Christmas Mantle

So when it was time to decorate for Christmas this year I had two things I was looking for and they both involved my mantle. First on the list was stockings! With the new addition of little Gracie Lu this year, our family was in need of proper stockings for Santa to deliver all of the goodies. When you see these stockings you will know why they were right for me! Can you say personalized monograms?

Tiny Prints just released stockings this year and after looking through all of their fun options I knew a neutral monogrammed stocking was the perfect fit for our family. They are a gorgeous linen fabric with a printed monogram and a subtle snowflake pattern. It brought a bit of elegance to our rustic glam theme this year and will always work as our themes change.  How fantastic do they look??

After getting the stockings, it was time to conquer the other problem we were having. The dreaded TV over the mantle. I had been brainstorming all sorts of options and knew that it needed to be easily removable for the practicality of actually using the TV. I used plastic wreath hangers, tag board and a large chalkboard printable from Caravan Shoppe.

What do you think? I will share more details at a later time of how the DIY project came to life. Lets just say this one was even husband approved.

So, now that my two items have been checked off of my list, I can just sit back and relax... just kidding! We still have a ton of festivities and parties to plan for at our house over the next two weeks. What is on your Christmas list this year?

Stop by this week to see our Christmas card, Christmas card display and the rest of the home tour.

DIY Christmas Pillow

Hi All! I just wanted to stop by with a quick DIY project for Christmas. I started this project after seeing a christmas tree fabric pillow on Pinterest. I immediately thought I can make that. So i got out my trusty Ikea canvas pillow case and craft paint and began to plan. Here are the supplies needed. Two colors of fabric paint, pencil and a handmade stencil. For the stencil I copied a picture from online and then transferred on to cardboard.  I wanted each tree to be similar, but not exact or perfect.

Then I started by laying out the trees and tracing them. Again i didn't want them to be perfect I wanted a little randomness to the pattern.

After they were all traced I used a thin paint brush to outline and paint the insides of the trees black. Once I finished with the trees and let them dry I added a gold border using paint and following the stitch line on the outside of the pillow. 

What do you all think? I love to paint and can't wait for new pillow painting inspiration. Be sure to stop by next week for some more Christmas updates and a Christmas home tour.

Oh Christmas Tree! Oh Christmas Tree!

So the tree is up and I am loving it! In the past i have gone with silver, white and an icy blue. However I decided to switch it up this year and go for more of a rustic glam. Think glitter, glass metallics with burlap and natural elements.

I was able to use a lot o the same elements, white poinsettias and metallic pheasant feathers but I chose to switch up the ribbon to a burlap and metallic ribbon and I added in large pine cones and a few birch balls. A trick that I tried out this year that really made a difference was to use two types of lights. I first wove small little lights in the center of the tree and wrapped my larger bulbed lights more around the edge. It made a huge difference and really haloed add sparkle to the tree.

Have I mentioned this is my favorite time of year? I absolutely love sitting at night and looking at the tree! What themes did you all go with this year?