My First Mantel: Spring Edition

When we first saw the house we are now living in, it was empty and dirty. It's an older house with lots of redeeming qualities like lots of windows, tall baseboards and plenty of character. Like the mantel. It's crooked. Lopsided. Wider on one end than the other. The fireplace it frames is not useable right now (chimney issues), but it's still fun to decorate a real mantel!

I used what I had, what hadn't found a home on the bookshelves or other places in the house.

*A window from our barn in Iowa.

*A star my husband made for our first married Christmas tree.

*Our family initial I painted on a piece of wood found in our old barn.

*Two original blue Ball jars filled with colored glass found in the garden at our old house.

*Two blue glass thing-a-ma-bobs I found here in the basement.

*A topiary I bought for my first house after college (1999!).

*A pretty vase filled with the reddest, biggest tulips I've ever seen! Picked on the property!

Don't worry, this isn't going to turn into a how-to-decorate-your-mantel blog. And I might not remember to update you the look evolves. It might not evolve much, truth be told. But it's still fun to decorate!

And Christmas? Can't wait!!!

 

PS: Who votes for whitewashing the brink? Still brick, not white, but lighter.