Christmas Decor Crawl ~ Karen Witemeyer

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I love to decorate for Christmas. Almost all of the items that I have collected over the years carry sentimental value. Some I can remember picking out with my husband 30 years ago. Others I remember crafting with love as a new mom. Some were gifts from friends and family. Others were made by the kids when they were in school. Some were crafted by my daughter as she fell in love with hand-making Christmas items. Our decor wouldn’t be found in the pages of a magazine, but it warms my heart every year.

The item I chose to share for our Filly Christmas Decor Crawl is my fireplace mantle. This section is dear to my heart for many reasons.

  1. Sentiment. I cross-stitched each of the stockings. Opening stockings on Christmas morning is a tradition I grew up with and one I intended to keep after I married. When my daughter was born, it was important for me to have personalized stockings for each family member. So, for the first year, I stitched stockings for my husband, myself, and my little girl. Two years later, I added my first son. Then after another two years, I added number three. Each of these stocking took months to stitch, but every thread carried love and joy.
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  2. Festivity. I love Christmas garlands, and while this one is simple, the classic green and red shout Christmas and bring a smile to my face.
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  3. Faith. It’s always been important to me to remember that Christmas is all about the birth of our Savior. Since the fireplace is the focal point of our room, I wanted there to be a prominent display of the nativity there. I have collected Willow Tree figurines for years, and when I discovered they had a nativity set, I began asking for the pieces for Christmas. Then last year, I found the “O Come All Ye Faithful” sign at Hobby Lobby and it added the perfect finishing touch. Some of the nativity animals are hard to see behind the garland, but I love the reminder of the reason for the season.

I hope you all had a very merry Christmas and that you are enjoying time with family and friends. May 2024 be a year of abundant blessings and good books.

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For those who love to smile as they read, bestselling author Karen Witemeyer offers warmhearted historical romance with a flair for humor, feisty heroines, and swoon-worthy Texas heroes. Karen is a firm believer in the power of happy endings. . . and ice cream. She is an avid cross-stitcher, and makes her home in Abilene, TX with her husband and three children. Learn more about Karen and her books at: www.karenwitemeyer.com.

33 thoughts on “Christmas Decor Crawl ~ Karen Witemeyer”

  1. I love your decor and what it means to you.

    I have the Willow Tree nativity figurines, too. A friend had a Christian book store which went out of business, so I bought them at a discount.

    denise

    • Nice score on the discounted Willow Tree items, though it makes me sad that your friend’s store went out of business. So many independent stores have struggled over the last few years.

  2. Thanks for sharing your mantel in its Christmas persona, Karen. You did a beautiful job on the cross-stitched names (kudos to you for having the patience to do that) on the Christmas stockings. Creches are integral to the season and you’ve arranged yours attractively and creatively.

    • Thanks, Mary! Those stocking were definitely a labor of love. Each one took several months to complete, but my oldest is now 25, so they’ve been used for close to a quarter of a century. 🙂 We’ll have to see if I have the stamina to try to keep up with the grandchildren when they start coming in a few years. 🙂

  3. Your mantle is beautiful! I love the care and love that went into the stockings, and the colors of the garland! They set off the nativity to perfection and make it the highlight of the scene! I love nativities too, and have several set up around the house. Some are homemade and some are store bought, but they all help me remember the true reason for Christmas!

  6. Love your mantle and the sweet needlepoint stockings Karen! There is a lot of work and love in them! Wishing you and your family a blessed and wonderful new year!

  7. Like you, my Christmas decorations would not be in any magazine, but they reflect the love and joy of family and God’s faithfulness. I have things from my mother who has been gone for 24 years and I remember her when I put them up. I have a funny little ornament my husband made when he was in 5th grade ( he will be 70 next week). 3/4 of the ornaments on my tree are ones I have collected in our travels both here and overseas as we have done missions work for the last 30 years.
    May you and your family have a blessed new year full of love and God’s blessings.

  8. Beautiful mantle, Karen! I love it! I cross-stitched my granddaughters’ stockings too and enjoy seeing them hung each year when I visit my son’s house. It was a labor of love for me to welcome each one of them into our family. As far as our mantle, I made our 5 stockings too but I didn’t cross-stitch them, I just made them out of quilted material and made each one unique. I’ve had them since our kids were little and still put them all up even though our kids are all out of the house now and don’t come to our house during the holidays! Have a wonderful New Year!

    • I love that you still get those stockings out, Valri. I’m thankful that we still have our grown kids at our house Christmas morning, but with another wedding coming next year and future work plans possibly taking people farther away, I’m not sure how many of those we might have left. We’ll have to decide what to do with the stockings after that.

  9. Love the mantle!! I’ve been given Willow Tree figurines for the past few years! A friend started my collection, and another friend has joined in! I now have six of them. I didn’t know they did a Nativity! I just might have to check that out!

  12. Good afternoon Karen, your mantle is Beautiful, and I love the sentiment it has. All the stockings are Beautiful and the Nativity is Gorgeous!! I too made stocking for my 2 children when they were very young , our daughter is 45 yrs old and our son is 44 yrs old today. I made then sequined stockings and the stockings are pretty old, I also mad stockings for our 3 grandchildren since they were very young, our oldest – our grandaughter is now 17 and my 2 grandsons are 15 and 12, our tree is mostly decorated with Christmas picture frames with family in them, I love them all . May you and your family have a Blessed New Year. Thank you for sharing your Beautiful decorated mantle with us.

    • I love that you made your children and grandchildren stockings, Alicia. Those are true treasures. We’ll have to see what happens when the grandchildren start making appearances. Something tells me I find the urge to make stocking for the next generation. 🙂

  13. Next year, no tree, BUT, I plan on making my fireplace the focal point with a nativity scene, if I can find one. Also, one of our previous authors has a beautiful garland of Poinsettia flowers over her door and I believe that would be beautiful on the fireplace mantel. Your is very nice, Karen. Have a Happy New Year.

  15. My son has a stocking that my girlfriend made for him when he was a baby, his first Christmas. It is also a cross stitch stocking and I hang it every year and fill it for him. He is 34 now so the little stocking has been around for many years.

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