Winter Wonderland Mantel

We are not having Winter Wonderland weather... but that's okay with me.  We have been getting up to the 50's every day with nice sunshine.  I like that kind of winter weather 😂  All the Christmas is finally put away.  I did a heavy clean in the house, then I pulled out the snowmen and winter decor.  

I know there are many that deal with winter depression.  If that is you, I am so sorry that you have this issue.  I am most definitely not a fan of the cold but I do enjoy a nice warm fire in the fireplace, my nightly hot tea, curling up on the couch with my old man miniature schnauzer and doing a puzzle on my iPad, or picking up the cross stitch bag that I keep near the fireplace for winter boredom.

I used to be like my Grandma Smith and decorate for every holiday and season... well except for St. Patrick's Day.  I never understood why she decorated for a holiday we didn't even celebrate and we aren't Irish, lol!  But she just loved to deck out her home no matter when it was.  I don't know how she kept it up till the day she passed away at 82.

I've done well following in her footsteps... up until last year.  It was the first year that I did not decorate for Valentine's Day.  Instead I've been sending all the hearts to the booth.  It's actually fun to see that my once beloved pieces are now new treasures to someone that will hopefully love them as much as I once did.

Even though I'm not a winter loving person, I do still love to decorate my home for winter... the cute little snowmen... I even have a 7' blue snowman slim pine Christmas tree that I keep out all winter.  Another Christmas tree that stays out all winter is the full size 7.5' snowy pine with red berries and pine cones, decorated in red glass balls and cardinals.  We do love our Christmas trees longer than just for Christmas! 😁

I do believe that keeping the twinkling lights and "Christmas spirit" alive well into winter helps keep our mentality in check.  Aside from moving South for the winter, we have no choice but to push through those winter doldrums.  Having the glow of the lights from the trees, the mantel, the hutch, the cabinets, brightens our long winter nights and helps to lift our spirits... you can't help but smile.

One of my favorite things to do in winter is work on my homestead goals for the year.  I mean really... do we ever come to a point where our home is complete?  Finished?  No more changing anything??  There is always some things that we want different.  For 2019, I painted the main bathroom, dining room, coat closet, and entry... along with a corner cabinet and 7-pc dining room set that I bought from my booth earnings!  The laundry room was on that list but I didn't quite make it so I started on it right after Christmas.  Needless to say that completing the laundry room is at the top of my 2020 homestead goals.  I plan to work on the family room right after and have it completed by the end of spring.  Then I will move on to the living room.  Because I spend so much of my spring and summer outside working in the yard, I hope to have the living room complete by fall... it's a pretty big room with such a humongous ceiling 😩 Ok yes it's the same size as the room, but when you're on a ladder painting a ceiling, it feels like it's twice the size of the room, ugh.  It's always worth it in the end but during... not so much, haha!

As my Grandma Goins always said... Lord willing, I hope to accomplish my 2020 homestead goals.  Because that means the main level will be completely renovated.  Please share with me... what are your homestead goals for 2020?  I really want to know!

Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed week as we go into this new year~