Window ornament holder – A Diamond in the Stuff

Aqua and Red Christmas Mantel

Courtney Carmean — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 12:00:33 +0000

Every few years (sometimes every year) I feel the need to change up my holiday decor. My style evolves. Sometimes the changes are small; old things go out and new things come in. However I usually hesitate to do a complete Christmas decor overhaul. The thought of spending that much money on decor that will only be up about a month is hard. I went ahead and took the plunge this year and I’ve decked the halls in Aqua & Red.

Today I’m sharing my new Aqua and Red Christmas Mantel……..

You may spot my Window Ornament Hanger up there! I created that beauty 4 years ago and I still love it. With the simple change up of the ornaments it’s transformed and I love it even more now!

Okay I must admit something. I am slightly addicted to Christmas stockings. This addiction came as a surprise to me but now that I’m the owner of 3 different sets of stockings, I’d say I have a problem. I wasn’t loving the ones I currently had anymore and I happen to be strolling down the stocking aisle in Hobby Lobby and what should I find? Aqua and red stockings? They practically leapt into the basket. My kids were pretty concerned that Santa would not know who’s stocking was who’s…..so I added some sparkly initials to top them off!

Do you spot my Now Dasher, Now Dancer Subway Art down there? I needed some more aqua Christmas decor to finish up my home and aqua isn’t really the easiest holiday decor to find. So I just whipped up some of my own. See that Deer Head Sign too? Tutorial to come!!!

I am so happy with the way my Aqua and Red Christmas Mantel came together. I didn’t want it to be too fussy, yet it looks complete. It also fits in perfectly with my living room!

I know it’s a little funky and a little different but I’m loving the Aqua and Red! I’d love to know what your Christmas colors are in the comments section???

Linking up to these great link parties!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My son has been singing this song non-stop lately…..let’s just call this Now Dasher, Now Dancer Subway Art his cheat sheet ; )

My {Red & Green} Christmas Mantel

Courtney Carmean — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 20:00:00 +0000

Alright it is finally time to post about my Christmas Mantel!!!

Last year I made my Window Ornament Holder and absolutely fell in love with it. It has to be one of my favorite ALL time projects!!! Certain holiday decor may come and go through the years but I am sure that this one will be sticking around for a very long time! So it of course is the center of my Christmas mantel!

Although, I did change some things up a bit this year but not a lot. I love keeping things basic with my color scheme and decor. Most of my Christmas items are bright red and green. It’s classic but I like a bit of the whimsy too!

I picked up the fun sparkly “NOEL” last year at an after Christmas sale. Every holiday decor needs a little sparkle right?

Have I mentioned that I’m obsessed with my window ornament holder??? I changed up the ornaments a bit from last year (more after Christmas sales)! If it’s possible I am even more happy with it this year!

I finally broke down last year and purchased some personalized stockings for the family. I always cringed at the price but decided that it was worth the investment and I’m so glad that I did!

This year I added some ruffle trees to my mantel decor. I picked up some fun polka dot and striped red and green ribbons at my local craft store. Ruffle trees got put on my “to-do” list last year and I’m so glad that I got to them! They are pretty easy to do and the end result is awesome!

I am so happy with the way that my Christmas mantel turned out this year! I couldn’t imagine anything better!

Linking up to these great link parties!!!

Window Ornament Holder

Courtney Carmean — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 14:00:00 +0000

Every time we move to a new home I have to re-evaluate my decor. Some decor items just don’t fit in every home we live in. Some homes have more wall space than others and some homes have more square footage than others. So I constantly have an “extra decor” box in my garage. They are things that I want to keep but just don’t have room for, but I may at the next house. Ah the military life!

When we moved into this home I ended up weeding out this old wooden window frame. I wasn’t LOVING it anymore so it didn’t make the cut!

While unloading my Christmas decorations I realized that I didn’t have as much as I thought I did! Not wanting to go out and spend a ton of money on decorations this time of year, I started shopping my garage. When I spotted the window I knew that it was getting a holiday makeover!!! I stripped off the ivy and hooks and starting painting.

I went to my go to color….RED! All the walls in our home are white and because it’s a brand new home that we will have to turn back over in a couple years, we are too afraid to paint! So I am a little more willing to add some color! Before the paint got too dry I took painters tape and removed patches of the paint here and there.

As you can see, next I added some white hooks to each slat. I quickly realized a couple of the slats were loose and as I added the hooks they became completely detached. So out came the good ole Gorilla Glue and clamps!

Then all I had to was pop it on top of the mantle and put the ornaments on.

I got all of the ornaments at Michael’s on sale!

I really like the combination of the distressed window and the shinny, sparkly ornaments!

And there is a shot of my whole mantle. I will be adding a couple more elements to it before too long, but I have to say I am VERY happy with how my window ornament holder turned out!!!

Linking up to these great link parties and these too: