ye ol' mantle

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Well I'm off the couch.  I even did a little laundry and attempted to pick up the house.  I finished decorating the mantle and that made me feel very accomplished.  After that I was exhausted so I sat back down and drank a soda and ate a chocolate.

But I'm up! I'm fighting! I will conquer this holiday season!

My theme for the mantle this year was vintage ice skating.  I actually ordered some old ice skates from a seller on Ebay but he lost them, so he couldn't send them.  Weirdo.

Anywho, I also bought some old photos on Ebay for this project.  I can't tell you how I wish these were actually my relatives but I am not heir to any great ice skating pictures of my ancestors.  So they are strangers, but I love them all the same.

I took my favorite photo and photocopied it really large to make my focal piece.  Then I glittered it all up, because, please, glitter makes everything just a little more festive.

The other photos I used to make a simple bunting.  I was tempted to get fancy with it, but I already have some much going on that I decided to keep it simple.

Aren't the photos the most charming thing you've ever seen? I mean look at that baby learning to skate. I die.

It was simply a Christmas miracle that I found this old school banner that says "Merry Christmas" in twenty different languages.  It's handmade and exactly the length of my dining room table.

Obviously it was put in my path for a reason. I mean, I can barely ever find runners long enough for my table. And then this little gem comes along.

It's really starting to come together around here.  Now to the shopping and the baking and the cards and the parties and...

You get the idea.

it was a dark and stormy day...

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The day I worked on decorating my mantle the wind was blowing, the sky was dark and the rain was coming down in sheets.  It was the perfect day for spookifying your house.  

I made myself a hot cup of apple cider and went to work.

My theme this year is "The Raven" by Edgar Allen Poe.

You may remember my "Thom Pixie" from several years back. I simply took a photo of my son as a baby, photocopied it onto card stock and turned him into a pixie.

The wreath was made by rolling book pages and hot gluing them together. I drew a silhouette of a raven on coffee stained paper for the center.

I love the way these Victorian collars turned out for the candle holders.  They were also made using book paper. I stamped out scalloped circles, folded them over the end of a pencil to create little cups and glued them tightly together on a form.

The rats are from the Martha Stewart collection. The glittery spiders that I absolutely love are from Z Gallery.  Sparkly pumpkins and skulls are available at Target. I bought the banner download from House of 3.

I used an entire book to create this mantle. My apologies to the author, but I tired to get into your book. It just sucked.  Better luck next time.

Edgar Allen Poe

The Raven

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,

Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,

While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,

As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.

`'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door -

Only this, and nothing more.