Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Christmas Mantel: Stage One

One of the first things you notice when you walk into a living room or den is the fireplace and mantel. I love decorating our mantel for the four seasons, but my favorite season is Christmas.

For the past four Christmases, I have used the same accessories for the mantel — holly vines with berries, gold doves in the center, and birds scattered amongst the holly vines (you can click on the pictures to get a closer look, if you'd like).

This year, I'm going to do something different.

Yesterday, I bought a nice lush garland made from three different kinds of greenery, and rescued a pair of brass candlesticks from the attic, along with two large glass globes.


I was dismayed to see that the globes wouldn't fit in the candlesticks, but you know what they say about "where there's a will, there's a way" — I turned the candlesticks upside down and, voila! ... the globes fit securely in the bottom of them.

I want to get red candles to go in the candlesticks and a battery-operated string of clear lights to add to the garland — and that's as far as I've gotten on the basic look I want to achieve. I'm going to work on it some more today, and may end up just adding the old holly vines and birds.

Have you started decorating for Christmas yet? I'm going to be working on mine in stages and, hopefully, will have some pictures to share soon of my "new look" for the mantel this year.

5 comments:

LinWots said...

As always, warm lite in your pictures makes them very beautiful. And a really nice Christmas decor. Looking forward to seeing what will it look like this year.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful mantel Janie. I love how you improvised with the globes.

RachelD said...

Lovely as always, of course. Our decor is coming together, thanks to Caro's having an uninterrupted day off this week, with all of us distractions out of town.

She's festooned and swagged and decorated and strung and done all sorts of improvement to our indoor landscapes, in her own talented way.

I hung an ornament or two, admired all the beautifuls, remarked and exclaimed on seeing the old friends which emerge every year, a little more worn, a little less bright, but still HERE, which is what we all have to be thankful for.

And I just bought sixteen little battery-powered "tea lights" which look charming in the teensy trees on the living room dresser. Will wonders never cease.

nanny said...

Your mantel is very pretty. I think the greenery makes the colors in your picture stand out....
Now could you come decorate my mantel, please?

Deb said...

I always wait till after Dec 1st to start decorating...time to get started