It’s hard to maintain an element of simplicity at Christmas time. The stores and the internet are bursting to overflowing with everything from sublime to ridiculous, all advertised as must-have and must-do this year. On the weekend all my bins of Christmas Past came out of storage. To be honest, I took out a few things and set them up, then closed the bins to be put away. I played a board game with Personally Junior then we watched A Charlie Brown Christmas. (The first of many times this Christmas, probably!) So here for the next little while I’ll be sharing my few attempts at keeping it simple, but still Christmas-y and worthy of the season of celebration.
The redecorating of the mantel was kept to a minimum. My Advent candle buckets you’ve already seen here. They’ll be moved elsewhere after the fourth Advent Sunday to make way for stockings. I took down the Fall Garland from the mirror and decided to make something more winter-y to replace it. I had bought these burnished bronze jingle bells at Target. I loved the size and the finish of them and knew I could use them in lots of ways. To embellish a gift, decorate a wreath or a bow, or even just hang them on the tree. Two tubes of five bells for three dollars each. Some of them I used to make this simple garland to string across the mantel mirror.
It was so simple, fun and inexpensive. You just want to measure the length that you want, then tie the bells at regular intervals to make up your length, string it up and you’re done. A simple addition to a simple Christmas.
linking to Setting for Four