A Ski Lodge Christmas

 Memories can be great inspiration for decorating.  When I was young, we would go skiing almost every Christmas.  Often, we would be gone on Christmas day. 

I purchased the Swiss Army Blanket (here) a while back as a gift for my dad.  One of my favorite ski trips was to Switzerland.  The alpine mantel is a reminder to me of one that might be found in a ski lodge. Of course, you will need to pretend that it sits in front of a great big stone fireplace!

I cut the limb holding our stockings from a river birch tree in our yard.

One common tradition of the small villages is the ringing of the bells.  Children will go in the streets ringing bells such as these and sing carols.  Often the towns will compete to see who can ring their church bells the loudest to lure people to church.

I used the snow in a can to give the look of snow covered evergreens.

White ceramic pinecones came from Target.

I placed the river birch wood on top of the mantel for some balance.

We used mostly things we found outside to decorate this mantel.  Some limbs are spray painted and added to glass vases full of glittery snow.  Last year, we did a Woodland mantel (here) using things we found on a nature walk.

My MIL knits beautifully.  We have many, many Christmas stockings from her.  The white stocking was made from an old quilt.

My grandmother's frame fits nicely into the evergreen wreath displaying the antlers.  I threw handfuls of snow on the wreath to assimilate the alpine look.

I love to ski!  Although my family doesn't travel to far off places, we go to the North Carolina Mountains for a few days at Christmas.  My five year old daughter will finally get to ski this year!  The old wooden skis were a gift from Rob for my birthday.  Pottery Barn has some vintage ones just like these.

I placed some more river birch wood in this basket beside the vintage 'showshoe' chair of my mother-in-laws.  I love buffalo check.  This blanket was a gift from my sister!


Thanks for stopping by and Merry Christmas!

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