Deck the Halls - The Mantel

    Welcome paper lovers. No paper projects today, I have been busy decking the halls. If you are not yet in the holiday mood, prepare yourself for some major holly jolly! Today's post features...drum roll please.......my fireplace mantel!!! Ta Da!! I should say my new fireplace mantel. This past fall my husband cheerfully : ) built a new 10" deep fireplace mantel to replace the old 5" deep mantel. I of course felt obligated to fill it up Christmas decor!!!

    The above photos were taken at night and the photos below are some daylight shots.

 Close ups of the many Christmas goodies filling up the mantel.

Click on pictures to enlarge

  Below is a photo of the frame I painted for our old mirror. I saw a mirror on Pinterest that inspired me to finally go for it. We had the (frameless) mirror for decades hanging above the fireplace. For years I have wanted to frame it. So when we did the mantel we knew we had to update the mirror too! We picked up some boards at Home Depot, came home and built the frame. I whitewashed the frame, let it dry and then stained it with an oak stain. Let the stain dry and then I sanded the boards to rough them up a bit. I then stenciled the diamonds on it and sanded it one more time. I put a matte sealer on it to finish it off. I love the way it turned out! Let me know what you think of it.

  Below is a picture of our Christmas tree. I an always working on getting a good shot of the Christmas tree. Photographing in low light is a struggle for me, but here is my best shot of the tree so far this year.

  My absolute favorite decorating item this year is glittery mesh. I have been using it everywhere.  The mantel, wreaths and outside in my window box. The possibilities are endless! 

  Just want to give a shameless plug to RealDealsReno, their beautiful store displays inspired my mantel this year. If you live in the area check out this store they have great home decor deals!

  Thank you so much for stopping by, I have some more Christmas decorations I plan to post over the next few days, so please check back.

Have a great day!   Lori