Christmas Mantelpiece - Simple - Elegant

On a dull, wet, Auckland Spring day I tried to get some photos of my Christmas mantelpiece.  I'm not so happy with the image results, still waiting for that elusive upgrade camera, "I know, ya..ya.. you have heard this before". However, yet another Christmas I have had to make do with my point and shoot, so please excuse the fact that I don't have a wide angle lens, and I had to work in poor light.  I am a perfectionist at heart and would rather wait until I have that perfect camera, but I realise, if I wait for perfection, my readers would too. I am thankful for photo enhancement to add some light to the images, although I may have over done it slightly.

I wanted this years mantel to reflect nature and elegance, and to include items of mine and my mothers. For nature, I chose Orchids, I adore them and they flower for such a long time, I knew they would see Christmas and New Year too. My pair of porcelain Cheetahs complimented the white orchids and their black pots and added to the symmetry.  I then  up cycled a vintage fruit salad glass that belonged to my mum. I had lots of old broken pearl necklaces of my mothers and placed these in the bottom of the glass, adding a simple white candle. I finished off with a delicate garland of tiny silver stars to swag across the mantel and voila!... Simple but definitely elegant, don't you think?

Poppy was totally miffed yet again at being dressed up, she is giving me her, "sad dog" look.

If you want to see my mantelpiece from last year, please visit "here" or if you still haven't planned your own mantelpiece and want more inspiration see my previous post "Christmas Mantelpiece Decorations".

Later this week I'll be sharing more images of my living room makeover decorated for Christmas and next week my Christmas tablescape which this year is a touch of "vintage". I'll  be using all the beautiful vintage items I have inherited from my mother to create a pretty vintage Christmas tablescape.

Last years tablescape of mauve and silver can be seen "here"

Have a wonderful week, start to plan your Christmas day meal now so you won't stress.  If you haven't thought about gifts yet, you might want to check out some of my  gift ideas "here", its still not too late to order on line.

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