My Storybook Christmas Mantle...

As I said last week,

I am shaking it up a bit for Christmas...

using fresh greenery..

so...

over the weekend I made this fresh swag

with Laurel from the garden...

and today decked out my mantle...

fresh pine saplings tucked in urns

bookend the mantle vignette...

I wanted my vignette

 to have a Christmas Storybook feel...

 a warmly lit cottage in the wood

felt like a good place to start...

this sweet reproduction Victorian scrap ornament

is my favorite...

a whimsical delight...

do you believe in storybook magic?

I do...

sailing silently...

lights out...

and goodnight,

sweet dreams my lovely friends...

isn't that is how all happy stories end?

Tonight I am linking to...

Funky Junk Interiors

Mantles

Show Off Your Cottage Monday

Metamorphosis Monday

Masterpiece Monday

Tabletop Tuesday

Open House Party Thursday

and

Saturday Nite Special

Thanks for stopping by today!

A Day Trip to Port Gamble...

I celebrated my 47th birthday

over the weekend...

Birthdays in December are always kind of meshed

with Christmas festivities,

so I usually like to get away for a quiet day trip...

we headed Northwest

to the usually sleepy town

of Port Gamble,  WA...

population 916...

the town dates back to the mid 1850's

and is like stepping into Old New England...

Charming with a capital C...

this grand Victorian building

is the center of town...

it was a cold and stormy day,

the waters of the Puget Sound

rough and choppy...

the sky so moody,

looking back at my pictures

 it looks like they were all taken over several different days,

a blue sky here a black sky there...

in the beginning,

 I said a usually sleepy town,

because we were surprised to see how much

 the town had changed since our last visit,

 ten or so years ago...

main street was dappled in a hand full of cute little shops...

and they were hosting a Christmas celebration...

I did a little window shopping...

and caught a glimpse of the "Big Guy" himself...

the quaint cemetery on the hill,

is the most peaceful I have ever visited...

Gustave Englebrecht was buried here,

 the first U.S. Navy Sailor to die in the Pacific,

he died on the city's shores

 in the Indian War of 1855-56...

see

 a blue sky!

I am joining...

Outdoor Wednesday

Thanks for joining me today...

I am Smitten...

I am smitten by wings

and twinkling white lights...

fluff...

and sparkle...

the dazzle of Christmas...

with a rusty edge,

mixed in...

Feet,

What do I need you for

when I have wings to fly?

Frida Kahlo

don't you love Christmas,

when you can let your imagination fly?

Tonight I am joining...

White Wednesday

Wow us Wednesday

Primp Your Stuff Wednesday

Feathered Nest Friday

Show and Tell Friday

&

Funky Junk Interiors

Saturday Nite Special

Thanks for visiting me today...