My Christmas Mantel 2012

why oh why

is the word

mantel

spelled like it is?

it never looks quite right to me

but maybe i'm just weird like that

however

i'm sure

you didn't come here

to discuss spelling with me

so let's talk

m a n t e l s

do you have one?

in our house

there are five

but since three of them

are upstairs

i usually only primp my living room

and dining room fireplaces

today

i'm sharing my living room mantel with you

in all it's dark marble glory

i call it black marble

but actually

i think it's better described as

blackish-brown

and because it's so dark

it virtually absorbs most types of garland

so this year

i decided to try adding some sparkle

to juxtapose against the marble

and since i didn't have a big budget

or any budget, really

i went outside and scavenged

for things like

for an abandoned birds' nest

sticks

evergreen boughs

and pine cones

well

technically

my darling husband

pulled out the extension ladder and chainsaw

to get me some coveted pine cones

that were really high up

he's the bomb diggity

the silver Christmas trees

were a clearance buy at Walmart one year

after the holidays

the champagne bucket

was bought at Goodwill a few months ago

for about $5

i found the burlap garland

at Michael's for $6

and have used it for a couple of things

and i am really pleased

with the way

everything works together

to create a sort of

rustic-natural-vintage-sparkly look

have you primped your mantel yet?

{alison}