my decked out mantle

So...I'm linking up this post over at the Lettered Cottage, and at All Things Heart and Home. First of all, I'd like to thank my hubs for not looking at me like I'm a crazy person when I told him that I had to have the mantle 'done up' by tonight because I had to link it to another blog. I know...that sounds crazy. But that's what I told him, and he didn't commit me. He did want to know what was in it for me, and I guess it just boils down to bragging rights. Ya know...."Mine's shiny and pretty and just look at how much of it I made...". Plus, there's not much I can do well- for example, do I need to tell you the story about my 3rd attempt at tuna helper? Nah... let's just say staying up late on a school night to work on my mantle decor is fun for me. I don't do drugs, but I craft and decorate.

Here she is...

Just pretend you don't see that tree over there with only 4 ornaments on it, mmkay? Thanks.

The stockings I made, by the chimney with care...

The ribbon trees I made next to Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus. I put them on a stack of vintage books so they'd be on a higher level. You know, because... that's why we celebrate Christmas afterall. And that 'M' is our last initial. I have them all over the house, and I do mean all over.

Picked these letters up at the hob lob today. Well, actually just the J and the Y. I stole an O from B-O-O since I'd just taken that off the mantle after Halloween. Since I've used these letters for quite a few holidays this year, I figure I'll soon have the whole alphabet stored and can pretty much spell whatever I want. And that little wooden pretty next to the letters was on the unfinished wood aisle at the hob lob. I painted him white with a little acrylic paint. Cute eh?

Another tree I made today using this tutorial , some ornaments in a glass vase, and my elbow.

The hubs was hard at work on his own mantle while I was working on mine, so I thought I'd share a few pics of the man cave as well. He was proud of this tree he scored for free today from his grandparents house. And yes, that's a huge print from Dumb and Dumber. Man Cave decor.

Also wanted to share some pics of our foyer. Not really sure I like the Christmas banner here since it doesn't really 'go' with the other stuff, but....I had it. It was $1.50. So there.
And yes, I did see that tiny little red toy truck on the floor before I took the picture, but it was all the way down there on the floor and I just couldn't be bothered to pick it up.

Like this subway art? Pretty, huh? I printed it for free (well, I used my paper and ink) and you can too... Just go HERE. The awesome ladies at eighteen25 made it. I popped it into a frame I already had and, VOILA. Some new FREE Christmas decor. Love.

Again with an 'M'. Did I mention they were everywhere?

And that's where I put the wreath I made from this post. On the door to the Narnia closet. (It opens into a hallway that takes you from the front of the house to the back...so, yeah. We call it the Narnia closet.)

And no, I'm not putting her on the mantle, but this little cutie turned 6 months old on Sunday. Can't believe she's already half a year. I take a picture of my kiddos every month of their first year on the day they were born to document their growth. And plus, it's just fun. I bought this bear before O was born, so all 3 have bear pics.

And since decorating the mantle wasn't enough to keep me busy tonight, I made some Christmas headbands for MM. All of the babies born in the past year to mommies that teach at my school are taking a pic for the yearbook tomorrow and the babes have to be decked out in Christmas garb. I'm taking two options for MM, ya know...to be prepared and whatnot. This is option 1....

with its new coordinating headband. And...

here's option 2

I'm curious. Which do you like better?

(Thanksgiving post to come tomorrow. Lots, and I mean lots of pictures to share, so grandmas, hang on....the pics of your grandchildren are coming.)