The Pendant Stars and Mantel

the mantel above the fireplace

Here's how the pendant stars look above the mantel with the rest of this year's Christmas decor pieces -- simply done. I had thought about making some smaller stars, as well, but this time of year is so busy that I thought I should skip them. So, here are the 5 stars.

I had a bit of trouble getting them to stay attached to the ceiling. I ended up sandwiching the knotted end of the suspending threads between a couple of flat glue dots, then attaching to a glue dot that was pressed onto the ceiling. Before, the threads would work their way apart from the glue dots and completely detach. This seems to be holding for now. The removable glue dots are great, though, as far as not marring the paint in any way. They come right off of painted walls and ceilings. There is a non-removable version, however, which does take paint off of walls -- just a warning.

For the rest of the mantel, I've reused the sheet music (Joy to the World) and ribbons that wrap around the pillar candles. (I posted about that a couple of years ago, here.) In addition, I added a stack of Christmas-themed books and some red ornaments piled in a compote. You really can't see this in the photo, but I have a pearl and glass bead garland threaded across the mantel. These are all items that I have in my stash of decorative stuff. Like most of you, I have a lot of decorative Christmas stuff. There's no need to go out and buy anything new. Instead, I simply find new ways to use the old stuff each year.

By the way, the sheet music that is wrapped around the candles is just something I found online for free to print out at home. The sheet music for a favorite Christmas carol makes a nice piece of gift wrap for a small present, as well, in case you run short of gift wrap.

I hope your week is going well!

Deals, Steals, and Freebies from This Last Weekend

I am trying very hard to watch my spending this holiday season. It's difficult, though. I want to be generous with our giving to organizations that help others, to our church, and to friends who have supported us so well this past year. I also want to treat my family members during the holidays. Yet, there is only so much money to go around. 

With this in mind, I'm trying to treat my family without spending a huge fortune. I've been scouring the deals every week for a month, now. And these are the deals, steals, and freebies that I got over this past weekend.

Deals

• Bath & Body Works 3-wick candle to use as a gift, for $6.58 (regularly $24.00)
• 5 packages Nestle Toll House baking chips, including Mini chips, Dark Chocolate, and Semi-Sweet, for $1.49 each, to be used in baking throughout the holiday season and into winter (my other "best price" for baking chips is $1.78/package of store-brand chips on sale at WinCo, otherwise the regular price of Nestle morsels is $3.59/package at Fred Meyer)
• 1 dented can of artichoke hearts, 49 cents, to use in Christmas dinner (regularly $2.49)

Steals

• 12 ounces gourmet decaffeinated ground coffee for 99 cents, a price I never, ever find for ground coffee (regularly $6.99)
• Four 1-quart cartons (I only show 1 in photo, other 3 are in the freezer) of organic almond milk for 50 cents each (regularly $2.79 each)

Freebies

• One 3-ounce Theo dark chocolate bar -- FREE! (Regularly $2.99) This will become a gift.
• One Kinder chocolate bar -- FREE! (Regularly $1.29) This will become a gift.
• 1 full-sized bottle of Bath & Body Works shower gel -- FREE! (Regularly $13.50) This will become a gift.

I spent $17.51 for all of this. The regular retail value of the lot is about $80.37.

When the stress of potential post-holiday credit card bills starts to get me down, a shopping day like I had this past Saturday helps to level out my mood. Any deals, steals or freebies for you lately?