Falconhead at Christmas

I was INSANELY excited about decorating our first house for Christmas.  In. SANELY.   I was pinning stuff left and right on Pintrest and ripping pages from BHG.

However, with the baby, I didn't really have a lot of time to DIY all the stuff I wanted to.  Next year, maybe.  So this year was more of a work-with-what-you've-got kind of year.  I also had all these new surfaces like a banister and an actual mantle to decorate.  Color me stumped.

On the banister I used the lighted garland that I have had for years.  By itself it look kind of plain, so I added some berry garland that I snagged for 60% off at Michael's.

When it came to the mantle, I was so excited to have a real one and not a LACK shelf like we had in the apartment.  I went with my usual metallic and shiny look.  Honestly, what other time of the year can I get away with having so much shiny stuff in one spot?

mental note.. must find a way to "loose" that Snoopy stocking for next year...

I rocked my gorgeous mercury glass candle holders, along with my DIY glitter candles from last year.  The tiny Cinderella pumpkins from Halloween were still in good shape, so I added them in for kicks and giggles.

You know I love to mix my metallics, so this year I added in two golden reindeer that I snagged at our local thrift store back in June for fifty cents each.  I love them.  JEGs calls them the 'Ark of the Covenant Deer'.

I think they flow nicely with the candle sticks.

Again, the garland on it's own looked a little bare, so I added in some garland from Michael's but this had red balls to tie into the garland on the stairs as well as gold balls to add extra sparkle.

I didn't want the metallics to look too sterile, so I added in some over-sized pine cones.

I had planned to DIY some ornaments this year, but like I said, I just never quite found the time so our tree rocked our usual red and gold balls from years before with a few additions

First off, the train is a gift to Hunter from JEGs' father (PopPop).   Let me tell you, that kid loves that train.  Anytime he gets fussy, we turn it on and he will watch it loop the tree over and over again.  It's always a great way to get him to lift his head up during tummy time.  Win all around.

 Last year I snagged a bunch of ornaments from Crate and Barrel during their After Christmas Sale.  My personal favorite is this white owl-- little did I know at the time that owls would be the 'in' thing for decor or that I would be decorating a nursery with owls in just a few months!

I also grabbed four of these clear balls with an etched detail.  They are probably a new favorite of mine.

and of course, we have something to commemorate Hunter's first Christmas-- a footprint in an oval frame.  This set was gifted to us from my friend JD.

I had grabbed some  greenery at Michael's with the intention of using it on the mantle, but I never quite got it to look the way I wanted it to.  Instead, I put it in an IKEA planter with some leftover pine cones and sat it on the hearth.

I also took an old vase and did a Sabrina Soto look and mixed gold and red ornaments together for our end table.

I'm not gonna lie to you guys, I ran out of steam for the coffee table.  I threw the pine cones I've had for about three years in a bowl and called it a day.  In all honesty, I think these bad boys are getting thrown out on January 8th.

We use our coffee table too much to put anything nice on it.  Twenty seconds after this shoot, those magazines went back to their home on my bedside table and the bowl of pine cones were shoved out of the way.

Want to check out my previous Christmas decor?  Here is our apartment from 2009 and 2010!

Psstt... Check back later today, I'll snap some pictures of our outside as well!

Always & Forever,
  ME