our CHRISTmas mantel

hey, friendlies!  :)
i'm a little late to the partay, but i'm popping in to join in on the fun over at the lovely lettered cottage mantel linky!
plus, i wanted to show YOU my mantel, too.
it was really easy and fun to put together.
i'm a pretty simple decorator, and i love to use natural elements in my home, and that is what inspired me this year.  :)

i wanted the focus of our mantel to be on Jesus, Who is our only True Hope in this weary world.
the thrill of Hope, that we can be reconciled to God through the gift of His ONLY Son!

the only money i spent was on the beautiful print from lesley, the frame from target, and the mandarins.
i had the rest already tucked away here and there.
as you may be able to tell, the late 1800's mantel is still just propped up against the wall.
it may never get nailed down, and i'm okay with that.

anywho...we have been SO busy trying to finish up school before Christmas.
the girls have been crafting and creating maniacs and i can hardly keep up!
we have baked lots of goodies(and ate them).  #hello!muffintop
and after thanksgiving, let me tell you...it's REALLY hard to buckle down and focus on school.
like realllllllyyyyyyyyy hard!
as a home school mama, once you get into vacation mode, it's really hard to get back in the focus of school.
but we're doing it.
most of us anyway...my littlest is acting like he has serious ADD, but he is just super excited(kinda like me).  :)

i hope that you all are enjoying this blessed season, and remembering the True Reason that we celebrate.
from RECENT experience, i know just how hard it can be to keep the Right Focus.
the devil sure does try to steal my joy some days, but i am not going down with out a fight!

we, as a family,  have purposed in our hearts to have a different Christmas this year.
less about ourselves and more about Him.
and that means more about others.
God graciously led us to a family who could not afford Christmas this year so we were able to shop for them.
the kids had so much fun!  who am i kidding...nathan and i had a blast, too!
to God be the glory.  :)

we also bought the Jesus Storybook Bible and have been reading it every day for advent.
i'm pretty sure i have enjoyed it the most.
the simply written Bible stories that weave the perfect path to Him and mirror His perfect plan of redemption thrills me to my core!
the fact that my Savior was born in the lowliest of places and dwelt among sinners, born only to die for my wickedness and yours wrenches my heart in the best way.
i am so humbled and grateful for His free gift.
the debt that He paid so that I don't have to.
born to die, my Jesus was.

this is what Christmas is all about!
spreading the Good News that Jesus was sent for all sinners.
and just like any other gift, we have to take it for it to be ours.
my prayer is that i will be a light for Him this season...encouraging those among me to

"Let earth receive her King!"

have a wonderful day, friends!

i'll be back this week with a Christmas home tour....yay!

xo,

mary

my fake fireplace, a {favorite} banner and more knitting

hello, friends.  how was your day?

we spent the day recovering from our snow/leap/mommawantsabreak day off yesterday.  yeah!

and by recovering, i mean, just catching up on school work and the normal craziness that are the days of my life.  ;)

i think i told jack to sit down like 50 times{at least} and had to corral my six year old from distracting the rest of the crew probably about 36 times. 

by mid afternoon, three of the four were literally running circles around everything and screaming like indians.

for real.

my oldest was ripping apart an old wool sweater to use the yarn for new projects.  awesome mess, i tell ya. 

i think it's safe to say that they are a tad obsessed with this knitting hobby.

i wonder where they get their obsessiveness from? {whistles and looks around the room innocently}

anyway,  on saturday, when i rearranged a few things around my house, i took down all of our valentines day decorations.

i put out a few springy things and a few new thrift store finds.

well friends, it turns out i just missed my valentines banner too much.

seriously, it's not like it HAS to be just for valentines, right?

i dug it out of the closet, as fast as possible,where i had it lovingly folded and found it a new home.

i love it and it's never going away this time. :)

it was made by a super crafty, creative bloggy friend, alicia, and the first time my eyes met it in it's plaid/canvas/twine glory, i knew it had to be mine.

the only problem?  they were all sold out.

i frantically raced to my computer and emailed alicia and asked if she could possibly make any more.

i think you know what she said.  :)

here is my fake fireplace, with my favorite banner, and a few of my other favorites.

my cow oil painting.

glass bottles.

pine cones{LOVE the giant ones}

scrabble tiles

a vintage toy horse

and more toy cows.

i'm debating on whether to take the toy horse down.  what do you think?

say it with me, "awwwwww!"

another angle.

her close up.  isn't she beautiful?
my husband really likes her, too.  even better.

we love this mantel.
my husband spotted it at an antiques show a few years back and drug me over to see it.  actually, i went willingly.  :)
i was sooo hard to convince....yeah right.   an 1800's original mantel with original square head nails and yummy, chippy goodness.   no brainer for me.
we used to go for a weekend getaway every year to an early settlers colony and stay in a super cool restored B&B/hotel.
lots of shops, good food and a huge early american antiques show.  it was sooo fun!
we just couldn't part with this treasure, so here she resides.  :)

words to live by!

i think i'm gong to start a weekly post called 'knitting news'.
there is always so much knitting going on, it's hard to keep up!
here's madelyn, with her newest creation.
doesn't that look complicated?
madelyn is 11.  i feel soooooo behind in life!

well, i hope you enjoyed the tour.
although i love to decorate and have pretty things, i realize that they hold no eternal value.  it's just a really fun hobby of mine. :)
i hope your week is going swell!
i've just successfully completed my first blog post on the laptop.{pats self on back}  yay!
my eyes are burning and i can't see a thing!

much love to you all.

xo,
mary