Christmas 2017 Living Room Cont'd

Welcome back- here is the other side of the living room.

I clustered six bottle brush trees together in this oval wood bowl adorned with two elk heads.  I pushed them together so the branches would help them stay clustered and added some snow to the bottom.  

I found this little bear on an after Christmas sale last year and the poinsettia dish is a few years old from Hobby Lobby.  

The long wood top that divides the living room has been set up with a Woodland Enchantment vignette.

I like Santas of all kind but I think my favorite are the old world saints like this one.

The reindeer got a little paint job to add a some warmth to their color and I dressed them up a bit with a black velvet ribbon and the gold cords I had used before.  You've seen the same tree before with the gold poinsettia leaves but I also added some of my gold ornaments this year.

The sleigh was dressed up with florals and pine cones.  I sprinkle faux snow here and there to the add to the enchantment.

The big golden antlers are once again used and clustered with little evergreen branches, pine cones and more faux snow.  The ornament to the rear is a nativity with three wise men on the other.

I used two small black lanterns from my little stash of lanterns to add some more light to the vignette.

I'll show a night time picture soon.

I set a place for my little nativity set.

The wreath worked out nicely as a base.

Pre-maid wreath from Pier 1 last year.  

Silent night, holy night...

Thank you for visiting- I have more to show and I hope you'll come back!

Christmas 2017 Mantel and Living Room

I have been slower than usual completing my Christmas decorating but I finally got it all done.  I put wreaths on two of the windows which I'm loving.  I got inspired to do this when I saw a post from Anita Diaz @ Far Above Rubies.  

I'm thrilled this year with the mantel.  I found the big trees at a store after the holidays and knew I had to have them.  The white stag was new last Christmas and I knew the trees would look good with it.  Last year I had the lanterns down on the floor by the Christmas tree.  (They're actually angled but look straight in this picture.

I have a whole tub full of various sized pine cones I've been collecting for several years so I had fun layering them around the stag.

Last year the red berries were used in a different setting and ended up being just what I needed this year.

I used silver, and gold accented pine cones and natural ones.  

I just love the texture and coloring of these trees.   They look like carved wood but they're some kind of resin or plastic blend. 

The sun shined for 3 minutes (ha- but true) and I happened to be nearby so I caught this picture.  I elevated my big Santa on a plant stand this year since I couldn't find a good spot to present him.

My decorating goal in the living room was to be a bit lodge like.  I saw this reindeer and sleigh at Pier 1 this year and had to have it.  The tree has been used many times and I just re-purposed it here and added the woven gold stars.

I found the wreaths and horns at Hobby Lobby all 50% off.  I wanted the wreaths kind of light and airy so they wouldn't block the light.

I found the tree star at Ace hardware.  It was made to look like it's created with pine cones.  The lighting was too challenging to get a decent shot of it.

The white ornaments with cardinals were another find at an after Christmas sale.  The red swirl designed ornaments were identical to ones I saw in a set sold by Balsam Hill last year but their prices are so high.  I was delighted to find these are a local store sold individually.

I grabbed up a dozen of these plaid burlap poinsettias from Pier 1.  They offered the kind of look I wanted.

Another one of the red lanterns I had from last year and an old world Santa. 

I bought this to go on the tree but it was way too large.  I didn't pay enough attention to the sizing when I bought it.  I found the sisal wreath she's sitting on at JoAnn Fabrics.  

As you see the kitties are treated well here.  I sit here each evening with them next to me.  The pillows with the deer heads came from Pier 1 last year and the small beaded ones from Pier 1 several years ago.

Love bugs!

The little lantern came from Frontage several years ago. I loved it's old world charm.  I made up a little woodland scene with Santa and some furry friends.  Thanks to Kris at Junk Chick Cottage I was made aware of the cute little birds at Target  which of course prompted a few more pieces to be purchased.  Santa was a special order from Pier 1.  They had a much larger one that looks similar but I chose this 12" version.

Aren't they adorable! 

I almost forgot this!  Santa from a couple of years ago and my basket loaded with birch, bottle brush style branches, red berries and silver coated leaves.

There is more that you can't see from this view that will be shown next and I hope you'll come back to visit!  I'll also show some pics in the evening with the lights on when it's even cozier looking!

I'm joining the following blog parties:

Dishing It & Digging It

November sails away!

I don’t know what happened to November!  It’s as though it sailed away in a brisk storm.   It’s a little bleak now but with the leaves gone now I can see more open sky and some beautiful sunrises.  I am reminded to look up more often as I was at the kitchen table tap tap tapping on my iPad and looked up to see this fantastic sky.

We had a great Thanksgiving Day- enjoyed good food and being with each other.  It’s a precious time since our visits with the kids are limited as we live a long ways apart.  Angela brought a homemade squash soup and it was delicious!

This is Dan’s rocker from his childhood in the early 1950’s.  Over 30 years ago when our son was a baby he stripped and stained it for the kids to use.  Unfortunately the old finish wasn’t safe with it’s peeling paint though it was sweet in it’s original light blue paint with little decals.

And the circle of life continues.  Dan posing next to our grandson at the same chair some 65 years later 😊

One of Ryan’s friends that also grew up here was in town and brought his three sons.  We had a good time and my living room became a romper room!  This was a first for all of them to be together.

We had just put out some garland and wreaths to get ready for the kids to visit.  So far the outside is the only thing that has any Christmas decorating.  

A few weeks ago we stopped at Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth, Michigan.  I’ll have to show another picture later on in the December once we have some accumulated snow!  Right now all we have are oak leaves that are falling from the sky.  I’m in no hurry for snow though as I’m enjoying this warmer weather we’ve been having. 

I also found the red sleds there.  

These cute aluminum ornaments came from Ace Hardware.  

I found these ornaments at Target.  They’re plastic with a plastic wrapped design on them- I thought they were the perfect design for this tree.

A dusting of snow one evening.  Everything is covered and put away in storage as we prepare for the inevitable snowy winter that we get here. 

Our cats were glad to have their bed back on the sofa and snuggled up again.  Having company is work!  They hid most of the time.  🙀