Christmas Around the House

Hi there. I'm so glad you stopped by!

Today I want to share some Christmas decorating I did around the house.

First stop, the entryway. Notice my little helper, Isabelle, at the top of the stairs. She follows me everywhere.  I only wish she could talk so I could bounce ideas off her and get her opinion. I'm pretty sure she has an opinion!

From the top of the stairs looking in to the entryway. I took a plain pine looking garland and wrapped it around the railing, then added lights.

I love decorating the railing.  It's the first thing people see when they come in.  Just add things here and there, until you get the fullness that you like. I usually buy things in bunches and then just cut them apart and add them in.

Here's my little dresser I have at the top of the stairs. The lamp and basket filled with pinecones, were already there.  I added the snowman, bulbs and poinsettias.  Buying the poinsettias in a bunch is a really cheap way to get a lot of decorating material, for a little price.

At the other side of the stairway I have this floral arrangement.  Again, just added things to it to get the Christmas feel.  Easy peasy.

This is a little table I have in my entryway.  I L.O.V.E. lamps!  I have them everywhere.  There is nothing better than low lighting to make a house homey.

I added some beads to the shade, a few items to the table, and done!

Here's a little tray I have on our island.  Notice the lamp theme.

Corner area on the kitchen counter.  Yep, another lamp.  Maybe I have a problem......

Shelf above the kitchen sink.  No lamp?  How did that sneak past me?  Next year!

This is the top of my refrigerator.  I know I am probably really strange, but I have to decorate the top of my refrigerator.  It's like a shelf calling out my name to be decorated.

The desk in my kitchen.  Did you see the little star "lamp".  OK, seriously, I think I have a lamp addiction.

Our Christmas tree.

And lastly, our fireplace.

Thank you so much for stopping by.  I hope you liked my little tour.

Merry Christmas!

Kelly

Christmas Front Porch

Hi there!  I'm so glad you stopped by.

I'm finally done!  All my Christmas decorations are up.  Now, I can enjoy the rest of the Christmas season.  Today I want to share my front porch.

Let me start by saying, my front porch was the last thing I had to decorate.  Frankly I was tired and was running out of decorations to use.  So, I dug around and came up with this.

I started with these 2 little pine trees that I've had forever.  I wanted to do it a little different this year. So, I decided on silver, burlap and pinecones.

I started by stringing white lights around each of them.  I used a 50 count.

I wrapped some burlap ribbon around them for added depth. 

Next I added some silver bulbs that I got at Marshalls.  They were on a a swag.  There were about 50 bulbs on there and I got it for $15.00.  I cut all the bulbs off the swag, saving enough of the wire from each bulb, to wrap around the pine branch.

I added some silver bells I had by looping a piece of twine through each one and tying a little bow on the branch.  How easy is that!

Next, I added an old chair I have. I simply grabbed an old silver kettle I have and filled it with pinecones, adding a few of the silver bulbs.  I tied this fabulous burlap ribbon around the kettle, set a little bird I also found at Marshalls, next to the kettle and waa laa!

Around the front door I added 2 pine swags.  Again, adding some of the silver bulbs and burlap ribbon.

To my simple twig wreath I added some pine, a ribbon and a silver bulb.

To hide the black metal plate at the bottom of the trees, I took an old burlap bag we had, cut it in to 2 pieces, wrapped it around the bottom and tied it with some twine.

That's it.  Simple and very inexpensive.  I had everything on hand except the bulbs and the little bird on the chair.  I LOVE simple and inexpensive.

So, that's it.  My Christmas front porch.  I hope you like it and it inspires you to dig around your house and garage and find a new use for your old things.

Thank you so much for stopping by.  It means the world to me.

Kelly

Christmas Mantel

Hi there.  I'm so glad you stopped by!

I don't know about you, but it takes me at least a week to get my Christmas decorating done.  Every year I try doing something different.  I've never been one to decorate the same way twice.  I like to see what I can come up with. A challenge perhaps?

Tonight, I finished my fireplace mantel and I wanted to share it with you. I hope it inspires you to try something a little different too.

It started with that little wooden box in the middle.  My husband made that out of barn wood he got in Montana.  I was going to fill it and put it on my counter in the kitchen. I started filling it with pine branches and the next thing I knew, it was too big to go where I was planning on putting it. That happens to me a lot!

Plan B!

So, I brought it to the living room and decided to decorate around it.  I think I may have the biggest fireplace mantel on the planet, so this has always been a challenge to decorate.

I went out to our garage and brought in these 3 windows.  I work for a remodelor and he took these out of a house last summer.  Yes, I'm a dumpster diver!  I knew I would use them somewhere. I just couldn't let them go to the dump.

I tucked a string of lights behind them.  I wanted the light to shine up behind the windows.

I took more of the pine branches and laid them in front of the windows and added pinecones, raffia, bulbs and some floral/jewel sticks I had.

I added a little twine to some votive candles. I wanted to have light in front of the windows too.

I took 2 of the pine branches and added a few berries and a burlap bow.  The branches are wired so I bent the wire over and it worked perfect for hanging it on the window.  I've had these branches for years and never thought of doing that. I was pretty excited about that little trick!

So, here it is. My Christmas mantel.  I have to tell you, I can't wait to sit by the fireplace and watch a movie this weekend. 

What do you think?

Thank you so much for stopping by.  It means the world to me.

Kelly