Mary, did you know...

Hello Friends, I hope you are all well and happy and enjoying this beautiful season.  I was so behind in my decorating I really was feeling a need to keep it simple yet appropriate to the season.  I went out shopping a little before Thanksgiving and just the sheer volume of  "stuff" on the shelves and the tinsel-y shininess and the hustle and bustle made me want to run out of the stores and take a shower to wash off the dirt of the conspicious consumerism.  I don't know if it's my age or what, but it really bothered me this year.  SO, I decided to do a revisit of my last year's mantel and tweek it a bit taking a cue from some favorite things that put the emphasis on the reason for the season.

I had coveted admired the amazing Jeanne d'Arc angel wings, but the $95 price tag was not even remotely in my budget. I happened to be looking at Oriental Trading Company's catalog and came across their angel wings for a whopping $14.99 with shipping. Now, I have to say, they compared in no way to the JDL wings, but with a little help from a bag of white mirabou feathers from Michael's (another $2.99 I think), they are good enough for me. I clipped the elastic things that hold them on your arms because I couldn't see a way to get them out of my way to hang them, then wrapped them in wide double faced satin ribbon that I washed to remove the sizing so the bow would hang nicer (floppier). All in all, I'm happy with the result although if anyone has a giveaway on those spendy JDL wings, let me know cause I'm in! :-)

As I was working on my wings, I had Christmas music on and heard one of my favorite songs, "Mary, Did You Know?".  I was inspired to take some of my favorite lines from that song and put them on simple hang tags.  I added a little glitter around the edges since the tags just needed a little more "somethin, somethin".  Of course, my JDL madonna had to come out to say hello as well.

A relatively simple white poinsettia garland that I had on hand made a nice addition when paired with the fairy light string I made last year out of little coffee dyed tiny muffin baking cups. 

My JDL inspired candles returned this year and couldn't have been a nicer addition given the theme.

Antique mercury glass also back for a repeat performance...looks perfect with the Pottery Barn votives that were very reasonable at I think $3.50.

I recently purchased a couple of gorgeous, very old prayer cards that featured the baby Jesus.  I wanted to feature them on my big pillar candle but couldn't chance ruining the original, so I made a copy of it on a nice cardstock and went over the gilt scrolls with my gold paint pen.  I've done this on other reproductions of old pieces and it gives it that authentic look that I love.  I don't think anyone would be the wiser.  I punched a couple of holes in my card for my jute twine to go through so it would stay relatively flat and tied it up over a layer of old crocheted lace for a nice layered effect.

Lastly, one of my favorite mirrors that usually sits on the mantel was moved to the wall and I added the heart cut from a German book topped with one of my faux zinc crosses and some greenery.  I love the simplicity of it.

There are still some crosses available in my Etsy shop, Elegant Farmhouse.

More fun with copies of pages from the German book...

One of my nativity sets that my husband got me soon after we married.  I love it.  It is a great visual of the reason for the season, the birth of Jesus.

I'll show you more of my decor soon, but for now, I think that's enough photo overload. I'm sharing the goods this week with Kathleen at Faded Charm and her wonderful White Wednesday Party, Kim at her Wow Us Wednesday Party, Debra at Vintage Inspiration Friday, Courtney at Feathered Nest Friday, and Bev at Pink Saturday.  Go over and show the other participants some blogger love, won't ya?

Until next time,