My ‘winter’ mantle

After all my babies left the nest I started focusing a little more on decorating our house.  Its never really been a priority for me; while I don’t particularly care for blank walls I didn’t have this overwhelming need to fill them right away…I still have some rooms with nothing on the walls(we have lived in our house for 14 years!!!).  It mostly stems from not knowing how to put things together and my lack of confidence when it comes to doing things.  A friend of mine helped me with my dining room wall(which I’ll show another time) and EVERY TIME I pass by it I LOVE IT!!!  However, every time I pass something that I have done I find myself picking it apart ARGHHHHH!!!  Oh well…I digress…back to the original reason for my post….I decided yesterday that I wanted Christmas GONE!!!  I was done..over it, so in the early morning while Mr. LOML(love of my life) was sleeping I went around the house retrieving decorations and placing them on the dining room table..when he woke up he said ‘you’ve been busy‘..so we proceeded to take down everything and he placed it all neat and tidy in the garage rafters.  Its so nice after all these years to have enough plastic containers and everything has a place..thanks only to Mr. LOML…cause he’s just that kind of guy!!  Geez will I ever get to the real reason of this post?  Okay..winter mantle..one more thing…I change my mantle, buffet and dining room table with the season or holiday(I,e, winter, balemtimes, spring, summer, fall, Halloween, back to a fall look for Thanksgiving and then Christmas)..I got this idea from my VERY good friend and I have loved doing it ever since!!

The mantle:  The candle sticks are from Ikea, the garland is from Michaels(a couple of years ago)..I wove a 50 light strand through it.  The candles are from Walmart(they are glittered if you can’t see)..I first covered them in ModgePodge(I can’t live without this stuff) and then sprinkled them with a fine sparkly glitter(I don’t recall which one). The glass apothecary jar is from SavonCrafts its filled with glittered pinecones.  The wreath was made by Mr. LOML from tree clippings our neighbors gave us. Did you know that Command Hooks stick to bricks?  (I think every household should have a few different kinds…they are great!)   The silver glittered accent were bought from Walmart last year-I just cut them off of the picks and stuck them in.

The Buffet: I really struggled with this.  I tried all kinds of combinations and ended up with this simple arrangement.  I had Mr. LOML  take apart a wreath Mr. FSIL(fabulous son-in-law)had made and turned into a --, I bought the ribbon from Walmart and with the assistance of my Bowdabra(I cannot make a bow for nothing…this thing is amazing) I made a beautiful bow and then hung it on the mirror with the help of a…of course a Command Hook!

I know…there is nothing under the cloche…I have a beautiful frosted magnolia but it wouldn’t fit…so I’m off to find SOMETHING that I like.

Dining room table…super simple as well, just a faux mercury glass cake stand I bought at a Williams Sonoma outlet last year, a wreath with more of the silver accents and a bow(don’t ya just love the fact that the candle isn’t centered?).

So…long post…I’m much too wordy…I will find my groove eventually!! 

Thank you to my FD for taking the pics!!

Maryanne