My (New) Christmas Mantel

Well HEY! I’m so excited to share my Christmas mantel with you today! You know this year was especially fun for me because of the redo our corner fireplace recently went through. If you haven’t seen it yet, go ahead and click over. We’ll wait.

:)

OK, so here’s a quick stroll down memory lane – the big bad annoying corner decorated for Christmas:

I tried my best to work with it…and I thought it always turned out pretty this time of year.

But now…NOW. I am giddy!

I have a REAL fireplace (OK, it was always real, whatever) and a REAL, thick, chunky mantel. WHOO!

My plan was the same as always – I beef up my garland in layers. I started with some pine greenery from Big Lots:

I’ve mentioned this stuff a few times and I swear this is the most realistic, beautiful greenery I’ve seen anywhere. At least for $10. ;)

I made an investment this year by purchasing a few really thick 9 foot lengths of faux greenery at a local florist. They had thick, thicker and thickest and I got the thickest version. I got them during a great sale, so they were still a steal compared to the prices I kept finding online.

I used a section of it and just placed it right on top of the pine:

It’s SO FLUFFY!!!! (I try to resist, I do.)

Then I added the must have – lights:

I just pushed them in here and there.

Then I fluffed and fluffed and fluffed, and then started adding more pieces of the pine from Big Lots. Because I love this stuff so much, I got some on clearance last year:

 

Then came the sparkle in the form of cheap ornaments:

And the pine cones (they actually come attached to the BL garland – told you it was awesomesauce). I found some of the new Glitter Blast Krylon spray paint at True Value (they have every. spray. paint. ever.) and I couldn’t resist spraying the cones:

This stuff is SO fun!

I got the red version too, but I have yet to find something to spray red glitter. I WILL find something.

The garland was ready to go and was FLUFFY beyond my wildest dreams, but the wall above the fireplace seemed empty on the sides. Enter a trip to IKEA and their perfect red lanterns. I hung a few on each side with cup hooks and fishing line:

 

Aren’t the lanterns insanely festive?

I just love them and their bright Christmas red and stars etched into the glass!

I hung the wreath that usually hangs on our door over the mirror:

It’s a wreath from Target (clearance years ago) layered over a simple pine wreath I’ve had foreva. It’s nice and chunkaaay.

And the result? Well. I LOVE.

It’s a large and in charge mantel and I love it!

I’ve mentioned once or 20 times that I’m a little obsessed with red this time of year. This space is no different.

Obviously. :)

A few of you had asked for a shot from further back in the room, so here’s a view of the new wall:

I swear, it looks like it was always that way!

The little Polar Express Santa on the chair was a Goodwill find a few years ago and he was in PERFECT condition. The countdown pillow was from Stein Mart:

Did you see my cutie candy cane by the fireplace?

It’s a knit cover over the cane and it is adorable! I found it at a local shop.

The stockings are all from Pottery Barn – I got them all for $15 each (including embroidery!) last fall:

I think we need to get another one for this guy:

Yes. We will get our dog a stocking. Welcome to our world.

Because I am so excited about having this mantel (did I mention that?) I took way too many pictures. Speaking of pictures, ignore the IKEA backing still in those frames. ;)

You know nighttime is my favorite time at Christmas! The little candles in the lanterns are all LED, so I just flip the switch on them and it’s all dreamy and glowy:

 

Here’s my view from the sofa:

Usually my feet are up there on that table but I’ll spare you the foot pic this time. ;)

(And the candy cane doesn’t stay there when the fireplace is lit – I just left it for a bit while I took pics.)

Because I can’t resist a before and after session, here’s the family room after it’s redo earlier this year:

Here is is with the new fireplace and all Christmastastic!

The view from the kitchen before:

And now, with new floors too!:

These show how very little space the new mantel takes up – I swear it looks more spacious! And I like how the angled wall mimics the angled wall that goes to my office.

Couldn’t be happier!!

If you haven’t linked up your holiday mantel at Rhoda’s yet, get on over! And check out the 300+ gorgeous mantels! I’m late, like always. ;)

And if you’re looking for more mantel ideas, check out my JOY version in our master bedroom:

More red. Shocking. :)

Happy decorating to you!

December Before and After: Poinsettias!

Hello! Can you believe it? The final Before and After Party of the year? It’s blowing my mind how fast the year went. As I get older they just go faster and faster. Not sure I’m happy about that. :)

This month I’m sharing some simple before and afters of a lovely little holiday plant you may have heard of…the poinsettia.

I have long loved this holiday plant, but have NEVER purchased one for our home. I have a friend who gets a few every year, and I have always been jealous of her bright red beautiful flowers.

You see, we’ve had cats as long as I’ve lived, and I had always heard poinsettias were toxic for animals. And then…35 years into life, I found out earlier this year that it’s a myth. I gotta say, I felt a bit cheated for all those years I didn’t get any for fear my cats would keel over.

When I found that out, I knew I would have to get some this holiday season, and then the stars aligned when the dear Tamara contacted me and and a few other bloggers.

Tamara and her husband own a greenhouse in Vancouver, BC, Canada and grow 180,000 poinsettias yearly. Wowza!!

How awesome is that? Needless to say, she’s an expert on the subject of poinsettias.

I was thrilled when the folks at Ball Horticulture in Chicago provided me with a few poinsettias to use this holiday season:

I got two Polar Bear Whites, one Mars Pink and one Christmas Season Red. They were hand delivered to my door and I was giddy when they arrived!

I had grand plans to incorporate them into some vignettes, but to tell you the truth, they’re too big and beautiful to fit well into the spaces I have to work with. I ended up just using them alone here and there and I gotta tell you, I think that does them justice. :)

I’m not really a pink girl, but the Mars Pink plant is SO pretty. I put her (yes, her) in a simple white pot near the Christmas tree:

That white pot used to have a fern in it – the ferns were doing fine, but the cats would NOT STOP eating them. It was driving me mad, so I only have one left and it’s where they can’t get to it. Grrr…

I wanted to house each one in something a bit different, but use what I already had around the house. I found an awesome ceramic container at Goodwill a few months ago and thought the Polar Bear White would look fab in it…and it does:

It looks like it was meant to be in my office! LOVE the white leaves with the blue ceramic! This is one that will stay up all year (if I can keep them alive!!).

The Christmas Red one is my absolute fave though – I am all about the contrast of the deep red leaves with a white pot from IKEA:

I LOVE the look of the traditional poinsettia mixed with the modern white container.

I loved the pop of red in the kitchen so much, I decided to use it on the table too. I wanted to cut the flowers to use in the centerpiece, but when I did the first one, it wilted like crazy. Then my friend Beth mentioned that you have to sear them with a candle flame. I had no idea!

She said:

“Searing will stop the milk sap from leaking out of the plant while still allowing the stems to absorb water. When you break off a poinsettia leaf or stem hold the area excreting sap over a candle flame until it bubbles and sears the area. It will turn black in the areas where you do this, but it won’t detract from your decorating. You will know if you seared the stems correctly based on their post perk or droop. If your poinsettias begin to wilt in your vase, try searing the stem once again and return them to water. Also, you shouldn’t see a milky stream in the water. The water should remain clear.”

Did you know that? I had no idea! I did it just how she described and so far so good! I placed a couple cuts in each little bottle I keep in the kitchen centerpiece:

I love how full and pretty these are – you don’t need many to make a BIG statement. Now my little caddy that holds our sugar and syrup is all business in the front:

Party in the back:

;) I couldn’t resist.

The pops of red on the counter and table look so great with my little wreaths that I hang from the backs of the chairs:

I used to go hog wild with the Christmas decor in the kitchen. I’ve been toning it down a little every year, but it looks just as festive:

Little pops of Christmas are just as powerful, believe me! :)

I can’t get enough of red this time of year. Love it!!

So there’s my before and after for this month – the beautiful poinsettias in their plain Jane containers before:

And the afters!:

I didn’t even replant them by the way, just dropped them in. Easy peasy SQUEEZY.

Fun little facts about poinsettias:

* Did you know they HATE cold? I found that so interesting, considering we mainly see them in the winter.

* You can keep them all year round. Check out this article for a bunch of great tips. One of the ladies I used to work with would tend to the poinsettias we got every season and keep them alive all year!

* I know I already mentioned it, but I think it’s worth reminding that they are NOT toxic. (See this article for more info.) Our cat has already nibbled a few times (even though they are supposed to taste AWFUL, he’s so weird), and he’s just fine. I hear the taste deters any animal (or human) from trying them more than once. ;) If you have any hesitation about it, just keep them up high away from your animals and kiddos.

I for one, am THRILLED that we get to welcome these pretties into our home every Christmas season now!

Do you buy a poinsettia every year? Any luck keeping them going all year?

Now I can’t wait to see what you’ve been up to! Link up your posts below, and If you could, I’d love it if you would link back to this post and/or use this pretty button:

Disclosure: I was given four poinsettia plants for this post. All photos and opinions expressed are my own.

 

Metallic Christmas Table

Hello hello! Hope you had a lovely weekend!

I finished up our Christmas dining room today and I am smitten! Layla is kicking off our Holiday Home link ups tomorrow morning, so I had to share what I’ve been up to!

I’ve wanted to change up the centerpiece in the dining room for some time now – I love those glass candleholders in the framed out mirror, but it’s been a couple years now and I was craving something different!

I tried a few different ideas, none which were it. And then finally…it came to me.

I swear anymore I have to sit on a space mentally for about six months before the final idea comes into my noggin. But once I’ve figured it out in my head, I usually love the result. This time is no different. (Thank goodness. Whew.)  ;)

I started with a few trips to a few different Goodwill stores. I was on a mission – a mission for brass candlesticks:

You know – the ones you see gracing the shelves on every trip into Goodwill? And of course when I decided to do this project, they were harder than heck to find. Sheesh. It’s like brass is coming back or something. ;)

I have a confession to make…I actually kind of liked these as they were. Kind of. Kind of more that I’d like to admit. They were more antiqued brass than shiny brass. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

But I had a vision in mind, and that vision included spray paint:

I started by spreading them all out in the garage:

Then sprayed them all with a primer:

Then I put them into three groups and sprayed each one in a different metallic color. One group was Krylon Caramel Latte, one was Krylon Nickel, and one was Valspar Gold.

Let me tell you – that gold color was BEAUTIFUL. It is really awesome – although I hated the new nozzle. It was SO hard to spray with.

When they were dry, I just mixed the different colors in the mirror centerpiece, then filled it with bits of greenery and green and brown ornaments:

I tried to vary the heights as much as I could, but otherwise they are just on there, no rhyme or reason:

The place settings are pretty standard – white dinnerware I got from HomeGoods a while back (I wanted to brighten up the table so I sold the dishes and place mats that we used for years), my goblets from Goodwill and the sparkly brown bulbs that sit in the bowls were from Hob Lob years ago.

When I got it all together, I wanted to add the napkins to the table but didn’t have any napkin rings that worked.

I was standing in the garage when I saw my solution -- I grabbed a cardboard roll that some fabric came on, cut it down on my saw and got these:

After sanding down the edges and then spraying them in the gold Valspar spray paint, I got some very quick, very free DIY napkin rings:

And I gotta say, I really like how they turned out!

I love how the candlesticks give some height to the table, but you can still see through them:

The metallic colors are so pretty and I figure they’ll work all year round – it looks beautiful without the Christmas filler too!:

I wanted to keep the green and brown theme in this space to go with my Walmart ornament vignette I put together last year:

All of the ornaments were a buck and all of them are SO FUN!:

I was totally bummed to see that Walmart doesn’t have all of these ornaments again this year! They still have a bunch of pretty sparkly ornaments for cheap, but not quite as cute as these were.

Of course, just like any Christmas decor – the table looks most magical at night:

Wowza! I love it!!

Candlelight – I don’t think you can beat it! It’s just beautiful.

Makes you want to cook a four course meal at 10 p.m. on a Sunday for your husband and eat by candlelight beautiful:

Of course I don’t keep the candles lit if we’re not in here, which is OK, cause I love it when they’re not lit too.

But there’s some definite magic when the only light comes from the candles and the tree:

LOVE!!

The total cost was probably around $30? The candlesticks ranged from $1 to $3 each and I had all of the spray paint colors but the gold color. I think that one was $5. It took me about an hour to spray paint all of the candlesticks.

Not too shabby for a new look in the dining room – and one I’m a little giddy over:

Do you see those chairs? Yeah…that’s another project I’ve been sitting on (HA! Sitting on…get it?) for the past six months or so. ;) Can’t finish those till I finish the drapes, and I don’t want to finish the drapes till I decide if I’m going to repaint the room.

So…yeah. :)

Can’t wait to see all of your beautiful tablescapes at Layla’s tomorrow!

*You can see how I created the original centerpiece here.

**The December Before and After Party will go up Monday evening!

Linking this up to Julia’s party!

Month in review and winners!

Helloooo! Are you ready for some weekend?! I am – and it’s going to be a busy one. Today was hubby’s birthday and we have the Bub’s birthday party and a holiday show tomorrow.

Have I mentioned our family has seven major events in December? My step-brother’s birthday, my hubby’s birthday, my son’s birthday, my nephew’s birthday, our anniversary, Christmas and then New Years.

Whew. We are not the best planners. ;)

I’m back today to share the month of November in review, but first I need to share all of the winners of the Thanksgiving week giveaways!

$50 to Kirkland's: Jenny at cjy5787 (at) gmail (dot) com
$100 to Dimples and Dandelions: Lisalulu at The Davis Dialogues
Free ticket to the Haven Conference next year: Becky at Organizing Made Fun
$50 to Old Time Pottery: Angela at Decorating Cents
$150 to MirrorMate: Elizabeth with Keeping up with the Joneses
$50 to Target from Hometalk: scg00387 (at) yahoo (dot) com
$50 to Back 40 Life: Jennibell at Jenni’s Seasons
$50 to Wuslu.com: Cathy at cathysimpson100 (at) yahoo (dot) com
$50 to Wuslu.com: Joyce at joycehackley (at) msn (dot) com

Whew! (Again.) Winners, please email me at thriftydecorchick (at) gmail (dot) com and I’ll get you connected!

Now, the November in review. Cause I know you are just on PINS AND NEEDLES!! Or something like that.

First up, I shared how I’ve been cleaning our new floors – this steam mop is rocking my world!:

A few of you asked about using the steam mop on the floors. I did a bunch of research before I decided to use this one – because it uses so little steam on the wood option, I feel comfortable using it. Our floors were also finished on site and have a good seal.

Annnnd…if you know how often I clean the floors, you’d know there’s little worry about damaging them. That’s all I gotta say about that. :)

If you have wood or laminate floors I encourage you to do your own research and decide if it’s right for you!

Next up, we announced our upcoming holiday shindig!:

My pals Kate, Layla and Rhoda and I are joining up again to celebrate the season! I have my mantel ready (OMG…I love it.) but I need to get moving on the table setting. Hope the weather cooperates this weekend cause I need to spray paint a TON.

At the November before and after party, I showed you how I transformed the Craigslist dresser in the office with some half off knobs from Hob Lob:

I still can’t believe the difference they made! Love the pops of white on the black dresser:

Be sure to check out the more than 500 posts that folks linked up! So much talent out there, it’s astounding!!

Then I shared my design confusion – our house is a mix of farmhouse, traditional, modern, industrial and a bunch of other styles:

No matter what my style is, it’s warm and cozy and we love it!

Next up I shared an update on our debt free story and paid it forward a little:

Pretty awesome. :)

I showed you here how I changed up a clearanced out Pottery Barn bath caddy and made it work for the art supplies:

Many of you asked how I can keep this stuff out where the Bub can get to it so easily. Well, he’s almost five, so there’s not much danger of drawing on the walls anymore. And his entire life, he’s never gotten into stuff like this. I never have to worry about him – and YES I know how awesome (and crazy!) that is. :)

I shared how I installed the peel and stick tile in our laundry room next:

It’s still going strong! And it still looks JUST like real tile. And I still big fat love it!

After the holiday, I shared what I had been up to for a couple weeks:

With some help, we were able to enclose our formerly SO ANNOYING corner fireplace and make into a real fireplace:

And yes, I still stare at it every time I walk in the room. I think this is one of my top three changes I’ve made to this house.

This week I also shared horrible pictures of my hands:

OK, you should be looking at the nails, not the hands. ;) This polish is still going strong! My Sis and I put up our tree today and that did take a bit of a toll on them – they’re definitely more scratched up. But overall they still look fantastic, considering it’s been two weeks since I had them painted.

I ended the month by sharing how I use our year-round accessories to decorate for Christmas:

I feel so behind this year with the holiday decor, but I’m staring at the beautiful tree right now as I type, and I can’t help feeling totally chill about the whole thing. I’m certainly enjoying the process. :)

So there you go! Hope one of these posts helped or inspired you in some way!

I’ll let you all know when the Before and After Party will be next week – I’m thinking Monday evening, but with Layla’s party I need to figure out the timing. Be back soon!

Hollaaaa!