Gilbert Holiday Decorating Comes Early

Want to know one of the things I love most about selling our condo in the city and moving into our suburban home? I now have the ability to decorate the bejeezus out of our house!

When we were in the city, it was virtually impossible to fit any decorations into our 1,200-square-foot condo, considering my husband, our baby girl and I, as well as our two 100-pound Labradors, were already squeezed into those four walls.

I rarely decorated for holidays in the city because there wasn't any room to put stuff; a scented candle was the farthest I went when it came to getting into the holiday spirit. Everything remained in our storage unit across town, collecting dust, waiting for us to relocate to a home where I could finally bust out the piece-meal decorations that I had collected over the years.

Not anymore, baby!

I am in full-blown Martha mode! The decorations are ready to go, and sadly, I have already begun decorating for Halloween. I know, I know. It's a wee bit pathetic.

I mostly blame Pinterest for all of my wild creations. It's a website that allows you to "pin" things you love: fashion, decor, clothing, etc., and share them with your friends. I will be the first to admit I'm completely addicted to the site. I have found so many neat things to do around the house that I can barely keep my head straight. And my "friends" continue to find and "pin" adorable decor ideas that keep fueling the fire, making it impossible for me to stop hitting up Hobby Lobby and Michaels to buy things. Every week, these stores have a printable coupon (on their website) for 40 to 50 percent off. And even better, they're always running sales for 50 percent off their inventory, depending on what item you're looking for. Chances are, if it's not on sale this week, it will be by Monday.

Translation: you should NEVER pay full price for ANYTHING there. EVER!

Not to mention, I am also a demonstrator for Uppercase Living, which means design inspiration is not only at my fingertips, but I can get it at a fraction of the price!

So there you have it, far too many design ideas and a ton of cheap ways to create them. Somebody needs to stage an intervention, ASAP!

My husband thinks I'm crazy for getting started on Halloween so early. Part of me agrees. I blame my nesting instinct; I am so ready to have this baby that I think I'm looking for things to keep me busy. I blame my mother too, though.

My mom was always so fun when it came to the holidays, which probably explains why my sister and I are already knee deep in jack-o-lantern decor. Our childhood house was so full of decorations, one couldn't help but get into the spirit. And every year, I would look forward to unwrapping those signature decorations that I loved to see, year after year after year. I want to create that same home for my kids, too.

So to my husband's dismay, this early-bird decorating is probably something he'll have to embrace and get used to—just like all my other crazy antics.