Christmas Decorations Up!

So I finally got the holiday decorations up outside and in. And to prove it I thought I'd show you what I ended up doing! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today I'll show you the entry  and the living room.

 

Because I got such a late start, and because we won't actually be home that much during the holidays, I decided to keep things pretty simple compared to what I did last year. 

 

You can see last year's decor here, here, here and here.

 

I mostly used what I already had out and created little vignettes throughout the house.

 

So come on in ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I didn't do anything special on the bannister this year.  This little vignette greets you as you walk in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To the left is this vignette under the mirror.

 

 

 

And through this entrance is the living room.

 

 

 

 

 

I always do a little display of my favorite vintage and glitzy ornaments on the coffee table.

 

 

 

 

 

I love lots and lots of candles during the holidays.

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ornaments in bowls and vases (or the latest buzz word, "vessels") I already had out.

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

No presents under the tree yet -- I haven't started wrapping yet! (Of course!)

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'll show you the dining room and the family room on Wednesday.

 

Have a great week!

 

 

My Oh Mantel

I need some elves.  The decorations aren't done.  I haven't finished shopping.  And I apparently lost my mind sometime ago, because I decided to make a lot of my gifts this year.  Now it's December 10th, and I haven't even started them.  I don't know what I was thinking.  Oh yeah, I wasn't.  I have no brain.

One thing I have managed to get done is our mantel decoration.  As you may recall, I decided to change our holiday decor color scheme to silver, green and white this year.

Last year I didn't do that much to the mantel.  But this year I decided to go all out.

I hung a silver pine cone wreath over the mirrors that are always over our fireplace.  Then I put a large silver urn I had on one side of the mantel, and put a big silver ornament in it that I used to hang in the living room . Next to that I put a large mercury glass candle holder from Home Goods, and one of the green hobnail goblets I showed you from one of my thrift store forages.

I sprayed some pine cones silver and tucked them into the garland placed along the mantel.  I added a couple of my faux mercury pieces and some fancier pieces I picked up from Michaels.

On the other side I placed the large urn with a big glass jar I got from HomeGoods, (I got this on a "Blogger Blind Date" with Connie from Hartwood Roses.  We realized we lived just an hour apart and decided to meet for brunch.  Of course, a shopping trip was also on the agenda!).

I filled the jar with green and silver ornaments.

I added more mercury glass and the other green hobnail goblet-turned-candle holder to balance out this end.

Under the mantel I hung a silver bead garland and a white star.

Down below I added a couple of silver lanterns from Ikea that I've used outdoors, and a silk poinsettia to some candles that are usually there, and an urn that is usually in the foyer.  The poinsettia is silk because we have dogs and cats.  I read on someone else's blog (can't remember whose), that the idea that they were harmful to animals is a myth.  However, according to the ASPCA and my vet they are toxic to cats, and will make dogs sick. So as much as I love the real ones, I don't keep them in our house.

I love the green and silver.

So that's it.  Now on to the hundreds of other things I need to get done.  Since Santa doesn't seem to be sending any elves my way, I'm thinking about seeing if I can train the dogs to put the ornaments on the trees.  It's about time they started pulling their weight around here!

Sharing at:

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Thrifty Holiday Vignettes

As I posted Sunday, I decided to give myself a little challenge.  Since I'm changing the colors of my holiday decor, I decided to see what I could come up with just using thrift store and Dollar Tree finds.  Now this is not to imply that these would be the only additions I'll be making to my decor. I mean come on .... I love this stuff!  I just thought it would be fun (am I the only one who finds things like this fun?) to do some design on a dime decor.

So with $25 in my hot little hand, I hit Goodwill, the Dollar Tree, and my favorite local thrift store Yesterday's Rose, and picked up random stuff in my color scheme that caught my eye.  As a reminder, this is what I started with.  You can see a list on Sunday's post.

 From the Dollar Tree

 From the Thrift Store

From Goodwill

I did cheat a little.  I went back to the Dollar Tree to pick up two more little trees that I had seen but not bought.  Upon reflection I decided I needed those trees!  And they were just $1.69 a piece. I've never really shopped at the Dollar Tree, but I've got to say I was impressed with the selection of holiday decorations.

So here's my first vignette:

I took one of the white wreaths and wrapped some of the silver ribbon and some of the silver garland around it.  I attached one of the snowflakes, and hung it with some of the thrift store ribbon over the mirror in my foyer.

On the console below that I put the trees.  I put one of them with some faux snow in one of the glass pieces from the thrift store, and flanked the trees with two of the thrift store votive holders that I painted with my faux mercury treatment.  Then I scattered some of the snowflakes and little packages.

For the second vignette I hung the silver beads and a snowflake from the thrift store on my decorative iron thinga-ma-jiggy on a chest (which used to be in the dining room) in the foyer. 

I used the two glass candlesticks from Goodwill and the candles from the Dollar Tree, along with more of the glass pieces from the thrift store made into faux mercury.

I put the silver ornaments and some snowflakes in one of my vintage white pottery bowls.

And one of the silk poinsettias from Goodwill in a vase that I had previously done the faux mercury treatment on, along with some greenery.

I thought that would be acceptable with the challenge since the vase was originally from the thrift store and I already had the pottery bowl.  But for the purists out there who think I should stay strictly in the parameters of using only my finds, I also did a version with the green plastic bowl from the Dollar Tree ...

and adding the candlestick from the thrift store and the skinny vase from Goodwill.

So I think I successfully met the challenge!  I have quite a few things left over that I'll mix in with the decorations throughout the house.

Now I have to finish a couple of crafts for my next endeavor ...


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Fox Hollow Cottage: Dollar Tree Party