So, yesterday we took a day of silence as bloggers in honor of those who lost their lives in the tragedy that took place in Connecticut last week. My prayers and hope for healed hearts and minds go out to the families, friends and others effected by this.

 

Today, Laura over at Lindauer Designs is hosting Christmas Décor for our Home for the Holidays party. Are any of you familiar with her work? She's pretty amazing and she works with her husband to create custom designs for clients in the Houston area.

 

If you haven't visited her blog, today is the day. Stop by, show some love, leave a comment and don't forget to link up all of your holiday décor! I can't wait to see what you have to share.

I leave you with a bit of Christmas inspiration for your own home!

 

I just love the way Ally from Home by Ally used this classic swag on her staircase.

 

 

 

And this wonderful package that's definitely worthy of being display. I love how the natural paper makes the sparkle and other elements pop. Great job Uncommon Designs!

 

 

 

And for all of you shabby, French cottage lovers out there...this one's for you.

 

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Okay, now get out there and link up all of your goodness over at Laura's! She's waiting!

 

 

 

Lovin' this season,

I finished my felted garland over the weekend! Adam says it looks like an Easter decoration, but it reminds me of a string of Christmas lights. Either way, it's cute and colourful and easy to make. 

I tried the panty hose method (great tutorial here), which basically involves rolling your wool roving into balls by hand, putting them into a pair of panty hose and throwing them in the wash. I ran out of panty hose (you have to cut the balls out when they're done washing, so it's a good way to get rid of tights with runs or holes), so I also tried the hand-rolling method (see here), in which your hands act as the washing machine (think: roll, dip in water, roll, dip, roll, dip, roll, dip, and so on). When the balls were done, I used a large needle to thread them on a piece of twine and I hung them on the mantle using good-'ol-fashioned hot glue.

Rolling the balls by hand is definitely more time-consuming (I actually can't imagine rolling all of these by hand - my arms started to get tired after 5), but I found that you get a much rounder, smoother ball this way. The panty hose method is a lot faster, but the balls tend to come out with creases in them and I found I had to re-work a few of them by hand anyway. So, if you're a perfectionist and you've got time (or you're not making very many balls), I'd recommend the hand-rolling method. If you're making a lot of balls and you don't mind a few imperfections, try the panty hose method.

As you can see, I'm keeping the mantle pretty simple this year, but I put up a few other decorations this weekend (including our tree, which I can't wait to share) that help the room feel more festive. Have you started your Christmas decorating yet?

The Corson Cottage

Remember this garland from yesterday?

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Last night, I went to Michael's (without a coupon - oops!) and picked up this:

Wool roving! There are two colours in each package and a friend is giving me some white she already has on hand (which is so nice - I was surprised by how expensive this stuff is, almost $5 per 0.25 oz package). The plan is to follow this tutorial to make my own felted balls (there's a joke in there somewhere), so wish me luck and check back for a mantle update soon!

I was visiting a friend over the weekend and noticed a gorgeous red bunting hanging across her white mantle and fireplace. I immediately decided to try something similar with my mantle this year (thanks Em!). The past few years I've decorated my mantle with tree boughs, lights, ornaments, candlesticks - the whole shebang. But this year I want to try something different and pared down (that goes for Christmas decorating in general). Here are a few garlands that I think would do the trick. Are you feeling the need to change up your decorating this year, or are you sticking with what you love?

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