Category: Uncategorized

I finished the ribbon chandelier that I wrote about here, and I’m pleased to say it only took me a week to work myself up to getting out the crafting supplies and only a couple of hours to put it together (including some brainstorming, trying different techniques, and running to the store for more ribbon).

I’m also happy that I got it done before the babe turned 1 month old. I really am on fire!! I delivered it to my friend this weekend and it truly was a hit. Now to get her hubs to hang it from the ceiling…

Here’s a quick pic of the finished product. It’s hanging from a light fixture in my house since I have no hooks in my ceilings or anything. They didn’t know the gender of the baby until SHE was born, so most of their stuff is green and yellow–which really isn’t a problem because both of those colors (or the combo of the 3) goes GREAT with pink. I added some dark brown because evidently babies love contrast as their vision develops. Go ahead and gaze away, Allie!!

After taking this pic, I realized that I needed to “finish” the ends of the ribbons, so I cut a quick V in each one–it looks so sweet. No after pic though. I’m really terrible at doing photos for this blog.

Having a fireplace mantel is a very intimidating prospect to me. It is the first thing one sees when walking through the front door, and it needs to have a “wow” factor. Unfortunately, since painting everything white in the living room and dining room (which I still think was the right thing to do) the eye is just met with a big, white, geometric monolith.

Right now I have it dressed up pretty fall-y. The large picture frame was in the hallway but I think it’s a good scale to lean up on the mantel. What do you think? the good news is that after Thanksgiving I can get creative with Christmas decorations. This buys me several months to come up with my mantel “master plan!”

Here is a blog post with a mantel roundup that I am using for inspiration…

My decision is that the mantel needs RED. Since the curtains are green and red the west side of the room really needs some major pops of color. I’m thinking about a red pom-pom garland (not joking, trust me it will look great) or finding some TALL candlesticks and spraypainting them. I’m talking like a foot or more tall, since with the arched celining I’m dealing with a LOT of white space. Also, I am pondering getting creative with bricks. What could be more fireplace-y than bricks, am I right?

Only time will tell. I feel like I’m saying that a lot lately.