Finally a Christmas Mantel

Winter White..........

OK. My 'white' mantel also includes shades of silver and gold. I also threw some pinecones in for good measure. They do have white sap on them, does that count?

This mantel has been in the works for a couple of weeks. One thing was holding me up. I wanted some lengths of birch for one of my Waterford vases. Well, Gar brought me some great birch home last night and lo and behold, they were too heavy for the vase.  It was not to be.

Regardless, the mantl is done.  As I mentioned before, it's quite different from what I usually do and all in all, I am pleased with how it looks.

I put my crystal to work and counted it as 'white'. Hey, it's close enough.

Then searched around the house for any little things I had that were shades of white and would fit on our little mantle.  I even incorporated some of my vintage jewelry and decked out the crystal with it. Perhaps a tad over the top, but I decided not at the holidays.

This morning I crafted cream colored paper roses to put in the vase where I'd hoped the birch would go. On that note, I wedged the birch up under the mantel and love it there.  I also spray painted some branches white which came out very pretty.

So, here it is. Our Christmas mantel.

Keep in mind that our stove is a workhorse, so if there is any dirt, that's why.

Now, looking at the mantel head on, it seems like it might need a little height on the right side. What you can't see is the bookcase next to it that has plenty of height to balance both sides of the mantel out.

I'm happy with the way it turned out in the end, and it is a nice change.The crystal really looks pretty with light reflecting off of it. I'm not sure why I didn't think of this before.

Do you have a mantel that you decorate? Do you have a certain theme you always go with or do you change it up every year?

Have a great Tuesday, and for those already celebrating holidays- enjoy,

PS- excuse my mis-spelling of the mantel in the pictures ---whoops.