which came first...

Our mantel has been slightly altered for the season...

chickens

and eggs.

(The few that survived the decluttering frenzy of February!)

winter mantel

 With the orphaned wise men and a few straggling shepherds

packed away and labeled in a Charlie Brown popcorn tin,

 I fell back on a fowl display for our winter mantel.

 I'm not sure there's anything new here...

 probably only the placement of various birds has changed from prior displays.

 The predominance of white fits in quite nicely with 

our exterior scene these days!

Everything here was a thrift store purchase with (perhaps)

an occasional garage sale find thrown in.

Slowly, I'm moving into 2014.

the autumn un-mantel

 Time and circumstances prohibit me from giving the mantel the attention it deserves.

 My heart really isn't into it.

(And besides, I can't find the note telling me where I'm storing

the autumn decorations I so vigorously sorted out last year....)

 So, this is how it's going to be!

Two white pumpkins (the lidded one I made at a ceramic shop a few years ago),

the wooden fowl - already on the mantel,

 and a couple of tins from my collection sporting autumn color.

 This year I shall spend my free time looking at all YOUR beautiful mantels

and sign with envy...

a tiny tweek

 I've been putting it off, but it desperately needed to be done...

 so I removed a few things...

 added a a few...

and changed out the faux flowers.

I can't say it's "perfect",

but it will have to do.

~Our white mantel tweeked a tiny bit with thrifted finds~

<~candles, mantel, plaids~>

Inspired by an enjoyable Holiday House Walk yesterday,

this morning I lit a few of the red candles I'd grouped on a silver tray.

 Later in the day, I gathered some red and white items

 and arranged them on our mantel.

 I decided to place the small, white ceramic tree I made either last year

 or the year before that inside one of many creches I have.

 

Three plaid tins add a little more color and fill in the empty spaces...

All I need is a plaid lamp shade.....hmmmmmm.  

Maybe a wide ribbon tied around it?
Speaking of plaid...I'll be wearing this to a Christmas luncheon today.

I found the cummerbund at a thrift store recently (I always check out the belts).
I think it makes a festive statement with this jacket
with its OWN plaid binding.

happy halloween

 Awhile ago, my husband cut a large chalkboard we found

into several frame-sized pieces.

 We sold a few, but have two left.

 This is one of them.

 Today I thought of a way to use it!

 I'm already practicing drawing turkeys and Christmas trees!
Oh!  Lea suggested I draw a crackling fire!
Well, SURE!

Of course, if someone is interested in buying it,

I will reluctantly part with it 

and fill the artificial fireplace with some candles...

(Many of you know the mantel was found curbside! 

We're all about "free" here.)
Addendum:  SOLD.

There. That's Done!

Last year I got rid of a lot of excess "Halloween" decorations.

I stored everything left in one basket.

 I'm glad I did it.  It made decorating the mantel this year
SO much easier!

 One thing that was NOT in the basket was this box (below).

I found it while looking for the basket!

I have NO idea when/where I got it....

but it is PERFECT for holding the chalk I use

when changing the message on the chalk board that hangs next to the mantel! 

"95% PURE CHALK"

Oh.  You know how they say, "Step back.  Take a look and remove one thing"?

I removed the gold sheep that you can see

on the far right hand side in the top photo.

What WAS I thinking!
Then...I thought it best to move the basket to the outside...

The Final Draft

Pinterest and Me

Yes. I have a Pinterest account.
Basically, it is a picture file for me.
That's all I use it for.

Some of my fullest boards are White Ironstone,

...purchased today at My Favorite Thrift Store

Chalkboards, 

...this one's for you, Michelle (Mrs. Mobunny)

White Mantels, 

...ours, the way it looks today

 and Favorite Places and Spaces.   

If you go to this last one, you'll see that I DO like full (some would say CLuTTeREd) spaces!  

An occasional spare and bare image "calls" me for a moment, but not for long.

Oh, I just remembered Book Decor.  I'll come back for that another time!

Do you "Pinter"?

What are your larger/largest boards?

seasonally neutral

This is pretty much how our mantel looks today.  

I removed the February/Valentine stuff 

and rummaged around the house for March-ware.

"Seasonally neutral" was the theme of my quest.

 Seems a little too early for spring.

 If I put it out there NOW, 

 the days just seem to drag until it actually arrives.

The chalk is there for changing out the chalkboard which hangs left of the mantel.

Everything here was thrifted.

The portable fireplace whose mantel they deck
 was found complete and lying on a curb one day!