It's All About Family!

So today we hit the family room. I changed up the mantel a bit this year. You have already seen that I moved the photo gallery into the dining niche. I am happy with it there and now the mantel isn't quite as crammed full as it usually is. I like it but I'm not "in love" with it so I will probably be keeping my eyes open for new ideas and ways to tweak it a bit...which probably, in my case, means "more stuff" and it will be crammed full again before the blink of an eye! My motto seems to be "more is MORE"! lol

I am pretty much locked in to all of the photos in the media unit and the shelves. As much as I wish sometimes that I could "weed" out some of these photos, I simply can not! Every one is a special memory and I love looking at every one of them over and over. The only trouble is...I am pretty much already out of room and each year we keep adding to the number of pictures...but that means we are adding to the number of memories as well, so I will find a way! Thinking I may start to move some into the guest rooms. We shall see!

Also, I love my wreath and tomb stone vignette and even if I wanted to change it, I don't think I could come up with something I like better-at least not right now!

And so, on we go:

I still adore the spider lamps from the Bombay Co. I sure do miss that store and their seasonal items!!

I love it when I can find "kid" crafts that are fun for the kids to do but become a part of my favorite decor year after year! That is what happened with this witch hat picture holder. The kids just molded hats out of black Air-Dry Crayola clay. We used a round cutter to do the brim. Next, we twisted up a piece of copper wire and stuck it into the hat. Then it was just a matter of waiting for it to dry and embellishing. That was truly all there was to it!

I am amazed every year when I bring out this witch. I bought her at a garden and gift shop in the tiny town of Alachua many years ago and paid way too much for her but, she spoke to me and I knew ahe would become a forever  friend! It is hard to tell from a picture, but she is dressed in all sorts of fabrics and laces. Her boits are real leather and her finishing details are incredible! I am happy that she is being showcased on the mantel this year! I almost thought of seeing if I couldn't find at least one more similar witch to add to the vignette, but I have decide that I am not even going to try. I don't think I could ever find another witch as beautiful-lol!

I made these floral buckets many years ago from one that I saw at a craft show. I stole copied the idea and used them as gifts that year. Mine sits on the hearth every year filled with glittered branches from Illuminations but I just looked at it with "new eyes" and think I may have to try to come up with a new and improved use for this guy soon!

So that is it for the family room. This is my favorite place to sit and relax. Amongst all of the memories, warm glow of lights and candles and fabulous pumpkin spice smells, I am in heaven here! We are supposed to have a bit of a rainy week and I must admit that while it may not always be the case, this week I am actually looking forward to it. It gives me a good reason to curl up in my comfy chair and not feel guilty about letting everything on the "to-do" list just wait for another day! Stay tuned.