Christmas Mantle

Hi guys!

Well, I did mention here I would post our Christmas mantle once the rain went away, and the sun came out to help my little (but trusty) camera along. 

And then life happened, as life often does, and it took me a while to get this thing photographed, but here we are now. Christmas "Mantle" time. (Of course, I say "mantle" in the quotes because, as you can see, this is not a literal mantle.  It's just a shelf with ambitions of being a mantle...well, little guy, here's your big break.)

You can't see it in any of the photos, but for the branch with the frames, I cut pages from an old dictionary using words that reflected Christmas: stable, Mary, manger, etc., then I wrote the lettering on top.  In retrospect, I wish I would have planned out my lettering better, but it's alright in its own flawed way.

I wanted something that made me think of poinsettas.  I love poinsettas.  I added these flower cutouts just by using a piece of double sided tape stuck to the shelf.

 

Well, all in all the "mantle" makes me very happy.  I feel it expresses the true meaning of the season coupling thoughts of "God with us" and family/friends -  I cherish all these when I see the stockings grandma crocheted, the painting my dear friend made, the photographs my other dear friend took, and of course, "Emmanuel", the reminder of the sacrifice my Savior made.

Does it get any better than that?

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On another note:  Thank you so much to everybody that voted for our Christmas tree photo at the Country Living contest!  It didn't win because of cheaters there were so many great, inspiring photos out there... but it really does sincerely just mean the world to me that so many of you would care about little ole' me and my lil' ole' family having a chance to win a silly thing like a Kindle!    /blush

Thank you!