Christmas Happy Place

I think I have mentioned before that I get a bit lazy and uninspired to decorate…for anything.  The flowers I purchased for our Thanksgiving table were still sitting on our mantel until last week (mostly dead).  Our Christmas mantel usually gets an assortment of the leftovers from the boxes of decorations.

This Christmas season, I was inspired (see the above picture).  Ok, let me acknowledge that some of you are thinking, “That’s it?”  Yes, this is it.  And for me, this is a big deal.

I was at a Habitat for Humanity Restore and found this lovely print in the middle.  Have you ever been to a Restore?  I would say it is a thrift store for building materials.  And I love thrift stores.  For whatever reason, they had a shopping cart full of these prints.  The print is of 16^th Street in Denver in the early 1900s.  It was actually a great fit for my mantel because I have other prints of Denver in the same time period around my house.  Naturally, I framed it in a thrift store frame find.

Also making an appearance on this mantel are the tiny baby Jesus (I can’t even type that without having Will Ferrell’s voice in my head) and Our Lady of Guadalupe.  I realize she should have roses around her, but let’s say that I need to stop making an appearance at craft stores.  It is getting out of control.

I enjoy gazing back and forth between this mantel and the glow of the Christmas tree.  I have found my Christmas happy place.  I hope you find yours too.