Fall Mantle

My favorite thing about my living room is my fireplace mantle: It's nearly 5 feet long with beautiful trim work. Truly the work of a great craftsman. And since I have such a great mantle, I love to decorate for the holidays with it!

So let's take a look:

The Garland was made by taking a 6 foot long grapevine garland (they sell them all twisted up next to the wreaths at Hob Lob). Using some hot glue, I added in a few leaves from a tattered wreath, some berry picks and ribbon. Lots and lots of ribbon. Once it looked good, I found some Mums on clips and just clipped it to the garland. The construction of the wreath was actually very easy. The hard part was hanging it on the mantle. Since no one in their right mind would nail into such a beautiful mantle, I had to figure something else out. And after much trial and error (think things going BANG/CRASH/BOOM in the night), the best thing I found were 3M Command Velcro Strips. Adhere one side to the mantle and hot glue the other to the middle of a 12" piece of ribbon. Then to hang it, all you have to do it literally tie it on. Sooooo much easier than anything else I've tried.

In order to hide my hubby's toy, I needed something tall. So I found some old glass bottles and added some of Martha's Halloween labels. The white candle pillars came from Target along with the grapevine pumpkin (dollar bin!).

The fabric pumpkins were made from fat quarters (great tutorial here). I made a dozen or so last year and they look awesome around the house. Totally something anyone could make!

And last but not least, our Countdown to Candy blocks. My kids favorite holiday tradition. These are awesomely easy to make (need a tutorial? look here) - and perfect for a craft group activity. I need to give a shout out here to my crafting buddies, because everyone needs someone to make them feel creative. Thanks Girls! You're always there when I'm feeling blah to inspire me to create something beautiful to get me out of my funk. Can I just say that they are AWESOME?!

So I hope that helps you get inspired to create something seasonal for fall. Or autumn. Whatever you may call it!

Hope you like my mantle as much as I do. What did you like best? Anything you hated? You can tell me... I can handle the truth... maybe.

~ Janice

Always in Transition

Doesn't it always seem that life is just one transition after another? I'd have sworn that we just had Halloween because life has just gone by that quickly!

I just had to put this out there to show you that, at least in my world, things get done when they can and never all at once. So, here is the current state of my mantle. Much better than it has been the last week and a half when the "Lucky" was on one side while everything else was still Valentine's Day. It was so mismatched that Don even noticed and commented! At least I took the Valentine's Day decor down (though they have yet to wander into the attic by themselves.... stupid decorations).

I'll be back later this week with my banner and pillows. Until then, I hope you enjoy my transition...

~ Janice

* In real life my walls are a tea brown, not this crazy pink that keeps showing up. Also, sorry the pics are the greatest. We are under a Tornado Warning and the skies look like they are about to fall, leaving my only source of light the flash. ugh.....

Just a Little Love for Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!I don't know about you, but I have just a little obsession with the day of love.... I think it goes back to when I was in Kindergarten and received my first Valentine from Zack. He was my first crush, and it made me feel like the most special girl in the class because HE gave ME a box of lifesavers that said "Be Mine". ~Swoon~ Yes, I realized he gave every other kid in my class the exact same thing, but it started my obsession with letting people know exactly how I feel about them.

Now that I have kids of my own, I try to make Valentine's Day about the love that their father and I have for them. They are my little Valentines (and much, much cuter than Zack might I add). So when it comes time to put away the Christmas decorations, I go right for the mushy-lovey decorations. It about kills Don. every. time. (He's kind of a sporty man- and he doesn't think that Ranger's Hockey and pink hearts mix). Soooo, I really try to make it cozy, but not go overboard on the romantic look.

So, without further ramblings, here's what my living room currently looks like:

A little specimen art (every one's doing it) and an embroidered love note (great tutorial from Smashed Peas & Carrots)

Just a little LOVE- made with paper mache letters and left over Christmas wrapping paper

My entire mantle: The Be Mine Banner is inspired my so many I've seen linked to nearly every Valentine's Post (mine is a little incomplete. I've still got the stitching to do around the letters but I needed it up for a party and just haven't gotten around to fixing it yet).

Lastly, my favorite: I LOVE Pillows! All of the pillows were super simple to make, and since they are made with an opening in the back, they are even easier to change out for the next holiday. Watch for a tutorial coming soon!
May your day be filled with the love of family and friends!

~ Janice