'Tis the Season! Or...Christmas Mantle 2013

It's Christmas mantle time! I think this is my favourite mantle that I have put together as of yet. Gold, silver, glitter, pinecones, fake trees, and mini deer. I carried the barn board into this display, because well...I didn't want it to disappear yet. I love how the rustic wood and glitter look together.

I placed gold and silver Christmas balls into the apothecary jar and leaned a glittery deer silhouette canvas that I made one afternoon, against the chalkboard.

This little snowy scene in the jar is definitely one of my favourite parts of the mantle. Epsom salts and mini trees is all it took to put this cuteness together.

I wrote a line from one of my most well-played Christmas albums on the chalkboard. "Rejoice o world, your Saviour has come!"

And so Christmas begins in my house!  

Getting Cozy: Decorating a Fall Mantle

This is day two of our 31 days series: Getting Cozy. We hope that this series will inspire you as we say goodbye to summer and hello to cooler months; to enjoy all that the cool temperatures bring. 

There is something about changing up the fireplace mantle to go with the seasons that I love. It makes the change of season that much more exciting and special. I always 'shop' around the house and see what I can do with what I already have.

The banner I made with scrapbook paper that I had in my stash. So easy to do and cheap! 

 

The big owl I got from my sister last Christmas and the little owl I found at the thrift store last week. I think someone had given away their entire huge collection of owls and the brass owl was hidden in the pile. Gorgeous red Sumac tree branches fit perfectly in the aqua vase.

 

I cut a piece of barn board in half and stood them up between my mirror turned chalkboard. It ended up a perfect rustic background to the display.

In the cooler evenings, we "light" a fire in the fireplace (aka: hit the power button) light the candle, and enjoy this cozy fall mantle.

{Click here to read the intro and day one of 31 days to getting cozy}

TThis Here we are on the first day of our 31 days series: Getting Cozy. We hope that this series this month will inspire you, as we say goodbye to summer and hello to cooler months; to enjoy all that the cool temperatures bring. - See more at: http://itsourpinterestinglife.blogspot.ca/#sthash.G5gNzL2S.dpuf

{this and that} and a spring mantle

I'm back! I did not mean to take that long of a break from blogging. This past week (and a few days) seemed to fly by with housework, playdates with friends, working (I am still working from home part time) and spending time with my two little boys!

We celebrated Easter with my family after church on Sunday. It was Gavin's first Easter egg hunt and even though the cold wind was whipping around, he pulled in a nice stash that I we have been happily eating.

We had some fun with masks...

and the guys (and our one sister) played their favourite game, Spikeball, while my brother watched the little kiddos.

So it has been a good break, but I am happy to get back to blogging!

One thing I did accomplish during all that busyness was update our fireplace mantle with some spring touches.

Last year at this time we were living in t-shirts and flip flops. I clearly remember Faith and I taking Gavin and Claire to the park where they sat on the grass with their little bare feet showing. This year...not so much. Today and yesterday it snowed. Nothing that really stuck to the ground. But still. Snow. So I am enjoying the bright yellow *fake* flowers in my old pitcher and little white ceramic birdie to remind me that spring is actually on it's way.

What is it about flowers, even if they are fake, that can make a home so much more friendlier?

Happy Wednesday. :)

A {Lovely} Love Mantle

February 1st. I can't believe that it's February already! This month we'll be meeting our little baby. The big question on our minds is, will it be a boy or a girl?? We have no idea, (really no.idea.) but we have some names picked out for both, which is good because time is ticking.(!!!)  

Since it's February 1st, I thought I would change up our fireplace mantle, because that is what I love to do. Some pinks and corals to welcome Valentine's Day and those yummy cinnamon heart candies that always leave my tongue feeling raw...Yum.  

I left the branches in the white vase and the wicker balls in the glass jar from the winter mantle display. 

Fake grass went into an old tea container that I had in my craft room. I cut out a little heart out of some pretty scrapbooking paper and tied it around a lacy candle holder with some ribbon. 

A ceramic bird perches on a stack of white books and a pretty pink candle finishes off this light, happy display. 

When I was reading my Bible a couple of weeks ago, I found this verse out of Ephesians and it seems perfect for this month of love. 

"Long before He had laid down earths foundations, God had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of His love, to be made whole and holy by His love." 

{Ephesians 1:4-6} (The Message) 

If you are curious to see last year's mantle, you can click on the picture above. 

Happy weekend and happy month of love! 

New Year's Eve and a Winter Mantle

Happy 2013! Did you have a good New Year's Eve? We celebrated ringing in the new year with a small shin-dig (people still say that, right?) at Melody's place. Tons of food, friends, games, children running around in their pajama's and catching the New York Times Square ball drop with 58 seconds to spare.

This little monkey stayed up waaaaaaay past his bedtime and rang in the new year with us. I don't know how he did it because I was starting to fade around 9:30pm...

Now it's back to reality, but a different reality for me. I am on my first day of maternity leave and I get to clean and organize my house! It's actually exciting because normally I have to turn a blind eye away from the chaos and focus on my work. Then for some reason it is still there when I return (what happened to little cleaning fairies?). No more though; it's time to get this house back in order before this new baby arrives. (6 weeks!!)

The Christmas decorations are piled on the kitchen table and ready to be organized in their bins. The tree is out of our house and waiting to be picked up. I always love decorating for Christmas but then I equally love packing everything up and having space in my house again. A fresh start. 

I was able to change up the fireplace mantle into something less Christmassy and more wintery.  Because that's what I like to do. 

What are your plans to take down your Christmas decorations? Did it already happen before 2013 hit? 

 

Christmas Mantle

This year my Christmas decorating style is 'keep all the breakable stuff on the very top shelf so Gavin doesn't break it'. So far so good. 

A poinsettia here and there, pinecones with lights shining through, fake mini trees and splashes of red is the way I am going in my Christmas decorating.

Usually I set out our little village of Christmas houses and shops that Jesse and I have bought and painted over the years, but the only place to put them is at the perfect height for a certain little gentleman to grab and pull the ground. And that is why one of them ended up in the apothecary jar and the rest of them are stored away for another year. 

I found mini poinsettia plants at Home Depot for a really good price, so I picked up a couple and one found it's way into one of my favourite thrift store finds. 

I hung a wreath over a chalkboard and wrote the word: Hope, which is one of the words from the four weeks of advent. We have hope because of Jesus.

I find that you don't need a lot to decorate for Christmas. It's sometimes better when it doesn't overwhelm the space. Touches of coziness here and there, just enough to say "Christmas is here". 

(You can see how I decorated the mantle last year for Christmas here.)

Linking up with: 

Fall Mantle

Decorating for fall is so easy. You don't need a lot to make your home feel cozy and ready to snuggle up on the couch with a blanket and a warm drink. 

The only item that I purchased for my fall mantle display was the itty, bitty pumpkin.

It was so cute, how could I resist? The leaf art was something that I did last year. It lasted really well over the winter and summer! 

I put a couple sprigs of leaves in one of my favourite jugs that I found a while back at the thrift store. Lentils went into an old mason jar and a small lantern on a stack of books finished off the display. 

Shop around your home before you run out to Home Sense to decorate for the seasons. Or even better, head outside and bring in some of God's decorations for your home! 

Happy weekend! 

{Summer} Mantel Display

Now that Victoria Day has passed, it is officially summer! (If you want to get really technical, summer actually begins at the end of June. But I don't want to get technical.)

It's time for me to break out the seashells and beach glass! As you know, I love switching up my fireplace mantel for the different seasons and holidays. I try not to buy anything new. First of all, there isn't really the funds to be able to just run out and buy something new at HomeSense and secondly, I can shop around my own house (for free) and still put something together that looks fresh. 

 My one thing that is consistent throughout all of my mantel vignettes, is my apothecary jar that I bought at Winners years ago. I love it! I just fill it with whatever goes with the season. For this summer it is beach glass (probably from Winners), two starfish (from Chapters) and random seashells. Stacked on a pile of books leftover from my spring mantel, it's a nice showpiece. 

I poured sand into a clean mason jar and placed a tea light on top. Seashells were put into the tall cylinder vase at the back. I love this verse from Ecclesiates and thought it was perfect for this summer season. With all the flowers blooming and trees sprouting their bright green leaves, it is clear that after a long winter, God has made everything beautiful.

If you don't have a fireplace mantel, look for something else around your home where you could set up seasonal vignettes. It's always nice to give a fresh look to a place in your home. 

To check out some of my past mantel vignettes, just click on the pictures below to see other ideas. 

                                  

                                        {Fall}                                   {Christmas}

              

                                 {Valentine's Day}                          {Spring} 

Oh, and in case you were wondering, I googled the word "mantel" to see how it was spelled, and there are two ways. "Mantel" or "Mantle". Weird. So, I went the "mantel" way on this post. Confusing. 

How do you spell it? "Mantel"? or "Mantle"?