How long does it take to decorate for Christmas?

My kids were so sad to leave Nana's house and all their cousins after Thanksgiving. :(

But then they realized that we could go home and decorate for Christmas! 

My five year old asked MANY times during the five hour drive home if we could put up the tree THAT NIGHT.  [She likes to repeat herself to make sure she gets her point across.  :)]

I'm just as excited as they are, but I'm also really loving the fact that we have had this whole week before December!   Isn't it great?!

Life with little kids means everything takes longer than normal.  So having more time to decorate and get everything ready is SO NICE! 

Here are my $6 (approx) stairway decorations. I think the two fake garlands cost $2 each at Hobby Lobby a few years ago, and the little red jingle bell ornaments were probably about the same.

Martha Stewart

Ok, no, I didn't quite achieve this look.  So pretty!

Country Living

 

 I'd love to have real, big, fluffy garlands, but I don't want to pay for them when I've got so many other things to spend my money on at Christmas time.  

 

And guess what?  My kids have no clue who Martha Stewart is and don't care that our house isn't ready to be featured in Country Living.  They love my $6 decor! And I do too.  :)

How are you doing with your holiday decorations?  Do you like to make a big push and get the whole house decorated in one day or are you enjoying having a little extra time this year to get everything done?