Holiday Mantel Decor

Now that it's December, I'm ready to break out the Christmas decor! I went through our holiday storage boxes today and I'm wondering if a few things were lost or tossed when we moved last year (just a few days after Christmas). We don't have nearly as much as I thought we did! I'm looking for mantel ideas, and I love some of these DIY projects from Country Living. Any of them would look adorable on or above a mantel, especially the ornament branch.

{images from Country Living}

{images via Designers Do Dallas}

I love this pom-pom garland! The whole look is very clean and chic!

{image from Martha Stewart}

Hmmm...I certainly have enough baby socks lying around for the above project! Of course, a mantel banner would be just as sweet. Decision, decisions! Stay posted!

{image from 31 vintage road}

Best of Philly: Part II

Today's gorgeous Philadelphia home belongs to Matt Curtius and Gina Triplett, both illustrators who have used their talents to create a beautiful, bright and colorful home full of their own artwork and modern, upbeat style. So pretty!

{images from Philadelphia Magazine}

Best of Philly

We just flew into Philadelphia today for a family-filled holiday excursion, and while our schedule is jammed packed for the week, I will do my best to run a little "Best of Philly" series this week. Let's begin with this beautiful home created by Chestnut Hill interior designer Mona Ross Berman. I love the mix of bright colors and patterns; it's both modern and sweet with the perfect amount of feminine charm!

{images from Philadelphia Magazine}

Green Goodness

Our living room walls are just about the exact shade of green as the green accents in the above image, and I'm debating about what to do with the room. If it were totally up to me, I'd go crazy with whites like  this gorgeous and airy living room...but I'm outnumbered in the gender department and so was thinking of going with browns and beiges (my hubby's preference). I don't want the room to be too dark, though. I'm seriously considering making new slipcovers for our (white) furniture with beige duckcloth, but that's sort of an excruciating amount of work for a color scheme I'm not in love with. I wasn't too sure about the green/brown/beige concept, but I have to admit that I'm encouraged by the below images...

{images from Canadian House & Home}

Be Happy Now!

Jenny M of the Etsy shop Be Happy Now is offering Lilac Silhouette readers free shipping on all 2010 hand illustrated calendars in her shop! A total deal if you live here in the US, as Jenny ships from Israel! Her work is beautiful, and all of her calendars are, simply put, very cool. Check out her shop here and enter "Lilac" during checkout to waive all shipping costs. Thanks so much, Jenny!

{images from Be Happy Now}

papernstitch Mania!

Brittni Wood of papernstitch recently sent me a lovely e-mail (how excited was I get to get that?) with links to some fabulous shops currently displayed on her site that she thought I might like. Was she ever right! First up is Olive Manna, home to some of the most adorable home goods and paper and packaging accessories on the web. Forget eating off this plate, I want to put it up on my wall! And how cute are the corner bookmarks? I hope my hubby reads this post because I want to see them in my stocking this year!

{images from Olive Manna}

Sticky Tiki, based in New Zealand, will make your child's room look sweet as can be with wall decals made of fabric. They really are beautiful and seem quite warm and cozy compared to vinyl decals.

{images from Sticky Tiki}

I'm just blown away by this crocheted floor throw by Emma Lamb! It's so pretty and looks like the perfect bedside winter accessory!

{images from Emma Lamb}

Original archival prints and cards by August Wren will surely brighten up any wall in your home! These little birds would look perfect on our mantle in the springtime!

{image from August Wren}

Please stop by papernstitch to check out these wonderful shops (and more) and read Brittni's blog!

Give Thanks Banner!

Well, my pipe cleaner project was a bust (tip: use the same color pipe cleaners for the entire project), but my "give thanks" banner looks really sweet hanging on our mantle! I would have loved to sew a banner, but it probably would have taken me until next Thanksgiving to finish. So, in an effort to be timely and not drive my husband insane, I picked up some stock notecards, patterned paper and stick-on trim for a super easy project that took about 20 minutes and cost less than $10!

{images by Heather Hackett for Lilac Silhouette}

Give Thanks

{Storia Home}

We took down the Halloween decorations last night and started getting ready for Thanksgiving; after seeing this "give thanks" banner on Decor8 yesterday I'm all about making a mantle banner. I found some similar items on Etsy and as soon as my little one wakes from his nap we're hitting the craft store! Stay posted for the final result! Oh, and have you seen the pipe cleaner masterpiece on Design*Sponge? It just so happens that I have a package of leftover pipe cleaners from Halloween in a perfect array of fall colors. Guess what I'll be doing tonight...

{bleu bird nest}{cozy rosies}{cozy rosies}

No Sew Roman Shade

{image from Apartment Therapy}

Back in May I created a no sew roman shade using fabric glue and it turned out perfectly, so I was excited to see this no sew roman shade tutorial on Apartment Therapy today! Isn't this room cute?

The Post of the Century

Oh my, do I ever have a post for you! I wandered over to Creature Comforts today to find that Ez's blog has a new home and a gorgeous new look! It's beautiful and you will love it, so head on over and check it out! She recently posted about this fabric Christmas tree, which is seriously the cutest thing ever!  You can find it at Love Mae...

{image from Love Mae}

I have no idea how I missed this, but Ez recently teamed up with Marichelle Burdman and opened a new shop! If you sell handmade goods and/or love wrapping gifts (and who doesn't?), Nice Package is your one-stop-shop for lovely packaging tags and accents. On their site you will also find a blog containing tutorials for their products. How fabulous is that?

{images from Nice Package}

After you skip through the shop, sign up to follow Nice Package on Twitter and be sure to update your Creature Comforts links and feeds!