right there. The snowman mugs are perfect for cocoa.



Two double bookshelves line the foyer wall next to the living room doorway. The baskets above are lit each night by a ropelight which recesses into the top of the book case. For the holidays we nestled our village into two small shelves of one of the bookcases.

At the corner of the bookshelves is a 4 foot tree, covered with snowmen. Before snowmen were all the rage I began collecting them, and they have multiplied. Smiling snowmen are tucked onto shelves throughout the house. The snowman lamp is always on to welcome you in from the cold.

Across the foyer from the wall of bookshelves is an open staircase to the lower level. This red tin punch mirror is adorned with a hand needlepoint wreath ornament that I made my mother in junior high. She treasured it, and it hung on her dressing mirror year round.


The doorway to the left of the snowman lamp takes you into the kitchen. Greenery on the plate rack holds "teacups and gingerbread" ornaments. All kitchen themed ornaments hang here.


Adding these lights and ornaments above the kitchen sink makes clean up a little more fun. And our dear neighbors actually moved their tree in front of their family room window so that I could see it out my kitchen window. Can you see it in the distance? It's a cheery scene.

Our kitchen Advent Candle is lit each Sunday. This candelabra is more than 15 years old, and is one of many family traditions that we have maintained with our four children.


The living room and dining room are one long room. One end is flanked with a three part china cabinet. The two end units are pictured below. The center unit has frosted, beveled glass doors, and that is where the "Happy Birthday Jesus" is hanging. The Christmas china, on the top shelf of one unit, was a wedding gift some 24 years ago...





The creche, on the bottom shelf, belonged to my husband's grandmother. His father brought back various animals for the scene, hand carved from olive wood, when he traveled to Bethlehem.


The dining room table is often aglow with candle light.


Jingling Bells hang from the chandelier.


Our fireplace is two sided - the mantle on the dining room side holds a large hand painted nativity set.


The tree is always the center of attention. Each of the four kids have an ornament collection in addition to our family ones. Frasier firs are my favorite, but their thin branches are weighed down by December 25!



The tiny plastic nativity scene was purchased when our youngest was 2. (1997) We spent many hours looking for those animals and that baby over the years. This plastic set was well enjoyed by Jake's little hands.

The family room is snowman headquarters. And of course the stockings are hung by that chimney with care.



This Charles Wysocki print is entitled "Pie for the Parson." It was a gift to my father, a retired minister, from a couple in his church - given in 1993. I love commemorating his 50 plus years of ministry with it.

Thank you for visiting! Merry Christmas!