Mantle, Glorious Mantle                                       


Why it's the focal point of the house and my favorite thing to dress up each season!   The mantle is a wonderful design tool.  Even if you have no other signs of holiday/seasonal decor in your room, if the mantle is done, the room looks festive w/o being overdone.  I believe a full decorated mantle looks best, but I am sure simplistic could be nice as well.  The mantle seems to require lots of "stuff", so I look to nature to help me out!  Winter and pine cones go hand in hand.  One stop at a big ol evergreen somewhere and I am set (throw extras in glass canisters,  jars or vases for festive tabletop decor).   Most of the candles up on the mantle are decoration and are not actually burned (safety purposes), but I do have a few in the moose/deer candle holders (Target xmas clearance).  I have a bunch of colored and not burned candles to pull out for whatever whenever (Dollar Tree).  Upside down wine glasses give great height to the candles and are hidden with pine cones.  I found this old window and it too gets dressed according to season.  Here I have kept an xmas wreath out which is not too Christmasy  and should serve well until and maybe through Valentines Day.  I like to stick with the winter red theme b/c it is easy to incorporate into V-tines Day.  So, throw some stuff on your mantle, rearrange it 109 times, then light a few candles and admire your work!!

Why the chic in a POLKA DOT skirt??

Because I am totally feeling the polka dot love these days!  I am not sure if it is a trend found only in the South right now...I hope not because I think it is super cute!  Anyway, I was inspired to make a wreath for winter that I could adapt slightly for V-tines Day.  I hit Micheals and found a ton of great ribbon 70% off!  Now, this was holiday inspired ribbon, but unless it has Santa Claus or Christmas trees speckled about...red, green, gold, silver and white ribbon is fair game for all the time decorating!!   As other colors are becoming more "trendy" for the holidays such as bright pink, purple and aqua, I was able to score several of those great colors as well.  I chose an intial for our last name and adored it with small circles cut from construction paper and glued on.  I sprayed clear protector on it for added protection.  I used seasonal bobbles that were more wintry than x-masy (all clearanced) and I can simply add a few hearts or sparkly heart garland (Dollar Tree stuff) closer to V-tines Day. Its a whimsical and fun wreath that is perfect for the remainder of winter until I am ready to change it to spring decor!

What its all about....

Its kinda like duct tape...1 product with 252 different uses!  In order to decorate on a dime for each season or holiday you must create and recreate and re-recreate and on and on.  One simple red item can be jazzed up for Christmas and changed slightly for winter and reused again for Valentines Day.  Who knows we may even reinvent it for July 4th!!  It is an awesome feeling when the seasonal mantel decor you have created looks as if you have blown the budget at Pottery Barn!  Not so..you may have studied their ads or web page, but certainly we didn't have a shopping spree...just a good hard look at what we have.  With a large dose of vision and creativity, you CAN decorate your home beautifully each season or holiday.   As a homemaker, we are called to wear many hats, play many roles.  Why not ask the same of our "stuff"!?  Make it work for us again and again.  So, follow me and I will show you how decorating on a dime can be easy, fun and so rewarding.  I promise not to decorate with duct tape...well, probably not.