We put our tree up the weekend before Thanksgiving this year because my family friend, Nichi, was visiting last Tuesday and we wanted her to see where we put the beautiful Christmas decoration she bought for us a few years ago and with preparing for her visit, working, going to Topeka for Thanksgiving and then Blue Springs, we knew that by the time the long weekend came around we’d be exhausted and so ready to just relax.

Even with the jumpstart on Christmas decorations, I’m not feeling the same holiday cheer around here. I’ve been so busy at work that this year has just completely flown by and I’m wondering what happened to August let alone September, October, and now November. It just doesn’t feel like it possibly could be close to Christmas yet.

Obviously, I need something to jump start my Christmas spirit so I’ve officially started my holiday music season at work! I want to share some highlights from my Spotify playlist. I’ll be adding to it (and maybe subtracting its more embarassing low points) throughout the holiday season so subscribe and follow along with my Christmas cheer.

• Mariah Carey – All I Want For Christmas Is You – Original Version
• She & Him – Baby, It’s Cold Outside
• Mae – Carol Of The Bells
• Jay Brannan – Dear Santa
• The Killers – Don’t Shoot Me Santa
• The Pogues Featuring Kirsty MacColl – Fairytale Of New York
• She & Him – Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
• Wham! – Last Christmas – Single Version
• Hanson – Merry Christmas Baby
• Michael Bublé – Mis Deseos/Feliz Navidad – Duet With Thalia
• Justin Bieber – Mistletoe
• She & Him – Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree
• Chuck Berry – Run Rudolph Run
• The Raveonettes – The Christmas Song
• Jenny Owen Youngs – Things We Don’t Need Anymore

Subscribe to A So Eclectic Christmas on Spotify.

And, yes, by embarassing low points I’m referring to Justin Bieber’s Mistletoe. I just love to hate it so much.

I hope all of you had an awesome Thanksgiving and that it was filled with friends, family, and FOOD! I ate too much. It was a whole weekend of eating. (Let’s be honest, that’s my kind of weekend.)

I traveled to my parents’ house for Thanksgiving and so right when I got back to Austin, I got so excited to get out the little amount of Christmas decorations I have. This year is the very first year that I will be able to decorate my own space for Christmas. Last year we visited Brendan’s family in California for three weeks and so there really wasn’t any reason to decorate because we wouldn’t be here to enjoy it. Then every year before last Christmas, I was in college which means I was gone pretty much the whole month of December. So I’m so excited!

I’ve got loads of tutorials floating around in my brain for all of you and there’s so much I want to do. But, the kicker? I’m on a major budget! I’ve given myself about $60-$75 to purchase everything I need to decorate and DIY.

For now, I’m getting everything in it’s place so I’ve got a sneak peek for you.

I’m really feeling the vintage Christmas ornaments this year. I love them.

 My vintage stockings. Who doesn’t love Snoopy?

 Do you have a Christmas cactus? Aren’t they lovely. They only bloom around Christmas time.

 My new favorite Christmas scent. Spruce it Up by Glade. It’s ah-mah-zing! They have room spray, candles, and the Plugins. The Apple Cinnamon scent is awesome too! I love how it smells like Christmas every time I walk in the door.

 Here’s a peek of my tree. Yep, that’s a snowflake ornament and I used a binder clip to fix it to the tree. It was free!

I’m excited for our first holiday season at So Eclectic! Love this season!

Mom is starting to really put pressure on Kyle and I to get her a Christmas list. This year, all I really want for Christmas is a nice Christmas Eve with my family and Christmas Day with his family. Some of this is because there just isn’t too much we want. Usually we ask for a few things we would enjoy but wouldn’t ordinarily purchase for ourselves like movies or books or an Xbox Live account for Kyle. This year, we’re having a hard time coming up with even that list. If I had to make a Christmas list right now it would look more like a punch list with three different projects we need to hire contractors for to get the outside of the house cleaned up after hard summer storms.

Besides, I am at an age where I value personal gifts picked out by someone who loves me much more than I am concerned about getting the same number of gifts as my little brother.

If it’s time to start making a list of gifts then it’s definitely time to start thinking of gifts to give. This pre-Christmas season, I’ve been having a lot of fun playing with Ety’s Gift Ideas for Your Friends tool. It makes it super easy to shop for really personal gifts for your friends and family, as long as they’ve specified some likes on Facebook. After you go to Etsy.com/gifts, you just link up your Facebook account and search for the friend you’re buying for.

Here’s the screenshot for my family’s list:

If you click see more, you get even more listings, narrowed down by category. This is a sampling of my brother’s showing etsy finds related to Jack Kerouac, reading, and Pulp Fiction:

It’s so fun to play around with and I’ve found lots of great gift ideas!

It’s not always perfect, of course. For example, I don’t think my friend Matt who likes Gladiator would be very interested in these Gladiator Brass Ankle Chains and Shoe Harness by dearbearcat.

Though, they’re pretty hot and would really jazz up that pair of nude pumps I love.

Matt (who is in school to be an osteopath) probably would appreciate these gifts related to his love of Chemistry:

Chemistry Custom Periodic Table Cufflinks by ShopGibberish on Etsy

Vintage Wood Chemistry Test Tube Rack by havenvintage on Etsy

Trust me, it seems a lot more fun than dealing with crowds to find impersonal gifts from big box stores!