Christmas Mantel for 2010

I have been admiring the many wonderful Christmas mantels that everyone has shared in blog land and thought I would add mine to the mix.

This sweet 'Snowy Owl' caught my eye on a recent visit to a local antique shop. He was the starting inspiration for my Christmas Mantel for 2010.

 Actually, my husband had built the metal doors on our fireplace many years ago including the 2 antique Owl andirons on them as a decorative detail. I suppose I will have to give him the credit for my inspiration. The vintage snow shoe was a Christmas gift from him many years ago, as well - gotta give him his props!

I must also give thanks to 'Donna' at 'Funky Junk Interiors'. She has a stone fireplace and comes up with some wonderful ways of dressing her mantel. I incorporated a couple of her ideas - the 'White Star' and the 'Branches with Ornaments' - from her lovely mantel from last Christmas.

On the dumbwaiter side of the mantel, I placed an old chippy white window. It seemed like the perfect place to hang my twig wreath using a torn piece of white muslin. Using an old board, I stenciled the 'Snowy Owl Inn c.1778' sign.



I stenciled in white first and then offset the stencil with black paint to create the raised effect. To give it some appropriate aging, I lightly sanded the letters, followed with a coat of dark stain and then wiped it down.

I love using old materials to create 'new treasures'.

I hope you have enjoyed my 'Christmas Mantel'. Maybe, it will inspire you too!

 I have linked up to the following parties:

Until next time ~ Suzanne.

Quick Star Ornaments

Wow - The first day of December already! Yesterday, I decided that I had better get something done to prove my theory that this blogging idea would motivate me. I started sorting my fabric scrap boxes, as this is something that I have been meaning to do for a while. I have another huge bag of scraps not shown in the picture. As you can see, I didn't finish!

I got sidetracked looking at my little Christmas tree, and decided it needed some more ornaments. Time being of the essence, I grabbed some of my scraps and headed to the sewing room. This is what I came up with.

They worked up very quickly and I was able to make up 13 of these cute little stars in a snap. I would have used twine for the hanger, but alas - none was to be found so I used some black ribbon instead. I used a small zigzag stitch to sew together a sandwich of fabric, batting and fabric. Then, I trimmed the edges with a rotary wave/pinking blade. This was my end result.

And this is how they look on the tree!

Simple, quick and easy. Just what the doctor ordered during this busy time of year.