Simple Winter Mantel and Trying New Things

I love having a fireplace mantel to decorate again. I like to keep it fairly simple and keep many of the same elements up throughout the year. I change small aspects seasonally. My winter mantel is clean and minimal, a nice change after Christmas.

I kept a wood bead garland and a rose hip garland from Christmas draped across the mantel. They will come down soon, but I do like the boho vibe they add.

Sunday Verses

Happy Sunday! I always start out my Sunday verses this way, with a positive, happy greeting. But, happy days seem harder for many these days. I always get in a little funk this time of year as I am not a huge fan of short, cold, winter days. Moving, while challenging under normal circumstances, has seemed harder during a pandemic. It is lonely and I am still unsure what this next chapter holds for me. And, that is okay. Every day does not need to be sunshine and rainbows and cotton candy (because cotton candy is really good and would be available on fantastically wonderful days). It is okay to have difficult days. I am learning to sit with the uncomfortable, heavy times, to appreciate the stillness and the quiet. Burdens do not need to be whisked away in a flurry of activities and distractions. Calmness, being still and patient while looking and listening for God in the hushed, unassuming places, ushers in a peace and a knowing that it, whatever it may be, will be okay. And, until it is, that is all right too.

Bedside Lights and How to Macramé Cord Covers

Where are my read in bed people? I like to end the day with reading a chapter or two under my heated blanket in bed. It is cozy and comfy and a good way to relax (depending on what I am reading). But, once I am in bed, I do not want to get out to turn off a light.

A bedside light is a must for a good, solid, read-in-bed, session. These rustic, industrial wall sconces are perfect for the job.

Reclaimed Wood Headboard and Moon Sign for a Rustic Boho Bedroom

When you buy a brand new home, you have a blank canvas to play with. It is fun and a bit intimidating to inject your own personal style to create a cozy space out of a builder basic home. 

A LARGE master bedroom means a lot of space to work with. I started with knowing that I wanted a dark, navy blue wall to cozy up the space a bit. I thought painting the wall three days before Christmas would be fun, so I did. The color is called Nocturne Blue (quite appropriate name for the bedroom) and it is a Behr paint.

How to Create a Simple Winter Centerpiece

I love creating simple centerpieces and vignettes. 

Sunday Verses

Happy Sunday! A new year typically means changes for many of us, or at least trying to make changes. And while change is often positive and good, it can also be painful and hard. Real change involves honest, sometimes exhaustive examination of our lives and at those things that are no longing working for us or serving us. When we sincerely explore how we want life to be different, we usually find something that needs to be uprooted. It may be a habit, a belief, a relationship, a lifestyle, a past. It may have served us well, but now is the time to let it go. God does not want us to hold onto anything that he did not plant, that is not of his Spirit in us. Let's ask Jesus what we need to pull up and out of our lives this year and let's work, trust, and allow the uprooting and transformation to happen.

Using Vintage Finds to Display Photos

I do not have a home full of antiques, but rather I love using a mix of new and industrial and vintage. I do love finding and having small vintage goodies on hand.

I keep on smallish, plastic tote with small, vintage items in it to use in my decor that I change up seasonally or when I feel like changing things around. The tote has various things--tarnished silver creamers and sugar bowls, old teacups, rusty hardware like pulleys and hinges and tins, tiny baby shoes, wood candlesticks, old horsehair brushes, hand mirrors, glass bottles, etc. Always keep your eyes open for these items at thrift stores and garage sales.

I am not sure if it is become I am getting older, or Covid, or being an empty nester, but I am becoming more and more sentimental which means I want more favorite photos and memories displayed around the house. I like to tuck the photos here and there, not in frames. It is easy to trade out the pictures when they are tucked rather than in a frame and they are more of 3D display rather than a flat, on the wall thing.  

Small, vintage finds are a great, unique way to display favorite photos. These vintage, horsehair brushes (some are nail brushes, shoeshine brushes, hair brushes) sitting on my kitchen windowsill hold a picture of hubby circa 2nd grade, my siblings and I, and my mom and daughter.

Simple Winter Decor From the Thrift Store and Nature

Christmas decor is all put away and while the emptier spaces are refreshing, they also feel a bit bare. My approach to winter decorating is to keep it simple, a little sparse, white with a bit of evergreen. At the end of January I will add an teensy-weensy bit of Valentine decor, but other than that, the quieter, unembellished decor feels right for winter. 

January is a great time for thrifting and I will have an upcoming post on thrifting, but today I am sharing what I did with one of my recent thrift store finds--a leather binocular case.

Empty binocular cases are fairly easy to find for a few dollars at thrift stores and antique places. I scored two at the same store, paying $3 for each. These would make cute purses, are great hanging in an entry with mittens or hats in them, are dandy holders for flasks and small cups for picnic or tailgate cocktails, can hang in a home office to hold mail or in a bathroom to hold washcloths--really the possibilities are endless. 

Old Wood Level Entryway Coat Hook and Shelf

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a good holiday break, whatever it looked like. Ours was small, but fun and relaxing. 

Christmas is all put away and I am looking forward cautiously to 2021. I have lots of projects in the queue for our new home. One of those I actually finished before Thanksgiving--some of you spied my entry shelf and coat hook during my Christmas Home Tour.

I am not sure why, but I love old, wood levels. I find them at thrift stores and garage sales.

12 Days of Christmas Days 11 and 12 Adding Stencils to All the Things

Oh goodness, we are coming in hot to Christmas so I am finishing up my final two days of 12 Days of Christmas projects with a few fun things I created using Old Sign Stencils. If you need a super last minute idea or gift, check out these ideas!