Our Decorated (Not!) Mantle(s)

So a couple of blogs I read informed me that The Lettered Cottage was having a mantle link-up party, and there is nothing I like better than a party. And with all the rain (and little snow) we've had around here I need SOMETHING to get me in the Christmas spirit. Since we don't have a mantle I thought I would show off the top of my piano (and our Advent wreaths since they are also displayed on a flat space.)

So I have to admit that I've NEVER EVER decorated for Christmas before. I've always spent Christmas with my parents in Saskatchewan and so decided that if I wasn't going to be home for Christmas than why should I decorate for it. However this year, my parents are coming here for Christmas, so for the first time in forty years I am decorating. And failing miserably to live up to the wonderfulness that is my parents' house at Christmas. But I am trying.

The other thing is that right now we are renting a house and trying to save up money to buy our own house so I've been "cost-conscious" as my husband, Dave, calls it. (He won't let me say that I'm cheap! Ha ha ha!) And since I had nothing on hand (remember I've never decorated before) I'm just doing it in bits and pieces.

So far the main thing I've decorated on our piano is my Peace Lily. I hung some mini blue and silver balls on it and I think it's really pretty. The hymnbook on the piano is opened to Advent songs, which we started singing in church on Sunday and which I love.

Since we are an interfaith family and celebrate both Christmas and Channukah, the left side of the piano is currently gathering our Channukah decorations. Channukah starts on this coming Saturday night and continues for eight nights. We will light a candle on our menorah for each night. The kids made tissue paper stained glass menorahs at the synagogue on Saturday and we will hang them in our window and "light" a successive candle each night. We also have new candle puppets this year sent from Dave's aunt so we are trying to figure out how to incorporate them into our Channukah celebrations this year. As of Saturday our menorah will be sitting in this spot. Here is our menorah on the sixth night last year. (The seventh candle at the bottom is the shemash which is the "helper candle" and is used to light the other candles.)

 

And then after Channukah, that part of our piano might hold the olive wood nativity set which I brought back for my parents when I lived in Israel-Palestine. I didn't bring back one for myself and have been regretting it this year. However my parents (on their own, I might add) said that they would like me to have it. So my parents might mail it to us, or they might just bring it when they come here. So that spot will be waiting for the nativity set to come at some point this season.

And lastly, here is another flat (mantle like?) surface which is holding our Advent wreaths this year. The one on the right is the kids' paper wreath and you can find my tutorial on how to do it here. Thanks for stopping by to visit. I'm looking forward to checking out all the other mantles and getting some more inspiration for this year (or for the next time I get to decorate for Christmas!).