Christmas Mantel

Today, I'm sharing a bit of my Christmas decor for this year. Just the mantel...

I loved my Christmas mantel last year in our old house, but in this new house, we use our gas fireplace constantly. So, I couldn't put up the garland I had in place last year. It just gets too hot to have that up. So our mantel this year is a bit simpler but still lovely in red and white.

I did use the garland on the staircase, where it does look beautiful. Photos coming soon...

Sharing at these parties...

Fall Mantel and Decor

Today, I wanted to share my fall mantel and a few other fall decor pieces.

Again, I'm still trying to get used to this different fireplace in this house - it's much more narrow than the one in our last house - but it's growing on me. I hung our mirror, which thankfully covers a lot of that crazy salmon paint color (still need to paint that). I do enjoy the overall look though...

I also put a few other fall decor items up around the house - like on the sofa table...

And in the foyer...

And the coffee table...

I'm all ready for Thanksgiving at our house - and I'm actually making my very first pumpkin pie. Crazy that I've never made one before - but this is the year...

Please share your fall decor too - I'd love see what you've been up to.

Halloween Mantel and Decor

I finally have all of my Halloween decor up - just in time for the first snow in Castle Rock, Colorado. The snow is beautiful but it puts me in the mood for Christmas, not Halloween. I hope we have some okay weather for trick-or-treating next week...

My mantel in the new house is very different from our last house. It's much skinnier and not as long. I've already told Byron that we'll need to put up a more substantial mantel at some point. Plus, the fireplace is off to one side of the wall, instead of being centered. It makes a bit of a difference for decorating, but I'm sure I'll get used to it.

(And no, I didn't paint that odd salmon pink color - it appears in several places on the first floor and will be the first thing I get rid of. Byron doesn't see the pink - he thinks it's red...crazy...)

This past summer, I was able to buy something I've been wanting for a long, long time - a sofa table. I picked it up from a neighbor at her garage sale (thanks Jane!). I love it. I might paint / distress it eventually, but for now, it's perfect behind our couch in our new family room.

And lastly, I have put up my shabby window frames in the foyer for my wreath displays. Again, a different arrangement than in our last house, but I like it.

The foyer decor is much the same as last year, with the Halloween tree and display.

Since we just moved in a few weeks ago, I haven't been able to create anything new for Halloween. I'm kind of bummed about that, but I do love the pieces I have - especially the Halloween wreath. Probably my favorite thing of all time.

Halloween is nearly here - I would love to see your Halloween home tour too. Share it with us in this week's MightyCrafty Mondays pin-up party...

   

Summer Mantel

Summer is here and it's time for a summery mantel share.

I love beach accents on my mantel. We'll be heading to the beaches of California very soon, and I'm so looking forward to it.

Here's my summer mantel from last year:

Since last year, I've added the large mirror and moved things around a lot. This time last year, I was kind of barely unpacked in this new house - now, we are much more settled in to this home that we love.

And I love the mantel so very much...

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Christmas Home Tour

I know Christmas 2011 is officially over, but I thought I would finally get my Christmas decor photos posted. (Resolution for next year - post this earlier!) Let's start in the foyer...

I posted about this wreath already, but this is what you see first when you step through our front door. A bright and cheery spot.

Next is our living room. This was our first Christmas in our new house, and we put our tree up in the living room. The boys love to decorate the tree. We had a lot of fun putting up our ornaments and remembering the special memories attached to each one.

The coffee table with Christmas decorations - the photo album is one of my most favorite things. It has our Christmas card photos for every year since the boys were born.

I set up several of my Christmas house on top of the hutch. I used boxes under the snow to elevate them and then put up lights behind them. Very pretty!

Finally, our mantel. Probably my favorite of everything this year.

I made the new Christmas art piece.

I used a $5 garage sale frame and painted it black, sanded it a bit, then varnished it with a very light coat. I covered the background with a pretty silver wrapping paper and put it behind the glass. On top of the glass, I hung the red felt star (from Target). Very easy and very cute, I think.

I also made the garland for the mantel. The evergreen garland itself is a cheap one from Jo-Ann's. I added two long red berry swags and a strand of lights. The pine cones are actually light covers from another strand of lights that I used here instead. I also stuck some Christmas holly picks in the garland after I hung it on the mantel.

I also framed a few new stitching projects I finished up this year.

"Home for the Holidays" is a free pattern from You Can Make This.com. I love the red with the turquoise - such happy, festive colors.

The Santa cross-stitch is a kit from Jo-Ann's. Very simple but cute.

At night, the lights on the tree and the mantel make everything look beautiful.

That's it for our Christmas tour - hope you had a wonderful holiday!