Christmas Mantle: only what i love

I had two goals in decorating my house this year. The first was to use only what i love, and the second was to not spend any money. 

 The first goal was prompted by the shameful fact that i can be a compulsive buyer. Especially when it comes to buying stuff that is on clearance. Junky stuff that is dirt cheap is still junky stuff. :)

I usually want to decorate for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving but this year i realized i wasn't looking forward to putting up my decorations because of this reason as well as the fact that handy andy and i have had 7 Christmases together and my style has changed over the years...

So, i made sure i went through my stash at night so my junky decoration-loving kids wouldn't see what i was ditching this year so i was able to only bring up things i love or i thought i could work with.
(Now, truth be told, my oldest has an amazing memory and is also extremely sentimental. So i did allow him to retrieve a couple specific things that i would have been happy to permanently retire! oh well.)

Then i found stuff like this big star that i had bought (on clearance!) at Marshalls several years ago and wasn't even in my Christmas pile but i do love it and knew it would work. 

 

 After i set out the decorations i love, i gathered supplies to try and make a few things that would pull the rest together. I knew i had a bunch of muslin, cream canvas and burlap, so used those things for my color theme. First i wrapped an old junky wreath with muslin and canvas for my mantle centerpiece. Added some burlap ruffles and flowers and some old berries.
 Then i made this little banner.  I LOVE looking at the merry message. And these are so quick and easy. I sewed the letters on because i already had red thread in my machine but you could easily use hot glue for the whole project.

 Well, that's all for the mantle. :)

linking up to southern hospitality's mantle party. I'm sure you can find more mantle inspiration there than you'll ever need. :)