Decorating your mantel

Prop up a mirror, add whatever you like. Greenery and twigs always give it a special touch. Just have fun adding pieces you have available around your house.

Christmas Decorating

 Use tulle to tie a pretty simple bow to your chairs!

 

A fresh wreath with deco mesh trim!

 

 Drinks for Santa!

 

Just a simple display with my silver pine cones!

A Christmas Wreath makeover!

Before

It was time to give this wreath new life!

After

While I was at Loew's purchasing some poinsettias, I noticed a basket of Christmas tree trimmings off to the side and kindly asked if I could have them. I got them for FREE since they were going to throw them away! I just added the fresh branches to my artificial wreath. It was very easy to put together since the artificial wreath branches are wires too so then you can be able to twist and turn them to put your fresh branches in place. A fast and easy fresh wreath and it smells nice too!

Decorating with pine cones

There are many ways you can decorate pine cones to add to your holiday decor. These are just a few ideas and also a fun project to do with your kids or a friend....from going outdoors and collecting them, to bringing them into your warm home to decorate and sit down with a nice cup of hot chocolate!

(Just a little tidbit....I recently was on a trip and wanted a cup of hot chocolate on a cold night and only had limited ingredients on hand, but I made the best hot chocolate ever.

1 cup milk

2 dark chocolate truffles

1-2 packets of sugar in the raw

Just heat in the microwave  30 seconds at a time and keep stirring in between until chocolate is melted and hot!

 Back to decorating holiday pine cones..

For glitter pine cones, use a brush to paint craft glue on the pine cones either on the ends only or the entire cone (I used Mod Podge, but any thick craft glue is ok). Next, sprinkle with glitter. A fine glitter gives it a more elegant look, but you can use any type of glitter. Have fun using any color or several colors in a grouping.

Another option is spray painting your pine cones. Gold and silver are great colors, but don't be afraid to try other bold colors. Red, green and white are also great choices too for the holidays. Pine cones are not just for Christmas decorations, so why not use them all year round to display in a glass bowl or basket. Choose colors to match your decor. Gold is one of my favorite and I use for all seasons!

Bleached pine cones have more of a "beachy" appearance to me and also takes a little more time to achieve the final look. I soaked them in a container filled with bleach for a couple of hours and let dry for several days. The pine cones will close up after they have soaked in the bleach and as they dry out, they will begin to open. Too much trouble for me...I still like the gold ones!

And of course, the Natural look pine cones. Just do nothing or spray a little clear lacquer paint on them. Bring nature into to your home with beautiful pine cones that you can decorate many different ways and best of all, it is very inexpensive to do!...Gold is still my favorite!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I love to decorate for the Fall and Thanksgiving, and not to mention all the good cooking too! Enjoy, take it easy and "give thanks" because Christmas is just around the corner!!!

Happy Veterans Day!

A Wreath for multiple seasons!

Remember my magnolia leaf wreath I made at the beginning of the summer? (click here to see the original wreath). It made it through the hot summer months and the leaves gradually turned brown just in time for Fall. Soon it will be time to make a fresh one for Christmas....That is one good thing magnolia trees are good for, "Decorating!"