Christmas Mantel

I just finished decorating my mantel for Christmas and thought I'd share it. 

Mercury glass candles ... I didn't have the easiest time finding mercury glass this year so this was a challenge to pull together.



I picked up this print of Notre Dame in Paris.  They have these all over for tourists (like me) who like worthless things that are probably made in China.  I love anyway.  Love my glittery birds too.  

Tree number two ...

I'm thinking about doing three trees next year and moving my new white tree to my dining room.  I think it would make the house look magical.  Just don't tell my husband.  He isn't always as enthusiastic about my brilliant ideas as I am.  

Linking to the Mantel Party on The Lettered Cottage.
P.S.  Sorry the pics aren't so sharp.  Black hole basement + non-fancy-pants camera + lack of photography skills = not so hot pictures.

A dark hole no more ...

So, my fireplace screen dried overnight and I put it back in place this morning.


What a diffrence to how it looked before ...


and an even bigger difference compared to the dark wall I started out with a year ago!

Lighting up the Fireplace

With record-breaking temperatures in the area, I'm not actually lighting a fire in my fireplace, but I'm endlessly working on making it brighter and less of a black hole. The screen in front of the fireplace was an attept to keep little hands away from the stove insert. Fail. We ended up having to put a gate across the entire wall but we recently removed it. I'm painting the screen today.

With warmer temperatures, I added the lantern, a vase of shells, the starfish and a frame that happened to have a lighthouse in it. I'm hoping to have my own beach photo in there this summer. Because its so warm, the paint on the screen won't be dry today. I'll share it tomorrow.

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas ...

My pumpkin display ...

... has given way to this ...

I bought this little tree for next to nothing after Christmas last year. I was fed up with my kids pulling ornaments and needles off of our large tree and vowed to have only this tree this year. I didn't put the base on and I put it in this pot that I was using outside for Halloween. We aren't celebrating Thanksgiving at home, so I have no problem getting an early start on Christmas since we will most definitely be awaiting Santa's arrival at home.

So, a year later, I still want the big tree. We will probably get one. And, after chasing down little people with ornaments in hand for a few weeks, I will probably regret it but I suppose these things are all a part of having kids ... and celebrating holidays and family.

Fireplace

I just had to share this. This is the fireplace in our basement when we first moved in. The picture makes it look bright down there, but the reality is that its dark and dreary. There's an insert in it that we can't replace at the moment. Its the dirty little secret in my house. Maybe its not that bad, but its bothered me for the last 5 years and I have never been able to figure out where to start with this.



One of my first blog posts was about my decision to whitewash it. I know a lot of people are anti-painted brick and I typically cringe at painted brick myself but in this case since its in the basement, the red brick did nothing to brighten things up. Other than a complete overhaul (and money I don't want to spend right now) I don't see another solution to brightening it up. Lightly brushing it with paint helped and wouldn't be a drastic change since the bricks appeared recycled anyway. Maybe someday I'll reface it but its not in the plan right now. (Don't mind the temporary gate and toy mess. Kids. Also, the strange bricks on the upper left corner? Not bricks. A faux panel that hides our electrical box!)



Now, I did think this helped some, but I still needed a lot more help. I asked for suggestions on a message board a couple of days ago and someone did this for me on Polyvore!

nestie living room by starlight and moonbeams on Polyvore.com

HUGE improvement, right??? The funny thing is that just a few months ago, I looked at a mantle just like that at a flea market, but when we measured, it was too small. Now, I'm going to be on a major hunt for a mantle!

I must be computer illiterate because I have never been able to figure out Polyvore. I'm so grateful for the help. Anyway, to everyone who offered help and especially the person that did this for me, a million thank-yous!