Winter Wonderland Sideboard

I posted yesterday about our dining room table tablescape, which included some images of our buffet table as well.  In decorating the buffet, I was inspired by this image that I came across on Pinterest:

via

So I crafted up my own version using sticks from my Forest Friend, icicle ornaments and pine cones I had on hand already, a glass vase that I picked up on clearance at Marshall's a while back for $5, and a $1.99 battery operated string of 10 lights:

My version could definitely use some more lights, but there are complexities in making this creation a reality that involve needing 2 size D batteries for 10 lights.  And then you have to find a way to cover up those batteries and the battery holder with pine cones in a way that you can still access the on/off switch.  One set of lights was tricky to work with.  Two sets would have been horrible.  I could have cut a hole in the bottom of the vase and used a corded set of lights, but cutting glass could be tricky too.  For now, I'm okay with only having a few exposed lights, I guess:).

I never intended to keep my gold frames up for this month, so I brain stormed a bit about what I could replace them with.  I decided I wanted to spell out a word using some of my West Elm mugs.  At first, I really wanted to spell out 'Santa' to go with my chalkboard, "He knows if you've been bad or good", but that would have required an extra 'A' mug.  I even looked to see if they were on sale again at West Elm, thinking it would be a cheat in our 'No Spend December' that would be worth it, but then I realized that I also don't have a 'T' mug.  There are only 5 letters that I don't currently own:  P, Q, T, V and F.  'Santa' was out of the running.  Then I thought about using the word 'Elf', but there's no F on my mug shelf.  Then 'Burt', the name of our 'Elf on a Shelf', but again there was no 'T'.  Then I decided to use the word, 'Snow'.  When I went looking for the 'O', I remembered that although I ordered an 'O' mug last month, it's currently on backorder.  The drama, I'm telling you.  Here's what I did for a day:

'SNUW'

Then I remembered I had this Owl candle that I picked up for $1 at Home Goods last month.

I put him on a log perch and covered him with a dome (picked up for $1 at St. Vincent's in Northern Wisconsin in October).

SNOW(L)!

We're big into asking the question, 'What letter does _____ start with?' in our house, so this totally works for us!

I switched up the writing on our chalk board to match 'Snow'.

I put a few candlesticks up, and Wa-La!  

Below the buffet is a faux sheepskin rug from IKEA with some stick balls on it.  We make snowmen with the stick balls.  It's fun.

The End.