New Year brings some new decor!

Happy New Year! All of the Christmas decor is put away, and I was so excited to come up with something new and fresh for our mantle! In case you haven't heard, the Pantone color of 2013 is Emerald! You can read all about it in the Washington Post HERE.  So, in keeping with the latest trends in color (which in my mind symbolizes fresh starts and growth) I wanted to use different shades of green. I love how it turned out!

 It all started with this little number that I found on Williams Sonoma's website for $120.00!!! If you are interested, you can purchase one for yourself here! I thought for sure that I could re-create it myself for much less, so I gave it a try!

 Here are the items I used (minus the bag of moss on the far left) 

 I cut 3 inch strips and wrapped around the base securing with hot glue:

 Which looked like this:

 I had seen some tutorials that just used the sheet moss, but I wanted mine to be more "poofy" like the one I was modeling after, so I added some soft moss all over (I like the color of mine better than the ultra bright chartreuse color from WS)

 I think it turned out really well! Mine only cost me around $15, so I was pretty happy saving a hundred dollars! :)

Finished product:

 I found this little bird at a thrift store:

 And this little one on sale at Pier One:

 Added some little flower arrangements with spider mums and some greenery from the yard:

 So what's up with the star you might ask? There's a story behind it, and it's not the only one in the house!

 The larger one is on the mantle and the smaller one is resting on my chalk board picture, along with some of the words from the song that inspired this new theme for 2013! I like to have visible reminders of God's faithfulness and his promises. In the past, it has been yellow butterflies and chickadee birds. This year, I have decided that the symbol that I will use to remind me is a star!

It all started a few weeks ago at church when an amazingly talented guy named Josh Bales led the music for worship. He sang THIS SONG, and I was caught up in the beautiful message that God's plans are so much bigger than my own! His promises are bigger than my dreams! So, in the midst of my doubting dark, I will count the stars and remember that God's promises are much bigger and better!! My roommate and I talked about it after church and decided that we needed to have some stars around our house! I remembered that one of my mom's friends had made these two stars out of apple tree branches, so I asked her if I could have them, and she gave them to me! Thanks so much!