Yes, I realize it has been a week since New Years.....(as well as a week since I posted), so I'll claim both excuses as to why I am sharing a
New Years mantel.
I've included a bunch of pictures. I took all the pictures at night, so I tried so many different ways to show how pretty the mantel actually was. I took some with no flash, some with night time flash, some with only candle light, some with the side lights of the room on, some with the chandelier on......I tried everything. You will notice that as you (IF you) go through the pictures!!
Besides explaining the reason for the different "lights" in the pictures, just a little about the mantel: I gathered together a variety of golds, silvers and whites. Obviously I used glass Christmas ornaments....Only they are not glass. I bought four big packages of these ornaments. I think there were 12 or 16 large ornaments in each package. All packages had a variety of gold and silver in different textures. I bought these several years ago after Christmas....and I paid $1.24 per box. Really.
I bought the chenille garland at Nell Hills about five years ago. I wish I had bought more than one! Don't you hate that when you do that? Then it is too late to get more!
I bought the candles that look like damask at TJ Maxx several years ago. They are actually gold and creme colored. I paid very little for them, as they were on Maxx's clearance aisle.
My son Fielding and his wife Kelly gave me the Pottery Barn platter several years ago. I like it all year long and I LOVE it at New Years. I sat it on a crystal wreath (also left over from Christmas).
I threw in mercury glass candles and balls. I put in crystal and silver candle sticks. I used the bottoms to the glass "domes" my mother bought me for $2 each at a sale. I only used things I had. Not one item (besides the Pottery Barn platter) was even remotely expensive (yeah, since that was a gift!!)
Those little antique crystal "salt-cellars" were my great aunts. Aren't they cute?
The GOOD part of putting up mantels on the fireplace is that there is a great reflection from the huge mirror....Twice the candlelight!!
The DOWN side of putting up mantelscapes is that the mirror is huge! ha! It really is a little out-of-control-huge. I am the only one that feels that way in the family apparently.
I love the mix of silver, golds and cremes. I love the different textures. I love the mismatched collection. I love the irony that a bunch of cheapo stuff can look (kinda) elegant when grouped together.
I know this picture is blurry, but I loved how it looked, so I included it!
If you take the PB clock platter away, wouldn't his be a perfect mantelscape for a wedding or a reception?
I hope this mantelscape shows what a person can do with very little money. Even when cheap not-so-expensive things are used, you can make them look nice when grouped. Nothing was purchased for the mantelscape. Isn't that the best kind?
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