Christmas Mantel 2012
I can hardly believe that it's already December and time to start sharing our holiday decorating. But, alas, it's time...so here we go!
I'm sure it's of no surprise that my mantel is first on the list to be decorated and shared. It always feels like such a likely jumping off point. This year, I took a lot of inspiration from my research, which I shared in this post, to create a natural, casually elegant mantel.
The golden starburst mirror is such a standout feature, that I wanted to keep the rest of the mantel neutral and natural...no Santa or candles or what have you to distract from the mirror and the greenery.
But, a neutral and natural mantel still needs to be interesting. So I played with height, color tones and textures to keep the whole thing from seeming like one gigantic green blob.
5 trees of varying shapes and sizes, connected by a layer of faux green garland, create the foundation of the mantel. I'm a big believer in mixing your greens, both faux and real, as well as variety.
I've used white pine and cypress, magnolia leaves and boxwood stems. Both magnolia leaves and boxwood dry beautifully, so you don't have to worry about replacing them throughout the season.
Hidden amongst the stems are two of my birds (I've got a little bit of a bird obsession, in case you didn't know). Their tonal color works so well with the mirror that I just couldn't resist including them. The bird in the back is propped up on a wooden block so he can be seen too!
There you have it. My nature inspired Christmas mantel. Now, onto the rest of the house...
We're taking full advantage of all this mild weather here in Chicagoland to work on the outdoor decorations. I can't wait to get the outside of the house all festive looking.
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until next time,