Is It Wrong to Decorate with Beer Bottles?

Decorating with beer bottles really is a win-win situation.  Hubby is happy to drink the contents and then I soak off the label and put some pussy willows in the empty bottles for the mantel.  

Aren't the bottles lovely with the St. Peter's Brewery seal pressed into them.

I love watching pussy willows emerge in the spring.  They seemed just the thing to put out on our mantel right now.

Linked to Countdown to Spring Party at Domestically Speaking
and Metamorphasis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch
and Spring Mantel Party at Women Who Do it All

Heart Bunting on our Valentine's Day Mantel

I usually don't change the decoratations on our mantel very often, but I rose to the challenge this year and decided to decorate for Valentine's Day.  After all, not only is it Valentine's Day, but it is our 30th Wedding Anniversary on February 14th so it seemed like the perfect time to do a little something special.

Right beside the fireplace is a brown and gold sofa that just doesn't look very good with red and pink so I thought I'd be creative and decorate with cream and blue.  I decided I wanted  the mantel to have something a bit sentimental after all it is a celebration of love; something with hearts only they couldn't be red or pink; and I wanted to use things from around the house.

 

 My first inspiration was to use books that represented something everyone in the family is interested in.  The fireplace is in our family room and has an entire wall of windows so it is quite sunny which means that I didn't want to put any of our good books on the mantel.  So I stuck to using paperbacks that nobody would mind if they got a bit faded in the sun.  There were fossil and English literature books for the hubster, books by C. S. Lewis and Tolkien for Malcolm, for Kate books about New York City and Harry Potter (notice how the spine is upside down - that's how they print books in France), an Eastern philosopy book for William, and a book on Bangladesh for me.  I tied them all with a jute twine and put a couple of heart-shaped rocks on top.

I thought our tea cups would look pretty across the middle of the mantel - a sweet combination of delicate flowers and gold trim and a reminder of a relaxing cup of tea.  The tea cups were bought by my mother shortly after they were married over 55 years ago.  My parents no longer used them so they passed six on to us and we use them when we play bridge.   I think they are all so pretty that I can never decide which tea cup is my favourite.

I've been a bit obsessed with how cute those mini-bunting flags look strung across cakes that I see all over blogland and decided I wanted to try my hand at making a Valentine's Day one.  Now there are some people in the family who don't like my bunting, but then again long-haired 16-year old guys aren't usually the ones you poll for opinions on your Valentine's Day crafts.

To make the bunting I cut heart-shapes out of some drop-cloth material and then taped them all side-by-side so I could sew them together without them moving around.  I sewed a little closer to the top of the hearts than the bottom so that gravity would hold them upright and I used the bottom edge of the masking tape as my guide for sewing.  I also made sure I left long threads on both ends so that I had enough to tie it to the sticks.  When they were sewn together, I removed the tape, tied the bunting to the bbq skewers, and put a dab of glue to hold it in place.

I had some serious issues getting them to stay up-right in the tea cup and I'm sure there were better solutions than the one I found, but here is what I did.  I used a lump of sticky tack at the bottom of the cup with the skewer stuck into it, then put some rocks over top and then covered them with white pea beans.  It was an efficient, but not necessarily elegant solution.

 
On the right-hand side of the mantel I put a chocolate-coloured Valentine's Day subway art that I got free from Today's Fabulous Finds.  They are available in ten different colours and are yours free for the printing - thanks Janet!   I chose the brown one so it would balance the weight of the books on the other end of the mantel and would coordinate with the sofa.

I put our last tea cup on this side, because I wanted an uneven number across the centre and this one is brighter than all the other ones. 

 
Since the tea cup was turquoise, I wanted to have two more aqua blue accents so added my new mason jar and a Tiffany box.  Aren't those bubbles in the mason jar too much - I love them.

Don't think I'm too silly, but I still haven't opened my present from Tiffany's that I got for Christmas.  I didn't want to ruin the bow so I'm waiting to open it for my birthday which is just before Valentine's Day - I know I'm strange.  What can I say?  It seemed appropriate to include the Tiffany box since the Valentine's Day mantel is about love and family and this was bought for me by Kate and hubby in New York City just before Christmas.

The sun was shining brightly this morning and I just kept clicking photos as it moved across the mantel.  A lovely way to spend a chilly morning.

And one last view of the whole mantel.

Linked to DIY Project Parade at The DIY Show Off,
Project Party Weekend at Bubbly Nature Creations
Valentine's Mantel Linky party at The Stories of A to Z 
Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch
Strut Your Stuff Valentine's at Somewhat Simple
The Valentine's Party at The Holiday Haven

Our Christmas Mantel

I was on a roll once I made the twine letters to spell the word JOY and just had to decorate the mantel for Christmas.  

I went for a simple paired-back look to match the simplicity of the twine letters.  Here's how it looks,

and how it used to look just last week and for all the past weeks of the year.

We took down the etching and put up the pinecone wreath.  In past years we've had a red plaid ribbon on the wreath, but it never went very well with the browns and golds of the sofa that is nearby so this year I switched out the bow for a new one.

I made these twine letters recently which you can read about here.

I put the spindle Santas on the mantel.  I know some of you have asked about how and why I bought them and I've just written the post.  Come back tomorrow for details.

The only thing I haven't added yet are the stockings.  It seemed a bit early to get them out (not to mention I'm not sure what box they are in).  Here's a photo of them from last year, so you'll just have to imagine them hung by the fire with care.

We still have a lot more Christmas decorating to do, which is a little bit daunting and a whole lot of fun.

Linked to Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch
A Bavarian Christmas at Doberman's by the Sea
Holiday Home Linky Party at The Lettered Cottage 
Countdown to Christmas Party at Domestically Speaking

Last Year's Christmas Mantel

Last Christmas was just before I started blogging, so I didn't take too many photos of our mantel but here is the basic look:

We hung the stockings that I made for each of us, put out our spindle Santas, along with the little wooden Santa, some pine cones and a few Christmas balls.  I've been planning on telling you about the spindle Santas and the stockings in a separate post, especially since I need to make a new stocking for my son's fiance, Christie, who will be joining us for Christmas this year.

I did manage to get a slightly closer photo of the sweet little wooden Santa (in the photo below) that my friend Kim gave him to on my 50th birthday.  She said that I had given her some of her favourite Christmas decorations, while she had never given me any and she wanted to change that.  Along with the wooden Santa, she also gave me one of my favourite Christmas CDs and a lovely nativity book all done in silhouette - they are now some of my most treasured Christmas items. 

When I looked in my photo folder marked Christmas 2009 there was also this next photo of the mantel taken after I had taken the Christmas decorations down.

The funny thing is I didn't change one single thing on the mantel. all. year. long!   Seems to me I need to make a change-up-my-mantel New Year's resolution.

Linked to Last Year's Christmas Mantel Party at The Stories of A to Z
Sentimental Sunday at Sit Relax and Read