S is for....School Mantle

It's that time of year again!  This year is especially difficult for me because my baby...starts Kindergarden!!! I can't believe it!  I'm going to be a giant puddle of tears come Thursday for sure!  Anyway, July is over and I got tired of looking at my patriotic mantle that I decided I needed something different.  It's too early for my Fall Mantle (sad face) so I came up with this...

It's my Back-to-School Mantle.  It's pretty simple really.  I just added a few of my staples, my old window, a couple of initials for SMITH or SCHOOL, some pictures of my family and my cuties and some candles.  I also added these in the apothecary jars...

Yes, those are some extra school supplies.  And there are my cuties!  I also found a really awesome Chalkboard at Target this year at the Dollar Spot!!

The one on the right is the one I found. Of course, when I realized that I actually needed 2 and went back to get it, they were sold out...figures.  So I found the framed chalkboard on the left at Hobby Lobby and made it to look similar.  Most of the words are permanent so I used a paint pen to create those but left the blanks so we could use them year after year.  I just wrote the rest of the info in chalk.  Can you believe that G is going into 3rd grade this year!?!?!  And M...Kindergarden?!?!?!?!  Again, puddle of tears.  I also added a clock behind the chalkboards to signify that ever so fast ticking away of time. 

 

They will never be this young again...ah...oh well.  I hope you enjoyed this Mantle and are ready for your kiddos to head back to school!  

Valentine's Day Mantle

Happy Valentine's Day!!

I love the way the red and pink and cream and all shades of Look like in my home.  Here's a pic of my current Mantle for Valentine's Day!

Let's take a look around...

 Remember these apothecary jars I made last year?!  They are still going strong and I use them for just about every holiday!  Here I just stuffed them with tissue paper in the coordinating colors.

 Here's a better look at this side.

 In the center I used the same window I used for my Winter Mantle and cut out some cute "I Love U" letters and then taped them to the window panes.  I left my family pictures up from the Winter Mantle.  This was a really easy turn over.

 Again, the same candle holders from my Winter Mantle and just grouped them to the same side.  I changed out the candles with some red and silver sparkly ones and voila...Valentine's Day! :)

 This ADORABLE garland was made with my silhouette, but it is really easy to do so without the aide of my fancy machine.  You can find out how on My Craft Evolution!

 I love the way this garland turned out!

 I used curling ribbon to thread it together.

There you have it...my Valentine's Day Mantle.  Simple, yet festive! What do you think?!

Winter (Post Christmas) Mantle

It is always challenging to decorate after Christmas.  I love all my Christmas decorations, but after a while, it just looks like I'm lazy and didn't want to take anything down.  Plus, we have a birthday boy right after Christmas and I would rather the birthday pictures not be filled with Jingle Bells and Christmas Trees.  So I searched the ever Holy Grail of all things crafty for ideas.  I realized that in the Winter, we still have snow, we still have cold and it is still appropriate to decorate with greenery, just not "Christmasy," so here is what I came up with...

It's my Monochromatic (sort of) Winter Mantle!

 I put up my silvery candle sticks that I love so much!  I tried to keep with a brown/white/natural and Green Theme with this.  you know, to stay away from the "Christmas" idea, but still be Winter.  The only problem was the red votive candles that were melted in my candle holders that I didn't take the time to get out.

In the center I put up my cream window pane and some of our pictures from our Family Photo Shoot this fall.  I LOVE the picture of the 2 boys!  There is an even better on with them smiling and looking down and all happy with each other, as if there are never any fights and they are best friends.  It is blown up to 20x24 and on canvas in our living room. :) That way I can always "remember when."

I made this rosette out of cardstock and then cut out our family Initial with my new Silhouette that I got for Christmas!  I punched a hole in the top, added some tulle and then taped it to the back of my window above my pictures!  I wanted to have our initial somehow, but the only one I had was bright blue...it did not match my "natural" color scheme...thus this was created!  I love it.  It's just enough femininity that I'm happy, but not too girly that my hubbs complains. :)

 This is the same Christmas garland that I had on my Christmas Mantle.  I just took off the silver snowflakes, and red ribbons. Again, I wanted a more muted color palette for winter.

 

I added some sprigs of pine that had been frosted with a muted silver and some pine cones to keep with the winter nature feel and then also placed some cream berries in the garland also.  I kept the lights on it because I just love the lights!  It makes my mantle look warm and inviting.  like there is a fire going all the time. :)

I also made these "snowballs" out of Styrofoam balls that I got from the Dollar Store. They were in a package of assorted sized and then I stuck a toothpick in them so that I could "attach" them to the garland.  It was very easy! I didn't even cover them or paint them or anything.  The Styrofoam itself looks like little glittering balls of snow already!

And there you have it! My Winter (Post Christmas) Mantle.  It's almost time to start thinking about Valentine's Day! I wonder what I will do for that?...

Silver & Red Christmas Mantle

It's Christmas time again!!  Here's a pic of my beautiful Mantle:

So this year I decorated my entire house in the same manner as last year.  If you want to see details of those decorations, see my post here.

With that being said however, I was not incredibly in love with my mantle last year.  Here's a pic of the 2012 Christmas Mantle:

More or less...I did end up making the sign that I wanted to and it went in that big empty spot there.  Here is the sign I finished:

I love this sign!  A lot!  It really embodies the true meaning of Christmas and why we celebrate in the first place!  The only problem is that it did NOT match with the Country Christmas Decor that was currently gracing my Mantle.  I didn't even get any pictures of it all together because it was so close to time to take it down and I didn't really like it anyway.  

So, I knew that this year I would want something different.  And I knew it needed to match my new sign so I decided to go with a Silver and Red theme this year.  I scoured Hobby Lobby, Target and Joann's for discounted Christmas decor and tucked it all away in my Christmas Storage Closet.  Really not sure how it would come together for my 2013 Mantle.  

So this year, I pulled out everything I acquired and started to create.  I have to say, I AM in love with this year's Mantle.  See for yourself:

Here is a better picture of it with just the twinkly Christmas lights:

LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!  So here are the elements in detail...

 This is just a simple cardboard sign I found that was silver and sparkly...2 things I wanted in my Christmas decor.  I set it on top of my glass candle holders with some sparkly silver decoration ball things to give it some texture.

 Add a candle with sparkly silver glitter that I decorated myself using this post's tutorial and of course my silver stocking hangers.

 For the middle of the Mantle, I found these beautiful Luminaries depicting the birth of Christ and His visitors.  I love these!

I also made this Christmas Tree out of a Cereal Box!! Check back for a tutorial on how to make your own!  It is the perfect amount of sparkle and red to accent this almost monochromatic mantle.

On the right I found this silver (and sparkly) tree and hoisted it up with another glass candle holder and the same sparkly silver balls.

 And of course, some more stocking holders and another red candle.  You'll notice I also added some red tea light holders.  They were on Clearance at Target for something like 25 cents each...AWESOME!

And to top it all off, of course, my wooden sign that I spray painted silver!  Did I mention that I love it?! :)

You may also notice that my garland is a little different.  Again, for reference, here is the 2012 garland...

You may be able to see it, but in case you can't, there are pine cones and red berries all throughput this non lit, Country Garland.  And here is the 2013 Garland:

See, lights, no pine cones, no berries...at least not red ones.  THIS garland has little silver snowflakes and silver berries and some frosted branches.  It is still the same garland and the same red ribbon.  I actually added the lights as an afterthought, which is why they look all catty wonkered.  It will look better next year. :)

I hope you enjoyed my 2013 Silver and Red Christmas Mantle.  I do...and honestly that's what counts right. :)  I'll leave you with some beautiful pictures of everything as we like to enjoy it...Fireplace lit and all aglow!  Merry Christmas!

 

April Showers Mantle

April Showers bring May Flowers.  At least that's what they say.  I'm hoping so at least.  I planted some of said May Flowers and then the Showers began.  And they continue...and continue. It should be a beautiful May! Nonetheless, I had to celebrate this beauty of rain in my home so let me introduce my April Showers Mantle!

It's hard to see, but there are little "raindrops" falling from the clouds and ceiling. Here are a few more photos to get the idea of the whole thing: 

The clouds are made from polyfill and fishing line. I just tied the fishing line around a small portion of the polyfill taped it to the ceiling.  The drops of water are glass beads from the Dollar Tree.  I hot glued the fishing line to the back of them and then attached with tape as well to the ceiling. 

This is a creamer and pitcher set that we got for our wedding.  I totally forgot I had it.  We never use it, so décor it becomes! 

I hope you enjoy and stay dry!