Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.  ~Norman Vincent Peale For today's post I thought I would share some really beautiful mantels. Decorating my mantel is one of my favorite things to do around the holidays and I am always looking for new ideas! I love the stockings in this picture! And I never think to decorate the mirror over my mantel. This one is inspiring! Happy Decorating!!

Driving to work today I heard on the radio that they were excited that our region received a bunch of rain instead of snow. I on the other hand was not so excited. This time of year I really look forward to seeing a fresh blanket of white. So for today's post, are some pictures that I would really like to see this time of year.  I love this picture in Maine. My husband and I usually go to that light house in the summer. Looking at this picture I think we now have to take a trip in the winter!

Snow please!!!!

It's Christmas time in the city.......

Hopefully in Vermont we will see some more soon!

What a fantastic weekend with family for Thanksgiving. I have to admit I avoid anything that resembles black Friday! I spent most of my weekend decorating! My family and I also went and chopped down a great Christmas tree. The house is really starting to come together!

Inside and out!

 Now when I look around I see nothing but Christmas spirit!

Still need to buy my cranberries to fill vases!

I am so excited about tomorrow. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite hoildays. I love cooking and decorating the table for my family. I thought I would post some beautiful tablescapes for inspiration.

I am so thankful and grateful for family and friends...

Cheers and Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!

And a white Thanksgiving to top it all off!

I love being able to decorate with elements that are natural and that you can find inexpensively at the grocery store! Filling vases with cranberries and candles are a favorite on my Thanksgiving table as well as my Christmas table!

I love the contrast of the red in the cranberries and the white of the candle!

They look great in lanterns too. I am a firm believer that you can never have too many lanterns!!

With 39 sleeps until Christmas I thought I would post some of my favorite holiday living rooms......

I love this mantel!

It is so nice walking by my scented pinecone craft each morning, so I thought I would post some other useful ways of using them for holiday decorating.

I must admit that I spent some time hanging some Christmas lights outdoors already because I had the time and the weather was pleasant. The other part of my day...(while watching football of course) I put a spin on this picture...

With my craft I used cinnamon pine cones which I absolutely love!!

I also used red berries to fill in some spaces to hide the styrofoam cone underneath. My son is working on a smaller version using round spearmint candy. I'll post when complete! Now all I need is some snow!!!

Time to start thinking about gifts for my colleagues. I have several mason jars left over from canning and came across these when searching for ideas!

I saw this idea at the following blog site: inspiredroom.net

I think instead of epson salt I would like to find some white bath salts.

 This look seems complicated so I may just try it out for my own home decoration first, I just loved the idea.
I can't believe that I will be ready to get decorating two weeks from today...The day after Thanksgiving!!! Love it!!!!

45 sleeps until Christmas!!! This time of year is so fantastic! Today is a great day to already be thinking about decorating for the holidays. While the weather is still somewhat warm it's a nice time to walk outside and gather materials for the following ideas.

Although sometimes I just buy the scented ones from the store!!

Some greenery and berries for garland....

Also I like to collect sumac for my window boxes... Apples are always a nice touch too!

Thought I would post my favorite living room shots of the Stowe HGTV dream home from 2011. I love the fall color pallet.