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! 

Our Decorations of Comfort and Joy

Well, it's raining here.  See?

Normally I wouldn't complain about rain.  It's just that I finally finished my Christmas "mantle" last night, and wanted to show you today, but my little point-and-shoot camera really relies on natural light to get a good photo, so I am going to wait another day to see if Mr. Sunshine joins us tomorrow.

(Santa, is there a DSLR in that bag for me?  /please )

I do have a few pictures of a couple other little things we did around the house.

I feel like we keep it simple, and then I don't.  Definitely simple compared to a lot of other things I see out there, but these little projects still take HOURS out of my time - I just don't know how those  amazing homemakers out there do it all.  Mad props to those mamas (and papas, too!)

Here's what we did.  Do you remember my Dollar Store Copycat Owls?  Well, they got a little chilly sitting there next to the window, so we dressed them up a bit.
 

Then I came over here into the kitchen chalkboard and made a Christmas mantle.  (Not to be confused with the aforementioned Christmas mantle, hopefully I'll post pictures of that tomorrow.  Rain, rain go away.)

And, of course the tree.  Although, I do prefer the white lights, Darth Hubby loves the multi-colored.  It's a small sacrifice to make when he gives me his support to "Amyfy" just about every inch of the rest of the house, don't you think?  And besides, the multicolored lights match nicely with my $3 yard sale afghan as a tree skirt.
 

 
Hopefully I'll get my other Christmas mantle up tomorrow.  For now, I'll show you a hint.  It involves these beauts.  I saw these for $1 at Dollar General and hoarded them up like I was stocking Martha Stewart's bomb shelter. /wahaha

Okay everybody, pray the rain away.  I want to get my pictures of the Christmas mantle up tomorrow [by which I really mean, three rather large leaks have sprung up in the girl's room, and my head is filling up with pictures of it all collapsing in - (so yes I am serious about asking you to help me pray the rain away)]

Thanks, as ever, for reading my silly ramblings and looking at my silly pictures!  I'm linking this post up at A Thoughtful Place .