For as long as I could remember, the extent of my holiday decorating for the year exclusively featured a decorated Christmas tree and maybe a few pumpkins. Without family to host for the holidays and being without kids, it seemed like more work than it was worth. It wasn’t until I moved back to my hometown with an observant toddler in tow that I thought it was time to put some effort into decorating for each season. My first area to tackle? The beautiful original living room mantle. But first, a little backstory. When we moved back to Buffalo in March of 2018, we landed in a 1950 Cape Cod with the unique quality of being a tri-story. There are original hardwood floors throughout and gorgeous built-in cabinets that I love filling with my thrift store finds. As I delved into mantle decor I realized just how easy it is to adjust for each holiday — and also that my family was always eager to get on board to help! This Valentine’s Day we made some slight changes that made the world of difference, adding in 2 easy DIY projects that were fit for the men in my family to […]