Winter Decor

Okay, so originally this post was called "January Decor" when I loaded all the pictures a couple weeks ago. But seeing as I have been incredibly busy and it is now the last day of January, I changed it to Winter Decor so I don't seem as behind as I just admitted I am. Oi vey!

I hated taking down my Christmas decorations. But then I welcomed the opportunity to re-decorate. After having LOTS of stuff for Christmas, I wanted to slim down and have some simple, clean decor in blues and whites. Here is my "mantle":

Closer view. Yes the smoke alarm is in the reflection of the mirror, believe me that was the best angle for taking a picture of a mirror. :S

I found some fonts and snowflakes online that I tried to copy. This was much harder than the tree I drew last month, but I'm really proud and happy with how it turned out. I want to keep trying fun fonts.

The snowflake candle holder (above) and white candle (below) were both gifts from some of my students.

I decided to use my Silhouette and some of my fun Winter paper to make some snowflakes for a banner on the mirror. I downloaded the snowflakes from the online Silhouette store here and my paper was purchased with a coupon at JoAnn's.

The other 2 snowflakes.

This blue end table is a recent addition. A girl from my parent's church moved and my parents bought this for me. It fit so perfect with my decor this month.

A printable my mom printed for me and had in my house when I returned from my honeymoon. I used a glittery ribbon from a wedding present to fill my floating candle bowl and a snowflake candle.

Another printable my mom made for me. Fake white daisies that were gifts from my Kindergarten students last year helped add the fresh and simple element. White candles and my light blue Parker Mini Bowl from Crate&Barrel with peppermint kisses.

Did you decorate for winter? To be honest, I don't know if I will get any Valentine's decorations up this year but at least this can stay for another little while :)

Is It Too Late?

Too late to post about my Christmas decorations? I wanted to post about the things I made and the decorating I did back in mid-December when everyone was having linky parties, but oh it was so busy with teaching, getting ready for Christmas and life. So I'm doing it now. Hey, it's still December at least!

I started with these wooden letters and spray paint from JoAnn's.

It became this! Our bathroom has a blue color scheme so I wanted to add some Christmas decoration that fit. The blue bells and white ribbon are also from JoAnn's. I hotglued the letters onto the ribbon.

 I started with spray adhesive from Hobby Lobby, styrofoam cones and red/silver/green glitter from Dollar Tree.

And it became three glittery trees! I got this idea from the blog eighteen25. Thanks for the fun idea! I couldn't find any candlesticks to glue them onto like she did and I was running out of time so they are just on a candle holder, candle lid and the top of the piano. Maybe next year I will put them in candlesticks.

I started with white ribbon and ornaments from JoAnn's.

And it became a cute way to fill the awkward "window" on our staircase. I got my inspiration for this idea from Pinterest and it was from the blog Saving Money Living Life. I think hers looks way better though. Next year I want to try it again but with some smaller balls and more variety of lengths like she did. It's hard to see, but I have dark blue, light blue, and silver balls.

I already showed you my Advent Calendar and entryway table decor here, but I thought I would include it with all the decor pictures. The wooden B on the bottom shelf was a wedding decor item and the BELIEVE basket was 60% off at Michael's.

 

 I did have a tall cylinder vase on the left side with a white taper candle in it filled with red and green mints as well. Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures before our Christmas party when I lit the candle and it melted down several inches until the candle was lost in the mints and now it is all a melted stuck mess inside the vase. OOPS! Guess I should have NOT lit that candle but left it alone as un-melting decor. Still have to try and get that hard candy rock out of the vase...it was only $1.00 so if it breaks I won't cry.

 

My "mantel", which is actually the top of my piano.

 I found the mirror at a garage sale (read about it here). I downloaded the triangle banner letters from Shanty 2 Chic and printed it on dark red cardstock (purchased from JoAnn's). I used glue dots to stick it onto the ribbon...but the letters have fallen down dozens of times so next year I will need to go with some heavy-duty glue. The votive holders were a gift from my mom, the chalkboard was from my wedding, the greenery and bird is from JoAnn's, and the glittery trees are the very same from above in this post.

I got this idea from Pinterest, and when I followed the link it took me to House and Home. I do not consider myself a good drawer by any stretch of the imagination. I am actually quite proud of how this turned out.

 My "bay window", which is actually my large kitchen window sill that looks huge, empty, and ugly if I don't decorate it. Darn, huh?

The mini tree, bell ornaments, red birds, ribbon, red berries, pointsettas,and fake snow is all from JoAnn's (on sale or with a coupon!) I had saved the jars from various food items. The metal bucket is from my wedding as are the wood slices. The wooden B is from Hobby Lobby and the stand for it is from Michael's. My mom gave me the Epsom Salt which is in the bottom of the jars as well as the little greenery from trees at her house. The candles I bought at Super 1. Lesson I learned...the votive candles looked really pretty sitting on the Epsom salt inside those jars, but they do not look pretty after they burned for 3 hours and are now a flat mess of wax. Oops. They are probably stuck to the jars too (my mom pinned a tip for getting them out which I will have to try). So next time, I would still put candles in the jars but not light them. I actually plan to leave this window display up for another month or so since it is more wintery than Christmasy.

So forget the fact that it's late...what was your favorite? Is there anything you want to make/do for your own Christmas decor next year?

Snow is Magical

SNOW???? In early November??? unfortunately, yes. It has snowed here. So crazy to me how two weeks ago we took our fall pictures. The temperatures just dropped so suddenly and it decided fall was over I guess.

Now don't get me wrong, I love snow, and I like winter. BUT, I like all 4 seasons in their time. Instead, where we live we get winter for 5 months minimum. Enhhhh ya, so I'm not so eager for it to shorten our beautiful fall. It can come, but when it's supposed to come. Well apparently the weather doesn't give a hoot what I think...or even consider what I might want (or not want) for my birthday (which is tomorrow)....and it snowed yesterday. Quite a bit. It hasn't melted. It's staying. It's colder. Winter is here.

GROAN. Yes I did groan a bit last night and then this morning when I drove to work.

BUT THEN...on my way home from work, something happened. The snow was so pretty on all the trees, the bite in the air made me want hot chocolate, peppermint mochas, warm meals, a fire, and all of a sudden I started thinking about all the winter decorating and crafts I want to do. The meals I want to make, the goodies I want to bake, the gifts I want to give and hopefully receive at Christmas, the songs I want to listen to (but not yet...I will stand firm in some things). And all in a 15 minute commute, I decided that I liked the snow and okay, it was winter, bring it on. I'm ready, I'm looking forward to it. I want to get into the spirit, be crafy, be home-makery, and be hostessy. We shall see how much time I ACTUALLY have for all these aspirations since my workload literally doubles in a couple weeks and school doesn't get out for break until Dec 22...YUCK.

As soon as I got home, I went out to take a few pictures. Its not totally enough snow to be a winter wonderland, but it was enough to work its magic on me. :)