Christmas Swag

I'm a little late to the mantle decorating link up party (found here)

but I'm still going to join anyway!

To catch you up a little bit:

- I am free from school for the next 5 weeks!!

- Which means I am exactly half way through my Masters program!

- And we are pretty much finished with all our Christmas decorations!

Its been a busy week, hence, no posts!

I wanted to do a post to show off my favorite part of our Christmas decorations.

The mantel!

 This is our 4th Christmas as a married couple,

all of which have been spent in different homes,

and this is the first year that we have a real mantel!

Here is what I had to work with in years past.

Not terrible. But not a mantel either.

This year though, we have the real deal! 

There's even a hook for Buster's stocking! 

If you can't tell from the pictures I've posted, I'm a red, green, and gold kind of girl.

I don't use other colors.

I'm starting to think about incorporating snowflakes, but it still gives me anxiety.

Anyways, the decorations on the mantel are pretty much all gifts from my mom!

She made this wreath out of one of the pew bows from our wedding.

I absolutely love it!

It has alot of angels on it because that was my ornament theme growing up.

Which is also why she gave me the two gold angels that are up on the mantel.

The stockings I got for our 2nd Christmas together.

I'm pretty sure they are from Target, and I ironed-on the letters myself.

They're perfect for us. 

Michael loves snowmen.

I do not.

They're red a green. 

Perfect!

The last thing I added this year was the garland and poinsettias. 

The garland is the most basic one you can find at Hobby Lobby, and it was half off (Yes!)

Then, I bought a bouquet of poinsettias, cut them apart, and stuck them into the garland at random places.

I'm kind of obsessed with it.

So there you have it.

The Johns' Family Christmas mantel!! 

Here is a view of the whole room.

Are any of you as in love with Christmas as me??

I tend to go a little crazy, but I could sit here and stare at the decorations all day.

They just make me so happy!