*WiNteR* Decorating (Christmas Rehab)

If you are like me, you love the way your house feels when it's decorated for Christmas. The tree, stockings, garland, and general coziness that those decorations bring to your house all leave you wanting to stay inside and lounge with your family.

THEN. COMES. JANUARY.

Put away the tree, stuff those stockings in that old storage container, and the garland must go-- but does it have to? I find it sad to tuck all those comforting decorations away when they were providing such a nice contrast to the cold, dreariness out the windows. So, this year, I am doing some *WiNtEr* decorating to kind of eeeeease my way off of the Christmas high -- (and yes, the Christmas tree is tucked away -- I'm not THAT obsessed ;)
Take a look at my latest craft below.

I wanted to create a winter-y looking mantle/fireplace area that still allowed me to leave up my lighted garland so I decided to go for a simple silver/twinkle/snowy look. I love taking things from outside and somehow bringing them indoors so I grabbed some twigs from the backyard and let my teacher/crafty side do the rest! After seeing Epsom salt being used to look like snow in Apothecary jars online, I had an idea to make an icy twig arrangement using a few basic supplies. See below :)

Icy Twig Arrangement

twigs from the backyard
glue or some kind of adhesive (I used regular old Elmer's liquid glue)
Epsom salt (found in the first aid section)

I gathered a bunch of twigs in various sizes & styles and simply drizzled them with liquid glue. Then sprinkled them with some Epsom salt and let them dry before arranging them in a vase. To keep with my twinkly theme, I hung a few gold pinecones from Target's clearance section for added effect. I am pretty happy with how it turned out and it was SO EASY! A look like this from Pottery Barn would have cost me a fortune- instead, mine was easily under $5 :)

 

 And my other *WiNteR* decorations :)

After 2 years removed, I'm back to the blog.

Whew, been a while since I've touched this thing but hoping to post more often. Since I posted last, we have managed to raise Brooklinn to be almost two and we've added our (final) member to the Smith family: Warren Graham. Life has been a whirlwind to say the least -- and I wouldn't change a thing!

Since we are fortunate enough for me to (try) to stay home, I am hoping I will take advantage of this whole blogging thing. You know, about the craziness that is raising two kids under two and maybe even some crafting :)

That is all for now - stay tuned <3