Stockings Were Hung...

Stockings were hung by the chimney with care today.  After a weekend-long birthday celebration, we finally finished decorating for Christmas!  This year I bought a real evergreen wreath that I hung above the mantel.  I love the smell.  We haven't bought a real tree in years so this is a treat.  The smell of evergreen brings back such good memories of my childhood.

I liked the wreath but it needed something more, something sparkly.  So I made the white striped bow with ribbon I bought and attached it with wire to the red bow that was already on it.  Much better!

My apothecary jars make another appearance this time on the mantel.  I love those things!! 

This Nutcracker frog stocking is my little ballerina's.

Every year Santa's mailbox comes out.  My daughter makes her list to Santa and tapes it directly to the fireplace so he doesn't miss it!
 

Then Christmas morning I take the list down and put it in the mailbox.  I have every one since she started writing them.  It's a great keepsake box.

The countdown is on at our house now!  Can't wait!!

Decorating for Christmas at Mom's

Mom did her Christmas decorating this weekend and our love of pheasants shows.  She uses a great color combination of deep chocolate brown, copper, sparkly rust and pheasant feathers.  And along with the green of the evergreen Christmas tree, the colors are amazing.

These feather bulbs are so elegant and rustic at the same time.

Every tree needs some sparkle!

Mom uses feathers and some sparkly twiggery to add texture to her tree.  She also uses both to create a natural tree topper.

The pheasant theme carries over to the mantel with the evergreen, pine cones, berries, and, of course, pheasant feathers.

The staircase was not neglected.  These beautiful bows carry the color theme throughout with chocolate brown, copper and evergreen.

To make your decorating cohesive remember these simple tips:

Stick to your color palette.  Mom uses chocolate brown, copper, rust, a little gold and the green from the tree.

Keep your color palette simple.  Mom's was in the same color family.  Bright colors work too.  Use all jewel tones, or all traditional red, green and gold, or how about retro lime green with red and silver.  Whatever it is, don't go crazy with a lot of different colors.

Carry your theme through all areas, but don't overdo it.  Our pheasant feathers appear in a lot of different spots, but in a limited amount.  The punch comes from restraint.

Happy decorating!!

Don't forget the Happy Hour Wednesday link party this week!!  Share your best holiday cocktail recipes!

Veteran's Day Mantel

This Thursday is Veteran's Day.  So to celebrate, I transformed our mantel for this week.  Who says you can't combine decorating ideas - Veteran's Day with a Thanksgiving twist!!

Mom had this great flag ribbon so after I took down the Halloween elements I was left with the raffia pumpkins, leaf garland and pine cones.  Then I added the ribbon and my Uncle Sam candle holder.

Happy Veteran's Day to all our veterans and those brave men and woman serving in our armed forces!!  Thank you!

 

Halloween Mantel

Today my daughter and I worked on decorating our house for Halloween.  We started with the fireplace mantel.  I found the cutest Halloween cat at Hobby Lobby so he is the center of attention on our mantel.  We mostly used a leaf garland, pine cones and lots of raffia pumpkins.  Then we sprinkled a few creepy skull candles in.



Fireplace Before



Fireplace After!



My favorite witch, by Jim Shore


The festive fireplace looked so good it made the windows look plain.  So we fancied them up, too!

And I can't resist showing you Yankee Candle's take on American Gothic.  Since Grant Wood is from Iowa and one of my favorite artists, I had to get it.  Love it!