Christmas Decorations + Mantle = LoveHate

I'm going to be very honest here......I struggle with my mantle all year round!

UGH it drives me crazy. I always feel like something is "off." I have no idea why but some days there is "too much silver" or "too much glass" or "too much height" or "not enough height" and recently I've decided to blame the wall color. Seriously. The wall color is to blame here. I use to be happy with my mantle decorations until one day I had plaster work done and the walls had to be painted once the plaster was repaired. I told the contractor to pick the same paint color because I LOVE it. I still love the color but it is no longer the color of my living room. I came home from work, he was done/gone, and my walls are a weird beige/white color. Needless to say, I was not pleased. Okay this is not a story about my shady contractor so I'm going to move on.

So my mantle issues have carried over to my Christmas decorations. For the past 3 years I've used gold glittery trees (that have lost some glitter), candles, and other stuff I can't remember. This year I decided to waste my time try something new.

Let's start at the very beginning with my everyday mantle.

Boring, I know. Normally there are fresh cut flowers where you see the dried hydrangeas to add more color and balance the height. However, I didn't buy fresh flowers last week because I was gone for Thanksgiving and I knew Christmas decorations were next!

So I got to work from an idea I had in my head. Here are my sticks!

Working away at my idea in my head. Will it work????

Time for the big reveal!......

BAM....Christmas Mantle FAIL!

The sticks just blend right into my "beige" walls.I could even envision the lights and greenery I had planned to add. I was so disappointed in the outcome. However, after a solid night of bar hopping and a morning of sleeping late, I felt refreshed and ready to face my mantle again.

May I present 2011 Christmas Mantle....Drum roll please!

Ta-Da!!!

Gold trees again, red tree, fresh candles, TONS of lights (200 just on the mantle!), and greenery from my front yard. I'm very pleased with my mantle this year even though I used most of the same stuff. Somehow it looks different. 

Did anyone else struggle finding normal, traditional lights this year?? I went to FOUR stores looking for white lights on green wire. Yes, that's right, I said FOUR....Target, Walmart, Lowes, and finally Rite Aid. The last place I looked is behind my house. Yeah, I could have walked up there instead of driving all over creation. I knew I shouldn't have left ITB (Inside The Beltline) to go looking for them!

So I guess you're wondering what I did with the sticks. I left them sitting on the dining room table for a day or two deciding what to do- reuse or toss. I decided to give them one more chance before kicking them to the curb.

Lookie, lookie!!

I'm super excited about my centerpiece for the dining room table. I'm pretty proud that I was able to salvage part of my vision!

I hope you're having just as much fun getting into the holiday spirit as I am!

Sweet Dreams,

Southern Girl

ps- If you have any ideas for my everyday mantle, please help a gal out!!

All photos are personal.

It's a Pure Barre Kinda Night

I'm going back to Pure Barre tonight! Ekk! I'm scared and excited at the same time. Last time, was a complete workout and I'm hoping for the same tonight. I'm positive that Pure Barre will not disappoint.

Photo Credit

Cheers to being able to walk tomorrow!

In holiday news- I'm hoping that tomorrow evening will be a good night to get started on a holiday project. I really need all this rain to pass through and go drizzle on someone else for awhile. I've got some painting to do along with shopping for a few more odds and ends to update my Christmas decor. I can't wait to share pictures! Gah, Christmas is my favorite time of year. I wish we could have Christmas lights year round. The soft glow of white lights is so peaceful.

Make it a great day!

S.O.S.

The Last Day of November

OMG, I cannot believe it's the last day of November. Seriously, where has 2010 gone?!

My Thanksgiving in a nutshell- Thanksgiving was a nice day. I got to sleep in on Thursday morning and it was pure heaven. I rarely get that joy so when I do, I take FULL advantage. After mom and I got all our assigned dishes prepared, we head down the street to my brother and sister in law's house. My sweet nephew was dressed in a preppy sweater vest and khakis....LOVED IT! Several friends joined my family for dinner and the evening wrapped up with some vodka and wii.

It was a pretty uneventful weekend following Turkey Day. I saw the new Harry Potter movie which was surprisingly great!

One of the best parts of the weekend was that on Sunday, KLM and I got the whole house decorated for Christmas!! This time of year is my favorite. I love Christmas decorations, holiday cheer, parties, and lights- lots and lots of lights! Here's our brand (and all reused) front porch wreath!

(sorry for the bad photo- the shadowing is weird)

After an unnecessarily long trip to Lowes Home Improvement store, I decided to make a wreath with ornaments on it. I'm pretty proud of my handiwork and I didn't have to buy a single thing to make this wreath happen! I had everything in my house and I'm thrilled to reuse things!

Tonight I'm baking cookies so I'll let you know how those turn out. I snagged the recipe from Our State magazine. If they are good, I'll share the recipe!

Please enjoy this holiday season!!