Mantle Cheer, Charlie Brown, and Camera Perspective

This is a terrible way to start a post, but let me begin with a disclaimer. It is REALLY hard for me to post these pictures because they are such bad quality! I have NEVER missed my DSLR Canon more than right now. (For those just entering this super dramatic sob-fest, our camera was lost/stolen at Disney World recently. I know.) Normally, I would do something absurd like borrow a friend's super fancy DSLR just to take my holiday pictures. I seriously contemplated but decided not to do this, because that makes me look like a total picture/camera snob. And I haven't turned into one of those "it's DSLR way or the highway" blogs, so I decided to swallow my pride and post the craptastic point-and-shoot pictures. There. I feel better. This is kind of like when Charlie Brown is freaking about the spirit of Christmas and looking at the fancy models of Christmas trees (eerily similar to how I'm harping on fancy models of cameras.....) and Linus steps up and basically says "Take a chill pill--Christmas is about something WAYYYYY more important." And he's right. DSLR fancy-schmancy pictures are not what Christmas (or blogging) is all about. :)

So the blogging Christmas tours have begun, and I feel totally behind the curve. I stumbled upon the post at Thrifty Decor Chick (even though I follow her blog, I'm way behind in my reading) sharing about the upcoming linky parties. I'm just going to do the ones that I can do and not stress about the others. I'll for sure be joining in on The Nester's tour on December 13 and whenever Kelly does hers. Those are so fun!

Layla is featuring mantles, so without further ado, MY MANTLE.

 I used a garland from Ballard, put some ribbon in it, and just put gold fluff on the mantle itself. I made the angel wings (more on that in a minute). For those who are new to my blog, I love neutrals in my decorating. They're the most soothing to me and I just gravitate toward them. This is our first Christmas in this house, and I've been able to experiment with white/cream/neutral Christmas decorations, and I really love it!

 I designed the stockings and my amazing mother in law made them!

I made the angel wings out of nothing but cardboard and hot glue. I saw a similar project on the blog Let It Shine, but mine don't look like hers! I have no idea how she made her wings, but they're so pretty and inspiring. I saw that post forever ago, and I finally made myself sit down and make a pair of wings! All I did was cut individual shapes out of cardboard and hot glue them. I used several shades of paint and just blended it all together.

 They look primitive and kind of rough, and I like that about them. It's rare that I use my own art or projects in my house, so these are special.

For those who read my blog regularly, I haven't posted house updates in ages. This is how the living room looks now---new sofas, a reupholstered antique chair, a rug, and a tufted ottoman. You can't see them in any of these pictures, but we also got two small rocking chairs. Everything seems to be coming together slowly!

Merry Mantling!

Family Fun Days in the Fall

I'm finally getting caught up with pictures! Here are some fun days that we've had as a family this fall.

Alyssa brought Dana and Kristin home from college---so fun!

One Saturday, Kurt, Evy and I went to breakfast at Cracker Barrel and then went to play at our church's playground. It was so fun to just be together as a family of three!

We went to the pumpkin patch as a family one day and had a great time! Evy really enjoyed herself and we laughed a lot!

We have loved spending time together, and it's been a great season to just be thankful for the simple things in life. :)

The Family Christmas Card

For my family's Christmas card, we were aiming to get a family picture this year of me and my siblings plus Evy and Kurt. Since we live here now, we figured it would be good to take one picture for my family's card. Let me just tell you, Evy is at the age where taking pictures is a NIGHTMARE. If I catch her candidly, I get the biggest smile full of dimples. But the second I NEED a picture for something, forget it. Not happening.

After trying and trying, my family just started laughing and gave up. We ended up taking a picture of just my siblings, and then added in the picture of Kurt, me, and Evy. I was sad because I would've loved a picture all together, but it was not to be! :) So here is my family's Christmas card this year:

Modern Cranberry Noir Christmas

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I actually think it turned out great! :) Merry Christmas!