Well I just realized that Christmas is only two weeks away so I gotta get crack-a-lackin’ on these Christmas posts. Although Christmas music has been playing on the radio since the first of December and Starbucks has had their red Christmas mugs out since Remembrance Day, Christmas finally just hit me this past weekend when the husband and I went on a spontaneous downtown date on Saturday to take in the sights and sounds of the bustling city.

enjoying a Granville Island beer at Mahony’s in Coal Harbour

A beautiful view from the convention centre overlooking the inlet and the North Shore mountains

Looking into the convention centre, built for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics

We wrapped up the weekend by making sugar cookies and watching Home Alone and indulging in hot cocoa. Life is good. I’m officially ready for Christmas.

But I’m getting off track here (see, I’m already in Christmas vacation mode!). Let me show you how I addressed our “faux mantle” (aka our IKEA expedit tv unit) with Christmas cheer.

Once again, Pinterest was my source of inspiration. I’ve got a million and one canning jars from our wedding so I wanted to put them to good use again.

source

I love these home-made snow globes but I don’t have the lids or rims for my jars so I did what any girl would do on a tight budget, I worked it without it. I know that snow-globes usually have something like snow floating around (I’ve seen sugar or epsom salt to create this effect) but from our vantage point on the sofa one wouldn’t be able to see that detail anyways so I chose to just forgo it.

I love how this display is rustic and natural, characterized by the evergreens, the snow covered bent wood ornaments, and the deer. It’s a winter scene rather than a Christmas scene so I’ll be able to enjoy it long after Decemeber 25 and through the rest of the winter season.