Christmas Decor!

We are big Christmas fans around here :) So welcome to our very festive abode...

Thanks to Sister Morin and Mom Krebs for helping these stockings make it on the mantle this year!

Those stocking hangers came from Goodwill for $3 and the wreath and garland from Michael's at 50% off

Berry sprigs in wine bottles? Don't mind if I do.

Our tree! So happy that Chuck and I agreed to get a real tree this year. I'm in love. Please ignore that the ornaments and ribbon don't reach the bottom of the tree. We have a little man who really loves to "admire" the tree. I'm planning on making a new tree skirt, but haven't quite gotten to that yet.

Yard sale box of ornaments for $2. Makes a great centerpiece for our little dining room table

I LOVE our Nativity we got from BYU Bookstore. Although it was looking a little lonely on that table by itself so I made some felt trees to go with it. However, I'm thinking I'm going to make ivory ones for next year so they match the Nativity a little better.

I used this tutorial.

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I made this sign at a church activity last year.

More yard sale ornaments tied onto ribbon for a simple garland :)

We have other fun things around the house, like lights above our kitchen cupboards, lighted garland with ribbon on the ledge in our living room and of course garland and lights and a wreath outside! I have loved coming up with little things here and there to make our home feel like Christmas. I'm grateful for second hand stores that have allowed me to decorate on a budget!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope that the Christmas spirit may find his way to your home too :)

Thanksgiving Decor.

Thanksgiving could quite possibly be my favorite holiday. Although, Christmas is absolutely fabulous. I can never decide between the two. I guess I could have two favorites. (cue Brian Regan quote).

So, logically, I am loving the Thanksgiving decorations! If I could, I would overflow our house with leaves and pumpkins and burlap. But alas, a student budget leaves me to a few choice decorations and a lot of handmade love :)

Our Thanksgiving Mantle:

Those silver cups are from my Dad's law firm. The glass jug is an old liquor bottle from my sister and filled with a random mixture of liquid to get the look of apple cider :)

  I'm in love with our wood gate. I found this tutorial via pinterest and went from there. With all my pallet wood, I was able to throw this thing together in one night. Awesome. Oh yeah and it's FREE.

I made the wreath out of foam tubing from lowe's (which makes two wreaths for 98 cents!), some moss from michael's ($4 with a coupon) and some fun ribbon.

Doesn't burlap make everything better? P.s. I found that lovely candle holder at the Restore for $1. Yay :)

 The banner is made out of canvas and burlap. I painted the letters freehand with some black acrylic paint. Everything is hot glued together. No sewing machine = loads and loads of hot glue.

 Our Grateful Tree:

I saw this idea on pinterest and decided to do it. We had a Thanksgiving jar last year, which I loved, but I liked the visual display of the tree better. I love it.

 I printed out some of our photos from Boyd orchards and threw them up on the window. Who doesn't love a cute baby? We do :)

Thank goodness for free printables! This is hanging in our entry way.

Happy Thanksgiving. May our days be filled with gratitude for the blessings in our lives and love for the people with whom we share them.

Halloween mantle.

Halloween isn't one of my favorite holidays. I love pumpkins. I love candy. I love little kids in costumes. But scary movies, giant spiders, skeletons and snakes aren't really my cup of cocoa. I'm guessing that as our family grows I'll have to get used to it (Halloween is a big deal for the little guys. Free candy! Duh.) Which is why I debated back and forth whether I wanted to even decorate for Halloween or just stick to an all-inclusive "fall" decorating scheme. Ah, decisions, decisions. About halfway through October I decided to cave and decorate for Halloween. Which gives me about a week and a half to enjoy the decorations before it's time to decorate for Thanksgiving. Oh well :)

I found some cute pumpkins and painted "Boo" onto them and threw them up onto the mantle. They looked lonely, so I found some orange and black felt and made a banner. It still looked pretty sad so I looked around for some cute Halloween printables. Megan, at balancing home made these cute printables. So I had Chuck print it at school and I put it in one of my yard sale frames. 

I also found these cute printables:

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I thanked my lucky stars that my wine-drinking family gives me their old bottles for my decorating purposes, then slapped on those printables!

I scrounged around for some black and orange books and ta-da. Finished. A whole 8 days before Halloween.

Happy Halloween!