CHRISTMAS MANTEL

I feel woefully behind this Christmas. Usually by now the tree is near to overflowing with wrapped presents for the family. Currently, however, there are exactly five presents under there and I am at a complete loss on what to get for everyone. I also haven't sent out our Christmas cards even though we've had them for over a week. My goal today is to pick up stamps at some point so that I can get these in the mail. This said, I have decorated the house so it at least feels a bit like Christmas in here. Since we have a faux tree I like to bring fresh pine & cedar garland into the house to help it smell a bit like the holidays. A couple of weeks ago I bought a really pretty wreath and garland from Safeway. The wreath is still going strong on our front door, but our garland is DEAD. It's really quite sad because it looks kind of crunchy and woebegone sitting on our mantel.

Speaking of the mantel, I kept the feather & shell wreath on the mirror and added in some pinecones and a couple of other decorative elements I had sitting around the house. At Homegoods (or was it TJ Maxx) I picked up a cute little white ceramic reindeer that has joined our antique antelope. I actually think our mantel is quite pretty, if the greenery had just lived!

And yes, I still need to paint that very thin strip of wall between the built-in china cabinet and the fireplace. I thought about photoshopping it but decided that was too much effort. (I'm feeling very lazy this holiday season.) At some point this week I'll clean off the dining room table, put away the ladder, and post pictures of our tree. It's quite darling (if I do say so myself).

   






I didn't get a chance to link up in time, but for another huge collection of gorgeous mantel's head on over to Rhoda's Holiday Home post.