Mantel

I had a fun time decorating the mantel this year. I let the kids have at the tree, so I sort of took the mantel on as my adult space. Not that the tree looks bad at all, I just wanted to primp my own space.

There are always pictures that I see of spaces where I love the design, but I've never been able to put things together in just the right way. So, I guess you could say I did some "research" by blog-hopping to find different ideas I could steal. And let me tell you I stole some ideas!

Then I "shopped" my house. There were very few things I found that I wanted, so I "shopped" my friend, Amy's, house! I was very pleased with the treasures I borrowed.

I did end up picking up some pine greenery and ribbon from Big Lots, but other than that, no money! When I got home, I cut sprigs from the berry bush that seemed to have magically appeared in our yard.

So, here's my mantel and fireplace finished, with a grand total of only $12 spent. Not too shabby. (Kenny will be pleased!)

I also must add that it looks more magical with the big light off and the glitter lights glowing behind as well as the tea lights in the jars...oh well...I've never admitted to being a photographer!

Mirror Redo

After Braden's room switcheroo, I moved his changing table to the entryway and took the top off so it doesn't look like a changing table. (I have yet to change out the knobs yet, but that will come in time.) Anyway, I've been looking for a mirror to put above it. My friend Amy found a treasure today at a garage sale for $5! It's hard to find big mirrors for so cheap, so I asked her to grab it up.

She warned me about the fruit, but it still took me a little off guard when I saw it. I'm not a fruit kind of gal...some people are, and I'm not dissing them, but it's just not me..especially in an entryway.

So...I started my wheels turning and paint a mixing. I had some aqua leftover from my dining room table and some yellow from my kitchen walls, so I mixed them together to make a softer aqua with a greenish tint. Then, I added some damaskish stencils to the corners in the light yellow, and finished it off with a light stain so it wouldn't look like it was freshly painted.

(Pre-Stain)

I am going to have to figure out how to reconfigure the entryway now because the accessories need to be changed out to fit the more contemporary feel. But for the time being...I'm pleased with the replacements of the fruit! (Who knows why this picture came out so teeny...)