THANKFUL GARLAND

 This year my sister had the idea of a thankful garland.  I’m going to pack this away and bring it out again next year so we can add to it and make some family memories and traditions.

What are your holiday family traditions?  Please share.

Holiday Mantel 2013

My mantel is my first holiday project this year.  Whenever I do change ups, I try to use what I already have.  Once you adopt this policy you'll find that so many of your decor works in different settings in different rooms. 

I have to confess that I did make one new purchase.  I seem to have formed a fascination for faux taxidermy.  I couldn't pass up this plaster ram.  I knew he would be perfect above the mantel wrapped in garland and a string of glass beads.

My Faux Ram's  Head Wrapped in Garland and Glass Beads

Here's how I pulled it all together.

  I've had this damask mantel scarf for a while.  It was a little small for this mantel but I made it work.

 It's red and gold and it directed the colors I pulled from the other rooms.

My Scalloped-Edge Mantel Scarf with Tassels.

You've seen this patent leather chair before.  I dressed it up with a pillow I borrowed from a dining room chair.  The pillow is made from an antique rug with some soft velvet in the center.

Vintage Patent Leather Chair and Persian Rug Pillow

The spheres rolled in from the foyer.  I tried to dress them up for the holiday, first with ribbon and then with some berries, but decided that they were perfect unadorned.

My Wonderful Wooden Spheres

I love this Mid Century Modern brass and nail head cube.  I had it for sale at The Design House, but it didn't sell.  I sometimes put a high price on items I really like.   If they sell, I'm happy parting with them, and if they don't, they're mine.  Yea.

MCM Brass Cube with Nail Head

I topped the cube with some books and stole the faux coral from the sun room mantel.

Zgallerie Faux Coral

These coral-inspired candle holders usually reside next to my clam shell
on my mirrored Chinoiserie table.  They were very happy with the change of scenery.

Coral Inspired Candle Holders

I always try to have an architectural fragment in my vignettes.  The plaster fragment is a bookend on one of my bookcases.  This one was very happy to be part of the holiday decor and anchor one end of the mantel.   I specifically shopped my house for something white in addition to the red and gold to tie in with the white ram.  White and plaster.  Perfect.

Scrolly Architectural Fragment

This matching fragment had to be satisfied to still be a bookend,
 but I did give it some different books to support and oriented it in a different direction.
The crown is an ornament that I use here and there throughout the house throughout the year.

Red Leather Books, Architectural Fragment, and Crown Ornament

You've seen my tangle of antlers in a jar before.  I just dropped some red ornaments into the jar
 and left them where they tumbled.

My Tangle of Antlers and Ornaments

Here's how it all came together.

My Holiday Mantel

My Family Room Mantel

What holiday decor job do you do first?

Kathy