ye ol' mantle

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Well I'm off the couch.  I even did a little laundry and attempted to pick up the house.  I finished decorating the mantle and that made me feel very accomplished.  After that I was exhausted so I sat back down and drank a soda and ate a chocolate.

But I'm up! I'm fighting! I will conquer this holiday season!

My theme for the mantle this year was vintage ice skating.  I actually ordered some old ice skates from a seller on Ebay but he lost them, so he couldn't send them.  Weirdo.

Anywho, I also bought some old photos on Ebay for this project.  I can't tell you how I wish these were actually my relatives but I am not heir to any great ice skating pictures of my ancestors.  So they are strangers, but I love them all the same.

I took my favorite photo and photocopied it really large to make my focal piece.  Then I glittered it all up, because, please, glitter makes everything just a little more festive.

The other photos I used to make a simple bunting.  I was tempted to get fancy with it, but I already have some much going on that I decided to keep it simple.

Aren't the photos the most charming thing you've ever seen? I mean look at that baby learning to skate. I die.

It was simply a Christmas miracle that I found this old school banner that says "Merry Christmas" in twenty different languages.  It's handmade and exactly the length of my dining room table.

Obviously it was put in my path for a reason. I mean, I can barely ever find runners long enough for my table. And then this little gem comes along.

It's really starting to come together around here.  Now to the shopping and the baking and the cards and the parties and...

You get the idea.