My Christmas Mantel~

Today I wanted to share with you my Christmas Mantel. It has always been a tradition in my house to decorate for Christmas on the day after Thanksgiving. And so, rather than braving the crowds on Black Friday morning...my little family and I braved the cold to go pick out a Christmas tree. (Which I'll share later.) Then it was back home to spend the remainder of the day hard at work getting our house ready for the holidays.

I mentioned in an earlier post that this year I had a neutral palette in mind. Mostly silver and white with touches of black...and green of course...and everything turned out just the way I envisioned it.

So without further ado, I present this year's Christmas mantel.



Circumstances being what they are this year, I was working with an exceptionally small budget for Christmas decorating. So my goal was to use things I already had. And when I absolutely had to supplement, I either created what I needed myself, (look for upcoming tutorials on my DIYs) or I found it at the dollar store. Now, I know I talk a lot about frugal decorating on this little old blog. And I practice what I preach. But the trick is, my dear readers, not to have the space look frugal. Sure, use things from the dollar store....but NEVER let it look like you used things from the dollar store. Caviar decorating on a tuna fish budget...

Here's how I accomplished this look...

The garland is one that I have had for a few years. It is just a simple craft store faux garland that I beefed up by doubling it. Then I added in a spring green berry garland and lights. I made it even more festive by attaching a few dollar store snowflakes and some pretty white and silver ribbon from Michael's Craft. (The ribbon is actually holding the garland up...because the mantle is rough stone, I couldn't come up with another way to attach the garland...so I nailed the ribbon to the wall just above the mantel and then tied the garland with the ribbon...an easy-peasy solution!)

Then for the glitz factor, the ornament wreath. I made this darlin' out of dollar store ornaments. Really, I did. And I'll share a tutorial on just how I did it later.

Next, the fabulous faux mercury glass candle holders. Another little DIY (again, tutorial to come).

I also re-used my sweet chenille Christmas trees, just popped them on top of some brushed nickle candle holders that I pulled out of my decor storage. (I highly recommend keeping a decor staging storage area if you don't already have one. It really helps when you want to switch things around.)

The topiaries are on the mantel year round...but I made them a little more festive by adding sweet little bird ornaments.

And finally, the pretty stockings that I made a couple of years. The boys' stockings are made out of tan linen that I repurposed from an old jumper and the girls' stockings are made from a repurposed baby quilt. I just love their understated elegance.

Oh, and the basket on the hearth holds my collection of Children's Christmas books. I simply adore them, and the kids and I have a great time reading them every day of the Christmas season! It's one of our favorite traditions.

I just love it at night with the lights twinkling....magical!

So there you have it! My 2010 Christmas Mantle! I'm linking to the Mantel party at The Lettered Cottage! Hop over and check out all the festive fun!

Have a great day~

Pretty, Repurposed Christmas Stockings~

It's no secret by now, that I love frugal decorating. So last year when I was looking to get new Christmas stockings for the family, I hit upon the idea of repurposing some items I wasn't using anymore into new stockings for the whole crew.

The Princess and I got pretty white quilted stockings made from an old baby quilt that I had honestly forgotten I had. It had such cute scalloped edges that I simply turned it over at the top to make the cuff!

The Hubby and the three boys got new stockings made from an old linen dress I couldn't bring myself to part with. It had long since gone out of style, but I loved the fabric sooo much, I knew I would be able to find a use for it. It isn't exactly your typical Christmas fabric, but that is what I loved about it. And this year I have seen linen and burlap stockings all over the place, so I guess a lot of other people love the idea too, huh?

Then to make sure Santa knew whose stockings were whose, I added buttons (also from the dress) to the cuff of each stocking and tied on nametags made from vellum and sparkly alphabet stickers!


And the moral of this story is...before you throw out that old blanket, or dress, or sweater or what have you....try to think outside the box. It may just be your next Christmas stocking! ;-)

And yes, these photos are from last year as well. I do have the stockings out this year, but they are hanging from a piece of twine. Just as cute really, but with all this packing going on, I couldn't pull out the old camera to take a pic. Hope y'all will forgive me.

Come back tomorrow for a fun giveaway~

Holiday Open House

Kimba's holding a holiday open house today, and I just couldn't resist joining in on the fun. For those of you who are regular readers I hope you can put up with a few repeats (I did throw in some new stuff for you though!) And for those of you who are new...Welcome to my Shabby Nest! I hope you enjoy your stay enough that you will come back and visit again!

So to start things off...here is the garland on my staircase...

and here it is with the stockings I made for the family. You can read more about them (and see them better)here.

I just love snowflakes...

I have some "falling" from my chandelier,

and I also have some on this little tree.

I love making pixies...here is my latest addition.

And I LOVE filling apothecary jars! Oh yes I do!

If you want some easy-to-make decorations...try making some of these cute Christmas Topiary Trees. I show you how here.

Or you can make this great wreath that I found in BHG. I talk about it here. (Oh, and for you regular readers...you might notice that I moved it. I like the look of it much better on my old black cupboard.)
Nothing like a festive birdcage...just loaded it with my favorite toile ornaments and some glass balls, and voila!
And, of course, the tree. (the kiddos did a great job decorating it!) You can see some fun closeups of the ornaments here.
Oh, and since we don't have a chimney, Santa has to use a magic key to get in our house. I had the key, but I borrowed an idea from Kari & Kijsa, and put it in this jar with a little faux snow. (Love that rhyme!)

Here's a cute little snowman that my lovely mother-in-law gave me. He keeps court in the laundry room/half bath.
This little bunny (also a gift from my M-I-L) keeps watch for iceskating opportunities in the library.

Even the kiddos' rooms have a dose of Christmas cheer...you can read more about that here.
And of course, a stash of candy canes is a must.

Finally, a little of my exterior decor. You can read more about it here.

Thanks for dropping by. Stop by later this week for a pixie tutorial!

The Stockings Were Hung~

I am so excited about our Christmas stockings! One of the things I wanted to do last year and didn't get around to actually doing, was to get matching stockings for the whole family. But I have been collecting pictures from magazines, catalogs, etc. so that I could find the perfect stockings. I really love neutral colors for Christmas stockings, and I decided that I would make them this year so I could get just what I wanted. I wanted white matelasse for the girls' stockings and tan burlap/linen for the boys'. I also wanted to use what I had. So I had to compromise, but only a little.

I got just what I wanted for the boys' and you'd never guess by looking at them that they were made out of an old dress of mine. I hadn't worn it in years but I loved the fabric so much that I kept it around for just such an occasion.
I had a little white baby quilt that I used for the girls' stockings instead of matelasse, but it had the bonus of having a soft green border that made the perfect edge for the cuff. And the quilting gave them the texture I was looking for. I have been loving the initials I have seen tied to stockings all over blogland but all of my boys have the same first initial so I added these pretty little tags with all of our names made out of vellum and glitter-y alphabet stickers.

They look very pretty all lined up along the garland on our staircase.

Have a lovely weekend~