Walking in a Winter Wonderland

 Did everyone have a great Christmas?  I am not going to lie, this one was not my best.  I will share the reason why later.  Today we took down our Christmas decorations and of course the whole house looks so bare.  But I was all prepared to decorate for winter/January.  I don't have much but what I do have, I love!

 

I left my SNOW banner on the mantle and added blue beads to the silver beads.  The snowflake stocking holders will stay out for awhile to hold up the beads.  The icy blues, silver and whites look beautiful and perfect for this time of year!

 

 I am loving my mantle and am so glad we bought it.  It makes our house feel so much homier!

 I took some plastic snowflakes, glued them on to a wooden dowel, glued a tiny snowflake in the middle and put them in a blue mason jar that is full of "snow" (Epsom salt).  A white ribbon is tied around the lid of the jar and has another tiny little snowflake in the middle.  These blue Ball jars are perfect for my winter decor.

 I put another one in the corner in front of my old chippy door.  That space needs more decorations but  I don't want to buy anything.  Maybe I will come up with something soon to add to that space.

 I wanted to have something hanging in the window so I came up with these pretty snowflake crystals.  I just tied an aqua ribbon through a chandelier crystal and glued little snowflakes onto the ribbon.  It is quite hard to take pictures of these!

 I also added a strand of crystal beads.  Very pretty from the inside and the outside.  If we ever got sun coming in through this window, it would be even better.

 I pulled out the New Years hats that I made last year.  My white candle holder is the perfect place to display these. 

 Here is a view of the window with the blinds closed.  Of course it looks so much better in person!

 I won this burlap WINTER banner a few years ago and I still love to display it.  I hang it between the living room and dining room.

 It really is a Winter Wonderland outside.  Even though we haven't had snow for over a week, the snow that we do have is still on the ground and the frost and the fog is beautiful although it is freezing cold!  I took these pictures and they turned out so pretty.

 A Winter Wonderland indeed!

It is crazy to think that 2013 is almost over.  I can honestly say that I am looking forward to putting this year behind me.  I knew 2013 was going to be bad when my grandpa passed away in January.  From there, it just seemed to get worse.  So many of my friends lost grandparents it was crazy.  We found out that my 18 year old nephew got his 17 year old girlfriend pregnant.  Neither of them have graduated high school and I don't think they will.  The hardest part of that for me is the fact that I want to have a baby but it just doesn't seem to be happening for me, an adult with a job, a marriage, a house, a life, but kids can accidentally get pregnant and do all the time.  Then just 3 days before Christmas, my brother came to tell me that he is going to be having a baby as well.  He has been married for 6 months and they are already having a baby!  Not fair!  Don't get me wrong, I am so excited to be an aunt again but I want a baby of my own and I don't want to have to spend tons of money or go through hell and back to get there!  I pretty much spent the last week crying and feeling depressed.  On Christmas Eve, Cody's niece spilled the beans that she too is pregnant, accidentally.  It's just a little bit too much for me to take right now, especially all at once.  We decided that once we have a little money saved, we will do some testing and see if we can figure out why it isn't happening for us.  I swear, if one more person tells me they accidentally got pregnant this week, I am running away!  Sorry for the rambling, I just had to vent some of my frustration!  Thanks for listening!

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Linking up with:
The Tablescaper: Seasonal Sunday
 Dwellings: Amaze Me Monday
The Dedicated House: Make it Pretty Monday
Coastal Charm: Nifty Thrifty Tuesday 
 Home Coming: The DIY'ers
A Stroll Thru Life: Inspire Me Tuesday
Rooted in Thyme: Simple & Sweet Friday
The Charm of Home: Home Sweet Home
French Country Cottage: Feathered Nest Friday

Merry Christmas to you!

May your days be merry & bright, and may all your Christmases be white!

Tinsel Tree Dressed in Vintage Jewlery

 I found this silver tinsel tree on Monday at Saver's and knew as soon as I saw it that it was coming home with me.  The price tag said $4.99 which is a great price, but I only had to pay $3 for it!  I knew exactly how I was going to decorate it when I got it home.  Today after work, I finally got around to doing it.

 

The first thing I did was gather all my strands of vintage pearls.  There are about 7 strands on this little tree.  The bottom is just a strand of opalescent beads. I love the different colors that the pearls add.

  

Next, I went through my massive collection of vintage jewelry and started adding pieces to the branches as ornaments.  I used only pieces that were silver, gold and white toned.  The clip-on earrings were easiest to attach.  I simply clipped them on and bent the limb a little to make sure they stayed on.

 

Every time I go through my jewelry, I find more amazing pieces.  I think every piece that I used on this tree has a match which is always nice.

 

The jewelry is the perfect size for this tree.  I was able to find a piece to go on each little limb.  

 

I just love the way these pictures turned out so there are a lot!

 

The silver tinsel and pearls are so dreamy looking, don't you think?!

 

I don't have a tree skirt for it so I just used a vintage table runner with a crocheted edge.  It is loosely wrapped around the base of the tree and looks nice and casual.

 

There aren't a lot of lights on the tree, but the lights that are on it are just right.

 

The perfect place for this sweet little tree just happens to be a sweet little spot in my home-my reading nook!  It needed a little Christmas and this tree did the trick.  It lights it up with just the right amount of light and cheer.

 

See what I mean, PERFECT!

 

I do believe that this tree will quickly become a favorite decoration at Christmas time. It is so sparkly and pretty even when the lights aren't on. I am already head over heels about it!

Today begins my 12 days off for Christmas.  Although I have nothing planned, I couldn't be more excited! 

Linking up with:

The Tablescaper: Seasonal Sundays

Dwellings: Amaze Me Monday

The Dedicated House: Make It Pretty Monday 

Coastal Charm: Nifty Thrifty Tuesday  

 A Stroll Thru Life: Inspire Me Tuesday

Knick of Time

Lavender Garden Cottage: Cottage Style Party

Cozy Little House: Tweak It Tuesday

Rooted In Thyme: Simple & Sweet Friday  

Common Ground: Be Inspired

French Country Cottage: Feathered Nest Friday 

 Have a wonderful weekend!

Simple Christmas Mantle

 Cody and I just got back from driving around looking at Christmas lights.  We stopped and got some hot chocolate, listened to Christmas music and took the dogs along for the ride.  We saw a few pretty light displays and enjoyed our time together.  Now we are home watching Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman.  No matter how many times I have seen these movies, I always look forward to watching them this time of year!  I wanted to share with you my simply decorated Christmas mantle.

 I don't have much fancy stuff for the mantle but I like the simplicity of it.  My electric candlesticks look perfect lit up on it.  I kept the colors pretty much in the white and silver range for now.  The stockings and vintage Santa are the only color I have going on right now. 

 I made this pretty SNOW banner today and I love the way it turned out.  White cardboard stars with lace, silver and glitter is the perfect piece for my mantel.  It will stay up through January

 I can't decide what part of the banner is my favorite: the lace, the silver beads or the glitter?!

 My curvy white candle holders have a simple little spray of blue, green and white bulbs.  The framed snowflake was a gift from a friend a few years ago.  I might have to steal this idea from her!

 I got this vintage spaghetti trim Santa bank last year from my parents.  My mom has a Santa just like this and I always loved it.  She knows how special things like this are to me so she was able to find me one of my own.  He is in almost perfect condition and has a place of honor on my mantle!

 Since we now have a mantle, we needed stocking holders to hold our stockings.  These snowflake holders are from KMart and of course I love the glitter on this one.  Hopefully next year I can get new stockings.  I am thinking something with burlap and ruffles!

 I hope you enjoyed seeing how I decorated my mantle for this Christmas.  I think it needs more but I will wait and buy stuff for it when it is on sale after Christmas!

Tiny Christmas Scenes

 Just when I think I am all done with my Christmas decorating, I think of something else I want to do.  My latest fun decorations are these little Christmas scenes in glass. 

 This old gumball machine is just perfect for Christmas with its pretty red color.  I used Epsom salt for the snow and put a vintage Santa, bottle brush tree and tiny little wrapped presents.  It's just too cute!

 I found this sweet little cupcake dome at Ross and have put it on my stove.  I had a Santa toothpick holder in it but it needed something more.  This was the first little Christmas scene I created.  I borrowed the lamp post from Cody's Christmas village.

 This little apothecary jar holds a tiny Santa and bleached bottle brush trees.  Anything like this can be turned into a perfect little Christmas scene!

 We got our first snow storm of the year on Friday.  It dumped about 9 inches over night.  Cody and I went to a Christmas party at his sister's house Friday night and left about 11.  There wasn't much snow on the freeway but I went very slow anyway.  We saw about 4 wrecks in the 30 mile drive.  About 10 miles from home, I suddenly lost traction and started to spin.  Everything went into slow motion as the truck swerved all over the freeway.  We finally ended up in the median turned the other way.  How we didn't roll, I have no idea!  I burst into tears and Cody drove the rest of the way home.  The next morning when he went to shovel snow, he saw this huge dent that I put in the bed of the truck.  We guess that I must have hit a mile marker.  I feel awful for doing damage to his truck that we just paid off, but I am so thankful this is all that happened.  Good thing Cody works at a collision repair shop and can easily and cheaply fix this.  Someone was looking out for us that night!  It was one of the scariest things I have ever experienced.  Please be safe out there!

Linking up with: 

The Tablescaper: Seasonal Sunday
VMG206: Sunday Showcase
Sunday View: Inspired Sunday
Boogieboard Cottage: Masterpiece Monday
The Dedicated House: Make it Pretty Monday
Dwellings: The Heart of Your Home
Home Coming: The DIY'ers
Coastal Charm: Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
A Stroll Thru Life: Inspire Me Tuesday
Knick of Time 

Christmas Candles

 I went on a crafting spree today and I love what my crazy mind came up with.  Candles are always a festive addition to any holiday and I think the ones that I came up with today are perfect for Christmas!  My fleur de lis bucket is the perfect vessel for holding my candles and mini match boxes.

 The little round candles in the glass I have had for awhile now and the pillars I just got today.  Both of them are from the Dollar Tree.  I almost went back to get more but I will wait until tomorrow.  I have wrapped them in vintage sheet music that I tore for a rustic look then took some twine and wound it around a few times before tying it in a knot.  The little round one has a snowflake, the pillars have a star and the matchboxes have sheet music, a twine bow and a little rhinestone.  They are so adorable!

 I only had one candle left but will be getting more so I can make more of these.  This pillar is wrapped in sheet music and twine and has a vintage button.  I then put some moss in the bottom of one of my vintage tart tins and placed the candle in it.  Isn't it cute?

 Next, I took some jars that I have saved and placed some sheet music inside.  The top of the jars are wrapped in twine and then I hot glued a frosty white rose to the front.  These would look so sweet with an electric candle flickering on the inside.

 I made over some more of my electric candle sticks as well.  These are wrapped in sheet music and have twine accents.  The silver glitter star is a perfect finishing touch.  I didn't paint these white, I left them their old, yellow color to better match the sheet music.

 And these ones are very Christmasy.  Again, they are wrapped in sheet music (I told you I love using sheet music in my crafts!)  Red velvet ribbon goes around the top with a sweet green button, red pearls go around the bottom and a little greenery makes them perfect for Christmas.  (Don't mind the orange light bulb, I need to get some more clear ones.)  By the way, Dollar Tree sells night light bulbs in packs of 3 and they work perfect for these candle sticks.

 I plan on selling all of these things at the craft sale on Thursday.  I hope people like what I have created and want to buy some of my things!  

Did you have a wonderful Thanksgiving?  I did!  Cody and I really took advantage of our 4 days off of work and were pretty lazy for the most part, which we totally deserve to be!  I can't believe that Thanksgiving has come and gone already but I am ready for Christmas.  We put up our decorations and have been enjoying our festive home.  Here is the view from where I sit and relax in the living room.  It doesn't get much better than this!  Have a great week!

Linking up with:
Sunday View: Inspired Sunday 

Boogieboard Cottage: Masterpiece Monday
Home Coming: The DIY'ers
The Dedicated House: Make it Pretty Monday
Dwellings: Amaze Me Monday
Coastal Charm: Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
A Stroll Thru Life: Inpsire Me Tuesday
Knick of Time Tuesday
VMG206: Brag About It
Savvy Southern Style: Wow Us Wednesday
The Style Sisters: Centerpiece Wednesday
Ivy & Elephants: What's It Wednesday
Lavender Garden Cottage: Cottage Style
Have a Daily Cup of Mrs Olson: Share Your Cup Thursday