My Other Mantel

Sherry, who writes the blog,  No Minimalist Here, invited me to participate in her Christmas Blog Hop.  I usually share my family room mantel, but for this holiday hop,  I'm featuring the faux mantel in my sun room.  

My Holiday Mantel

Have you noticed that for years silver seemed to be the metallic of choice for holiday decor?  

 This year I'm noticing that golds and especially copper are showing up for the holidays.

Chinoiserie Chairs with Copper Pillows

My copper demijohn left the foyer to be part of the mantel decor.  I draped it with a copper wreath and a garland of copper ribbon and beads.  It's next to a cloche filled with feather trees.

My French Demijohn

I placed preserved boxwood orbs on top of my houndstooth hurricanes.  To give them some height,

 I used some black and white books as risers.  I dangled some copper garlands too.  

 The Santos Angel traveled from the foyer to be on the mantel. 

 (The reflection in the mirror is my pull down classroom reference map that's on the opposite wall).

My MCM greek key mirror is always on the mantel.

Greek Key Mirror

I thought these chippy finials were just the right color.  

My chinoiserie faux bamboo chandelier is reflected in the mirror.

Gold Finials and Chinoiserie Chandelier

There's a third finial on the opposite side.  The mini sunburst mirror is actually an ornament.

Another Finial and a Sunburst Mirror

Santos Angel

I still have another mantel to share, my holiday tree, and some outside decor.

I hope you'll come back and see me again.

Kathy

Thank you Sherry for organizing this Hop.

Please visit all the participants for some great holiday decor ideas.

Click on the highlighted blog title and the link will take you to their blogs.

Enjoy.

Links to Participants
Please visit them all to see what fabulous holiday ideas they've shared.


Wednesday 12/10

No Minimalist Here

Uptown Acorn

The Vintage Nest

Dixie Delights

Thursday 12/11

Common Ground

Housepitality Designs

The Essence of Home

Northern Nesting

Friday 12/12

Miss Kopy Kat

21 Rosemary Lane

A Stroll Thru Life

Mirror Images

I've been noticing how interesting the reflections are in the mirrors in my home.  I decided to snap some mirror images.  If you're interested in which room is reflected, I've highlighted a link to the post within the text.
This modern geometric mirror is resting on my family room mantel.  Part of my chevron-backed bookcases is reflected there.

The convex sunburst mirror in my foyer gives a somewhat distorted image of my stairwell.

My shell map and my chinoiserie chandelier as well as my painted branches reflect in my greek key mirror on my mantel in my sunroom.

The next two reflections are from the mirror on my screened porch.  The first shows my ceiling tile art and one of my santos.

The second shows my wire orb and some iron candlesticks on the porch.

This next mirror is between my bookcases.

My pier mirror leans in the corner behind my sofa and my sofa table in my living room.
My bookcase and chandelier reflect into it.

This mirror is also in my living room.  It was actually a picture frame and I added a mirror to it.  Reflected in this ornate gilt frame are my iron pedestal spheres ,which I use as bookends, and framed black and white architectural prints.

My orange chinoiserie chandelier and a sneak peek of my wine poster appear in this mirror.

My stack of suitcases on my luggage rack and my chandy reflect in my decadent mirror
 in my powder room.

My driftwood, coral, and clam shell appear in my mirrored-top table.

That was fun.  I did realize though that I'm a little obsessed with sunburst mirrors.

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Florentine Boxes

Have you ever seen Florentine boxes?

Obviously made in Italy, they are wooden boxes, picture frames, or trays that are covered in gesso,

then covered in gilt.  They're really a nice glitzy holiday addition.

Many times they depict religious scenes, almost like icons.

Sometimes they have geometric designs like this.

.

Or, non-religious depictions like this.

They're very easily found on e-bay or Etsy and are very reasonably priced.








 I incorporated some of these boxes and pictures to create my holiday Florentine mantel.

Some mantel details.

What do you think?



Kathy

My Ever Changing Mantel

Yes, I'm changing something again.  If you don't know me well, things change here frequently. 

Sometimes they disappear and reappear later in a different room with a different purpose.  

And, sometimes, they just disappear.

We have a little game here.  Some of the game questions are:  Was that always hanging there?

Is that new?  Wasn't that in another room?  If it was in another room, where had it been?

Or, usually months after it happens--Where did_______  (fill in the blank) go?

Anyway, I'm hosting Thanksgiving and I was getting into a really turkey mood this week.

I decided that I needed to change up the mantel with some Fall decor. 

The family was definitely relieved that it was the mantel and not a major piece of furniture.

Here's my before mantel that most of you have already seen.

And, here's the after.

First, I removed everything but the Greek Key mirror.  It stayed because
it was way too heavy to move and I needed it to hold down the fabric I draped on the mantel.
The fabric was a Clarence House remnant  from my fabric stash that had the right look and color.
Next, I put up the vintage turkey platter and added two old prints of turkeys.
I  displayed my turkey salt and pepper shakers next to a finial that had been on a table in the upstairs hallway until it was needed here for its height and color.
Winding around the finial and the turkeys is an old silk belt.  I love the nailheads in it.

I took some turkey feathers from one of my loving cups and placed them in the turkey planter.
  I also took a cloche from a bookshelf in the family room, turned it upside down , filled it with some over-sized acorns that I was selling in the store last Fall, then gently flipped it back over onto the mantel.

The last item added was the wreath.  Last year it was on the front porch. 

Now it's suspended over the mirror.

What do you think?  What have you done for Fall decorating?

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Enjoy every minute of your family time.

Kathy