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}
