Sunday, December 15, 2013

Our Stockings Are Hung But What Else Can I Put on the Mantel?!

Merry Christmas, Glitterinas!

Do you have a favorite Christmas decoration?

I have a short list of favorites..... our handmade stockings definitely make the short list!

My wonderful, talented Mom started this Christmas tradition for Husband and I when we got married in 1979.

She made our stockings and gave them to us for our first Christmas.

They have travelled all over the place with us!  They have hung on mantels in houses that had one.....they've hung on bookcases and hutches, too!


As our family grew, so did our stocking collection!

We have a great mantel in our home that is the perfect place to hang all the stockings!  I'll share a picture of all the stockings in a bit......

Even though the stockings are wonderful, the silver hangers for them are lovely, too, the mantel isn't quite complete.

I wanted something else to decorate the mantel that wouldn't take away from all the stockings.

In years past, I've used greenery.... red shiny ornaments......candles......snowmen.....all kinds of different Christmas decor.  

Let me show you what I came up with this year.....


I decided to use an old picture frame that I have used over and over again to decorate with ......I thought it would make a good background for a tray decoration.


I laid everything out that I needed for the project I had in mind.


Please excuse the sunlight.....I was so very glad to have it streaming in all the windows!  
We've had a crazy, cold stretch of weather here in Central Texas.....brrrrrr.

Things I used:  

empty picture frame
silver tray with handles
two small silver creamers
wire twisties
holly and other greenery, clipped from our yard
red curly ribbon
cream, wired ribbon
scissors


I found this wide, wired cream ribbon with Christmas writing on it at Home Depot.  It's some of Martha Stewart's Christmas line.


Let's start by wiring the greenery to the tray.  
I chose a tray with handles so it would be easy to hang inside the frame.


Next, I cut a long piece of curly ribbon and tied the ends to the creamers.  

Then I hung that piece of curly ribbon over the ends of the greenery.  The greenery ends were sticking up by the twisty (like on a loaf of bread) that had been used to attach the greenery to the tray.  The creamers hung in the greenery and the red, curly ribbon was a nice bit of color.


I tied a big, puffy bow and added it to the tray along with some more strands of the red, curly ribbon.

The bow covers the ends of the greenery.


This is looking cute......

Time to attach the tray to the frame.

I used another piece of the cream, wired ribbon....tied through the handle of the tray.


This project went together very quickly!  

I worked on the ottoman right by the fireplace.

 It's finally ready to go up on the mantel......



I think I like it......it's just the touch I wanted!


The stockings hang on silver snowflake hangers, so I think they look good with this new tray decoration.

What do you think?


All the stockings.....


Hanging in a row......


OK, Santa, the stockings are all ready for you to fill with goodies!  

The grands can hardly stand the waiting.....


Some more of that wonderful, warm sunshine coming in through the window in the door!  




I think this tray decoration answers the question

"What else can I put on the mantel?"

Do you like it?  

Thank you so much for letting me share some of my favorite Christmas decorations with you!

You are so kind to spend time with me here at Pink Glitter.

Please leave me a comment so I'll know you were here!

Until next time,
Tammy



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