decking my mantel.

hey all! i hope everyone's holiday season is going so well! we're having a good one around here. this past weekend we finished almost all our shopping. 1 more person and that's it! so needless to say, there is wrapping to be done. major wrapping.

the good news is i already got a big chunk done.. but at this rate i might just be handing some people their presents in the store's shopping bag... maybe i'll put some tissue paper in there too.. nooo, i would never do that! it's tempting though. especially for those weird shaped items that don't fit easily in the boxes i bought. what do you do about that?! they take so much extra time to figure out how to wrap nicely... *sigh*... wrapping isn't my favorite part of the holiday if you didn't notice : ).


i realized i quickly showed you my christmas decor, but i didn't really show details or talk much about it, so i figured i'd do that for you. i'll start with the mantel, my favorite part!

this mantel was NOT my favorite part to do, however. it took for. ever.

i decided i wanted my garland to swag this year. the stuff i've been using every year (i literally take it off the mantel and stuff it in a box for next year) wasn't long enough to swag. so i had to take it all apart first. i had 2 walmart garlands wrapped together and some pretty fancy garland on top of that. i decided to go a little more natural so i bought 2 more simple 9 ft garland strands from michaels and one of their decorative ones.

since the michaels garland was a little different from the walmart garland, i took 1 of each and wrapped them together. then i just twisted the ends together. it's a little fatter at that section, but it just so happened to be right where the stockings go so it was perfect!

the decorative strand is gor. geous.

isn't is pretty?! i love it!!

it has all different kinds of needles, which i wanted for added texture. it also had those gorgeous pinecones on there (big fat ones!), red berries scattered about, and there are these random little twigs that stick out too. it's so beautiful! i added the red ornaments for a little extra color in there. 

to save money, the decorative piece only goes over the center. it was half off at michaels, but it was still way too much to buy numerous pieces. maybe if they have this stuff again next year or at the end of the season i can get a couple more. 

the pointsettias are felt. i made them using this tutorial from centsational girl. it was very time consuming for me, but i ended up making 15 of them... which is a lot... 6 of them were for my mom then i made the rest for me. but they add so much so it was worth it.. at least that's what i'm telling myself.

so pretty, right? tell me it was worth it. : )

 the rest of the mantel is very different from last year. i didn't have enough space for much on the mantel last year since the garland took up all the space. however, since i met mister swag this year i had so much room i wondered what to do with it all!

on one side i wanted something tall and kind of greenery-ish.

i just realized this mantel is basically brought to you by michaels. i saw that vase at michael's and i fell in LOVE with it. for real. i did that thing where you leave and all you think about for 2 weeks is that perfect vase that you just have to have. well then my husband went to michaels with me one day (i know. he's awesome.) and i saw it half off! and i said, ohmygosh!it'shalfoff!!! and phil said, oh i'll buy that for you.... : )

isn't it beautiful?

so i stuck a pick i found at michaels, also half off and i actually took the sparkly leaves off a present i got from my brother and his girlfriend for christmas. she wraps presents so beautifully and i loved those leaves so much i used them on my mantel haha. i just wired them right to the pick. done. the sparkly bird was like, $1 at michaels one day. easy.

i knew what would be on the other side since october. i bought a gorgeous reindeer at homegoods in early october because well, it was so different and beautiful. plus i have a thing for deer. and birds.

sorry for the fuzzy picture. i swear i have about 50 pictures of this guy and not one is perfect. they are all blurry or too dark. hmm. but he's beautiful and you can still tell : )



the wreath is the same grapevine wreath i've had up since the fall. i just took out the white pumpkins and added red hydrangeas and some cheap walmart ornaments. i was so lazy i didn't even take it down to do it. i just put red felt over the pink ribbon that holds the wreath up. la. zy.

across the room i pulled out my old red pillows and put out my new pottery barn pillow!!! i got it as a gift from my brother and his girlfriend.. you know, the gift i borrowed the sparkly leaves from? i LOVE it so much!

isn't it the cutest??!!!

i also put a pick in my coffee filter flower arrangement. i like it so much, i wish i could keep it like that all the time...

so simple but it's one of my favorite things i did for christmas.

so that's the living room. hopefully if i can get myself together i'll show you the rest of the details later this week. i just love my home all dressed up! 

cats and mounatin climbing.

so a couple weeks ago i was watching some snl clips. sometimes that show can be a little too inappropriate for me to enjoy, but i usually enjoy the weekend updates. well, in this clip seth was making fun of people who put their pets in costumes for halloween. he said something to the effect of pet costume sales are equal to the number of couples who can't have children... i thought this was totally mean and uncalled for because these days pets are just as much members of the family as anyone else. especially our pets. both phil and i are animal lovers. i am pretty sure i've wanted to live on a farm with as many animals as possible since i knew what a farm was.

all of this is just an excuse to show you pictures of our cute cats : ) i realize that means i'm a crazy cat lady, but they're so cute! i want you to see just how cute they are too!

this is how our sofa usually looks. pillows and cats everywhere. this is otis, emily and hobbes. : )

they like to steal all the attention and make my pictures about them. here emily is doing a good job of that.

trying so hard not to pull off an ornament because she knows she will be in big trouble.

she decided it was okay to just swipe them now instead of actually yanking them off. progress.

this cracked me up. hobbes just went over and sat here like he wanted his picture taken. he wanted to say merry christmas to you all : )

i have absolutely no problem saying he is the favorite. but how can you resist that cute, big, fat furry face?

this is what they do most of the day. you know, whenever they're not eating, fighting, pulling my christmas decor down, or trying to escape from the apartment....

even though they have a way of making me want to lock them in a closet about 7 times a day, i love our cats. they are the perfect pets for us and each one has its own crazy personality. now if only we could figure out how to stop emily from running out the door every chance she gets. sheesh.



well, this past weekend phil and i decided to just have fun and enjoy each other. we didn't care about christmas shopping, baking, parties or anything. we climbed kennessaw mountain together and picnic'ed at the top. it was so fun. it was really hard work, but somehow it was still relaxing and we just enjoyed being out together.

isn't it beautiful?

if you look really hard you can see atlanta in the background along the horizon.

it was such a beautiful clear and cool day.



okay, now get ready for the ridiculousness of us trying to take a picture of ourselves.

whoa. camera was way zoomed in hahaha.. i left this one small so you didn't have a close up of our faces across your whole screen. you're welcome : )

jessica: "yuck! i don't like that one! gimme that camera.."

phil: "you cut off my head! now i look completely bald! i mean, i know i have some hair.."

jessica: "hahahahahaha! hmm... i think it's cute... hahahaha"

me reaching as high as i can and both of us just laughing at this point..

phil and jessica: "good enough."

strangers watching us: laughter. : )

end ridiculous pictures of ourselves.

kennessaw mountain is also a civil war battlefield. they have cannons up at the top that the southern army dragged all the way up the mountain to try to stop sherman's troops from reaching atlanta. after climbing this mountain i have no. idea. how. they did this. it's a mystery to me because those cannons must weigh a ton and i mean, it's no everest or anything, but it's still a mountain! geesh.

at the very top are these rocks that we sat on to eat lunch. people carved their initials into them.. i liked this one because it's a heart with the initials inside and i just thought it was so cute.

here are the feet that made this all possible.. just enjoying the view : )

notice how phil's shoes get a lot more use than mine? haha... i won't tell you how long i've had these perfectly white gym shoes.. just forget it.

i loved doing this together. like i said, it was challenging but it was so fun and relaxing. i loved just being able to get away from everything and just do something fun together. i think hiking will have to be a regular thing that we do. it's free, anyone can do it, and we can put away all distractions and just be together. so! fun!

the only downside is that now the pressure is on to get the christmas shopping done. we're going to go on a christmas shopping date this saturday instead of a hiking date. i'm not sure which will be more fun!

christmas time is here!!!

*cue charlie brown song*

my goodness i love this time of year. also i realize i have been absent like mad... i have been a busy little cookie lately. i worked every day last week. i am so totally jealous of those people bragging about their awesome black friday finds. i went to sleep at midnight and i got up at 4:00 a.m. for work... i left at 4:30 a.m. and didn't get back until about 4:30 p.m. .... so..... i spent almost 12 hours straight working at the mall... that's nuts people! it was semi-horrible. well, actually the first 6ish hours weren't so bad... it was the next 6 that will really getchya. i'm not really a big black friday shopper anyway, so to work all day was kind of shocking to me. but i guess i made lots of money instead of spending lots... so i guess that's the good thing about it.

anyway, so i have been so busy with work, shopping, decorating and thanksgiving-ing. i had a wonderful thanksgiving with my family. my parents hosted it, and we had a yummy breakfast bake together, then later we had probably the BEST turkey i ever had. it was so juicy and yummy.... i wish we had thanksgiving twice a year! or maybe 3 times.... or maybe like, once a month.... i love it : )

so anyway, the good news is i have this whole week off! i don't know how that happened, but apparently this week is a slow one for our store usually since everybody spends all their money over the weekend. whatever, i don't care the reason.. i'm gonna get all my shopping done and just take some time to be lazy and enjoy the season. so. excited. : )

i'm mostly done with my christmas decorating actually. i figured i would just show you a few pieces here and there considering i took about a bagillion pictures... so enjoy some christmas pictures : )

have a very happy holiday season!! take time to relax and enjoy it. but don't relax too much.. i want to see everyone's home decorated for the holidays! : )

linked up to rhoda's mantel party

don't tell me it's not.

it's officially the holiday season!!!!! only a few short weeks until thanksgiving! and then christmas!!! then new years!! whoa. the excitement, people! i cannot believe it's holiday time again. it feels surreal. i keep thinking, nooo it's early yet. i'm just over excited.. then i realize it's 23 days till thanksgiving.. my favorite day of the year!!

thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. i'll tell you why. it kicks off the holidays. when christmas comes it seems over so soon. but thanksgiving comes and you know that everything is about to get christmas-y and wonderful. and shopping! oh the shopping... : ) i don't dread christmas shopping. i enjoy it. i wait for a time when phil and i can go together and we just enjoy ourselves. we don't pressure ourselves, we just look for the right gifts, we might eat out together, get some starbucks or something.. and just have fun enjoying the christmas-filled stores. it's so fun. we start now though, because i think trying to fit all the christmas shopping into december, along with parties, baking, decorating, wrapping and our christmas traditions we have to do every year.. it's too busy, and i don't enjoy being that busy. and listen. the holidays are to enjoy people!!! : )

okay. so i already did a fall mantel.. and i told you i changed it again, so i guess this is my thanksgiving mantel. i know, you don't believe me. but i really think i can leave it this way until i do my christmas mantel! i hope... : )

much more simple than my fall mantel i did earlier this year.

i painted my pumpkins white too... they were super cute before but i felt like the orange and yellow were clashing with the blue wall and there was just something i didn't love about it.

i know i'm crazy for changing my mantel again, especially when i have to change it again for christmas.. but i didn't love it. i liked it, and it was okay... and there were certain aspects of it i loved, but i didn't love it as a whole. so i changed it. because if there's anything i know, it's that i should love the space i live in. if i don't love it, i need to change it or i need to change me. this time i changed it, and it turned out lovely : ) it's a lot more feminine and romantic than the fall mantel i did earlier, but that's what i like! so oh well : )

i am determined it will stay this way until thanksgiving.... i really do love it this way so i'll proably make it. probably...... ; )