CHRISTmas Countdown!

Today marks the 46th day until CHRISTmas!

So my holiday countdown is officially on!

I am spending the day packing away the pumpkins and harvest decor and making room for CHRISTmas cheer! I usually start my holiday decorating with the mantel in our family room. Last year I bought these two large metal ANGELS and displayed them on either side. The walls in my family room are a soft mossy green. I used a palette of gold, green, white and brown. It was so fresh and different from my usual red and green. I plan to use the same colors this year but want to change up the look a bit. I found this picture at bhg.com. I love the stars that are hung from clear fishing line to dangle above the mantel. The clear glass vessels make pretty showcases for bright red cranberries and white candles. I'm on the lookout for some stars like these. Anyone have an idea of where I might find them?

Here's another look that I am considering - much more formal but I already have several mercury glass CHRISTmas trees that I could display among a lush evergreen garland. I love the floral swag and red ribbon that are off to one side of the gold mirror. It would be easy to pull this look together with items I already have on hand.

Another project that is in the works is a tablescape that my friend Ann and I are doing for a ladies CHRISTmas Tea. Each year CALVARY Church in Charlotte hosts this wonderful event. We have the honor of designing a table this year. Ann moved to this area from NJ's coast and I moved here from FL's Gulf Coast. So without any reservation, we agreed that our tablescape would be a coastal theme. In the past I've seen all white coastal themed tables and aqua and white. I found this photo online and just fell in love with the coral colors and texture of this table. I don't know if we will recreate this look or go with cooler blues but the Tea is on December 5th so visit on the 7th and I will have pictures posted.

If all goes as planned I'm hosting Thanksgiving at my house this year. My brothers from WV and OH are planning to visit and with Mom and Dad here now, it will be a wonderful reunion of family. This will be the first Thanksgiving I've hosted at my house in many years. While we lived in Florida, we would go to my sister-in-law's in Seminole or we would travel back north to visit with family. Since we won't be together at CHRISTmas, I've decided to have my holiday decor in place so we can have our family tree lighting ceremony after Thanksgiving dinner.

I just love the holidays - faith, family and friends! I hope you will visit often over the next 46 days as I share our family's Colors of CHRISTmas!

Until I see you again,

Live Life Beautifully!

~Alisa

Magnificent Mantels

Anybody ready for Christmas again? No? Okay, this post is NOT about CHRISTmas but I did want to talk about MANTELS today. If you are fortunate to have a fireplace in your home surrounded by a lovely mantel, then you have been blessed with a perfect area to create a focal point within your room. Below is a picture of my family room mantle at Christmas this past year. As you can see I chose a very subdued color pallet of soft green, gold and ivory.
Usually, after taking down all the Christmas decor, the mantel is left pretty bare. I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do so I began looking for inspiration. I came across a website called InvitingHome.com and found a couple of examples.

This photo sort of worked as my inspiration although I varied my arrangement, which you will see further on in this post, somewhat. But I really loved the symmetrical feel of the three framed prints, two are hung on the wall above and the third is "leaning" or "resting" on the wall centered between the others while sitting on the mantel. Using the two vases of tulips to balance the ends and two smaller objects to fill in the dead space, the arrangement almost has an asymmetrical flow and I really like for the eye to be encouraged to roam over the entire vignette and see each individual piece while appreciating the whole. The soft wall color and neutral accessories make for a very restful and calming retreat. Even Fido looks peaceful!

Here is the same mantel accessorized differently. Here we truly have an asymmetrical grouping. But the rules of balance and scale are used with care and so there is comfortable rhythm to the mantelscape.

In my family room I do not have a raised hearth but in this picture you see an inviting stone hearth, raised to a comfortable height to sit and warm yourself by the fire. The top of the mantel is not shown clearly but from what I can see, a framed piece of art is all that adorns this example. However the earthen pottery, toss pillows and tall candlestick to the left really cozy up the space and make it a beautiful focal point in the room. Now, on to my winter mantelscape....

My fireplace is surrounded with wood work and molding painted a semi-gloss white. It naturally becomes the center of focus. Before the holidays I had the room repainted from a rich gold to a soft, muted pear green and had the framed art moved from another area in my home to hang above the mantel. Using the colors in the art as my pallet and the inspiration from the first example I shared, I began to pull accessories together to build the grouping.

Two tall boxwood topiaries frame out either side of the picture.

I wanted to pull out the yellowish-gold in the Cheetah print fur and play off of the heavy black and gold frame.

I had these plates on hand. They are part of a 6-plate collection. I use four of them in plate racks in the formal dining room so I decided to use the extra two on the mantel. The colors were perfect. I elevated the plate stand by using a couple of reference books in burgundy leather with gold embossing. The addition of the burgundy hue adds richness and depth to the color story. Beside the plate I placed an urn filled with bear grasses and Lilly of the Valley.

On the opposite side of the mantel, I placed a larger urn next to the boxwood and then placed the second plate beside the urn. I had to elevate the larger urn slightly to balance the plate on the opposite side. Next to the plate, I used a single scrolled bookend.

Using other accessories of similar color around the room helped to pull it all together. A black urn trimmed in gold holds an arrangement of gold, green, brown and ivory silk flowers.

A wooden bowl of green Anjou Pears reinforces the color scheme.

Some of you have asked for an update on the Power Room - I hope to have some pictures posted soon. Unfortunately my hubby came down with a cold and has not felt like playing "handyman" for me, so I hope to get him feeling better soon and complete the project. I can't hardly wait! Also, Kristen at http://kristenscreations.blogspot.com asked about the cheetah print hand towels. I was fortunate enough to find them at a Marshalls store. I have seen them since then at a TJMaxx so perhaps if you have a Marshalls or TJMaxx near you, you will come across them. On Monday I will be doing a special post called "Moneysaver Monday". I would like for as many of you as possible to comment and tell me how you are saving or going to save money in 2009. I also will announce my first ever "Give-a-Way" on Monday and yes, it will help you SAVE money!!!