feeling senti-mantle

One of the things I love about our nest is the fireplace.  Granted, we've never used it for an actual fire but I love decorating it for the different seasons. What's awesome is that the Man can have his wall-of-entertainment-and-electronics and I have my wall of girlish-seasonal-goodness.  I think the two work together well, I can decorate until my hearts content and we can still pile up on the couch and see the television comfortably.  Plus with the odd shape of our living room, I can't imagine configuring the furniture any other way (the Man will vouch that I've tried.)

Nonetheless, decorating the mantle for me is a little bit of an obsession. I thought I'd share a peek into my obsessive mind-- our mantle over the last four months-- or, since we got the house put back together post-kitchen-renovation.  I've always wanted a large mirror for that space, but in the meantime-- a cork board and two smaller mirrors will do.  I think they make a nice foundation for smaller decorations.

 For November, I used a grapevine wreath from a yard sale, a few fabric leaves and pumpkins, and a sweet harvest angel that the Man's Aunt gave us.  I added in my Willow tree couple, and the floral pumpkin made by the Man's Mom and the Sister perched on a plant stand just barely out of the cat's reach.

In December, it was all about anything red, green, sparkly and ballsy...wait..that's not right. I really like Christmas balls..lots of them... wait, that sounds even worse. Oh just look at the picture:

For January, I was kind of lost.  I didn't quite want to jump into a Valentine's explosion of hearts and sweetness and love...

so I went with an icy, sparkly, shimmery style.  I took away most of the color and added in a lot of silvery touches.  The wreath is one I found at a yard sale for $5 and initially used it for the front door.  The Man vetoed it this year because it is pretty spiky and almost "took his eye out."  Thankfully our new wreath for the door is much more Man-friendly.

Last year, for much of January and February I inundated the mantle with anything heart-shaped, red, or pink I could find-- with my penchant for pink, it was a LOT!  This year I tried to simplify while still keeping in tune with a lovey-dovey feeling. I've noticed there are some elements on my mantle that I love so much, I want to keep them up year-round (like my cream Smith & Hawken pillar stands, clear glass vases, and the often present wood rose tree.)

I decided to put a few sentimental things center stage and also put some of my crafty goodness on display. I'm really happy with the way it's turned out and get a little sappy every time I walk past, but that's what the month of luuuuu-ve is all about, right?