Seaside Christmas in Pittsburgh

I’m not shy about it.  Pittsburgh is a lovely place, but it’s WAYYYYY too far from the ocean for my tastes.  This whole notion that a lake beach is just as good is nonsense.  And one of the biggest things that gets me homesick is the simple fact that I cannot on a whim get in my car and within an hour’s drive be munching on Mack and Manco pizza.  (Yes, they changed their name.  No, I refuse to adhere to it.  Pshh.)

But I digress.  All this ocean talk is because of the subtle theme we have here in our Christmas decorations.  Let’s take a look, shall we?

You may recall my quick and easy magazine trees from last week.  I whipped up a few more with some holiday catalogs and perched them atop some silver candle holders.

Then I layered in some dollar store cone trees and some silver deciduous trees that were from my Grandmother’s attic.  But to anchor it all I decided to take advantage of the Bill’s lighthouse and set that in the middle.  And suddenly, the simple teal and silver theme became a teal and seaside theme.  Christmas magic!

I quickly got to work looking for seashells to use around the apartment, and even hot glued some ribbon on a few to hang on the tree.

And even used some silver thread to hang a few starfish on the tree… and the beauty of using the thread is I can easily use them again in other decorations after Christmas.

Of course there were other ornaments on the tree, including a few of these AWESOME chevron glittered ones from Target, or this antique snowflake we found at the ReStore.

I didn’t get the chance to whip up a tree skirt, but the old quilted one added a little homeyness and still worked well with the garland we used.

In an effort to keep it real, this was going on while I was taking photos:

Yes, that is Bill RIGHT IN FRONT of the tv watching Sunday football.  To be fair, I did kick him off the couch and chair while I was taking the photos so there wasn’t really anywhere to go.  Rough life he has. 😉

And if you could tear your eyes away from the football game above, you’ll have noticed that the whole room got into the act.  This snowman is actually a candy holder my Mom made for us last year.  He’s holding down the fort in a new gray tray I scored on clearance at Target for $6!  In the tray with him is a book I had printed with the instagrams from our OBX trip this past summer.  Beachy and fun to look at and reminisce.

Across the room you have a rare glimpse of our [teeny tiny] tv.  We have big plans for this side of the room, including moving a bookshelf in and getting a matching tv console and upgrading the tv.

Of COURSE we have our Ampersand (first spotted in our Halloween decor post) layered behind two beautiful seeded glass votive holders (forgot to light the candles.  BAD BLOGGER!) I picked up at Anthro over a year ago.  And our awesome pirate keys that I picked up in a funky story in OBX.

On the right of the TV I featured the DIY Cloche you’ve likely read about here before, and continued the crystal look with the Pottery Barn candlestick I scored at Goodwill (the other is on the right with the Ampersand vignette).  The base of these candlesticks hold tiny silver Christmas balls as well as little seashells.  And of course I had to tuck a few shells under the baby-sized cloche in front.

In an effort to keep this entry from causing a finger cramp in your scrolling finger, I’m going to save how we decorated the photo ledges for Christmas tomorrow, as well as a few other corners of the apartment.

Come back and take a look for more Seaside Christmas in Pittsburgh!

~ Beth

Take a look at how we decorated for Thanksgiving here; or for Halloween here.

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