Simple Christmas Mantle 2015

Hello Bloggie Friends and Warmest of Holiday Wishes!  I'll bet you thought I fell off the face of the Earth, didn't you?  It has been WAY too long since we visited.  Let's jump right in, shall we? Christmas is always one of my favorite times around this old house.  I love pulling out all of the stops and making my Victorian sparkle.  One of my favorite areas to decorate, like many of you, is my mantle. Some years it gets a fancier treatment than others.  This year, I decided I didn't want to move everything off and make such a production of it, so I just changed up the books that I use as lifts and added some greenery and a sweet little snow angel and I have to say, I'm quit pleased with the look.

The books are old red and green ones that I gathered up from various bookshelves around my house.  I like to use old books for color and as risers for a variety of things, from vases to lamps to underneath cloches.  If you keep your eyes peeled, you can often pick up some pretty ones for a few dollars at estate sales, antique shops, and even garage sales, especially if you aren't too picky about condition.

I live in Colorado where it is decidedly non-humid, so real greenery is not a great option in the house unless you are into crispy greens, which they usually become in a day or two.  My trick to get the feel is to use some nice faux greenery and plop it into my pottery vases.  I add a small glass of water in there too and cut some evergreens from the yard or sometimes pick up a greenery bundle from Trader Joe's and put them in in the water.  This keeps the greens fresh enough to last for a while and since there aren't too many of them, they can be easily changed out if they need to be without totally having to disrupt the decor.

I hope you are having fun this week with your own decorating and I look forward to getting around and visiting some of you as time allows.

Until next time,



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