Sister's Choice Quilts

My interests are quilting, reading, cooking, family, decorating, and matters of style. I post regular quilting tutorials and book reviews of current fiction.

The Mantel

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This year I was excited to change up some of my holiday decor.  For the past umpteen years I have done pretty much the same thing on my mantel and I was getting tired of it.  I persuaded my husband to buy a gorgeous lighted and decorated garland from Balsam Hill during their pre-holiday sale.  It was still pricey even on sale, but I was so happy to have something new to work with.

You will not believe what happened.  Or maybe you will.  We received the garland and excitedly got it into position on the mantel, complete with little Command hooks to anchor it in place.  It was a pretty heavy, what with all the decorations and all.  The lights work by a little battery pack on the left-hand side that you can set to be on for up to five hours I believe.  Anyway, there was this plastic tag hanging off of the battery pack, which I wanted to be cut off, so we could tuck the pack out of sight.  I gave my husband a pair of scissors and instructed him to clip off the plastic tag.  And what do you suppose he did?

Yup.  He cut the wires to the lights.

There was quite a lot of "Oh no!" and "You did not just do that!" and "I cannot believe that just happened."  But it did.
So now we have a mantel garland that does not light up.

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Oh well, it's still pretty.  And I can string some fairy lights through it.  Aaarrrrggggghhhh.

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Here is a close up of one of my little vignettes on the hearth.  I have a Mary Englebreit Christmas book called "Believe" and my new little barn lantern/snow globe and my red QVC Luminara candles on one side.

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On the right, I have a faux arrangement of holly and poinsettias in a basket along with another red candle.  

I am pretty pleased with it after all.  The only downfall is that the mantel is completely full with the garland, so there isn't any room for my stocking holders.  I will figure out another place for them to hang, never fear.  I have these nice wrought iron ones that spell out NOEL, that I got at Pottery Barn a few years ago.  My kids drive me nuts by mixing up the letters so they spell out something else.  They know how to make me crazy.  This is what I mean, see below in last year's holiday picture.  You can also see how much better my mantel is this year!

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33 responses to “The Mantel”

  1. Your fireplace and mantel look so festive and the garland is gorgeous. I’m sure that cutting the wire was one of those moments when you’d like a “do over”, but the fairy lights will look great.

  2. Your fireplace and mantel look so festive and the garland is gorgeous. I’m sure that cutting the wire was one of those moments when you’d like a “do over”, but the fairy lights will look great.

  3. Your fireplace and mantel look so festive and the garland is gorgeous. I’m sure that cutting the wire was one of those moments when you’d like a “do over”, but the fairy lights will look great.

  4. ‘LEON’??? ‘LEON’????? I’m sitting here looking at pictures before I read trying to figure out whose initials those are! I got ‘Eva’ & ‘Nicole’ but WHO are ‘L’ & ‘O’???? I can totally understand how the lighting wire was accidentally cut!! Anyhow…your new decor is very pretty, lights or not!

  5. ‘LEON’??? ‘LEON’????? I’m sitting here looking at pictures before I read trying to figure out whose initials those are! I got ‘Eva’ & ‘Nicole’ but WHO are ‘L’ & ‘O’???? I can totally understand how the lighting wire was accidentally cut!! Anyhow…your new decor is very pretty, lights or not!

  6. ‘LEON’??? ‘LEON’????? I’m sitting here looking at pictures before I read trying to figure out whose initials those are! I got ‘Eva’ & ‘Nicole’ but WHO are ‘L’ & ‘O’???? I can totally understand how the lighting wire was accidentally cut!! Anyhow…your new decor is very pretty, lights or not!

  7. Pretty, pretty, pretty, really well done! Sorry about the wires. My boys would do the same thing with those letters, I can just see it!

  8. Pretty, pretty, pretty, really well done! Sorry about the wires. My boys would do the same thing with those letters, I can just see it!

  9. Pretty, pretty, pretty, really well done! Sorry about the wires. My boys would do the same thing with those letters, I can just see it!

  10. Check YouTube there are quite a few videos on repairing “cut’ Christmas tree lights… guess why I know to look.lol

  11. Check YouTube there are quite a few videos on repairing “cut’ Christmas tree lights… guess why I know to look.lol

  12. Check YouTube there are quite a few videos on repairing “cut’ Christmas tree lights… guess why I know to look.lol

  16. It’s a beautiful mantle! And I’m so sorry about the wrong cut…I think that’s something my husband would do! I would take a big chance and call the Balsam Hill people and tell them the truth. Who knows, maybe they might replace it in the Christmas Spirit? Or give you a discount on another?

  17. It’s a beautiful mantle! And I’m so sorry about the wrong cut…I think that’s something my husband would do! I would take a big chance and call the Balsam Hill people and tell them the truth. Who knows, maybe they might replace it in the Christmas Spirit? Or give you a discount on another?

  18. It’s a beautiful mantle! And I’m so sorry about the wrong cut…I think that’s something my husband would do! I would take a big chance and call the Balsam Hill people and tell them the truth. Who knows, maybe they might replace it in the Christmas Spirit? Or give you a discount on another?

  19. lol @ L.E.O.N. I like Sara’s sense of humor. Dang. I am sorry about the lights in the garland. That really is a bummer. 🙁
    I love your lantern with the barn. I don’t know where Sara found those but they are really lovely. I spent yesterday decorating our tree. Stockings are up but nothing else is done. ;p

  20. lol @ L.E.O.N. I like Sara’s sense of humor. Dang. I am sorry about the lights in the garland. That really is a bummer. 🙁
    I love your lantern with the barn. I don’t know where Sara found those but they are really lovely. I spent yesterday decorating our tree. Stockings are up but nothing else is done. ;p

  21. lol @ L.E.O.N. I like Sara’s sense of humor. Dang. I am sorry about the lights in the garland. That really is a bummer. 🙁
    I love your lantern with the barn. I don’t know where Sara found those but they are really lovely. I spent yesterday decorating our tree. Stockings are up but nothing else is done. ;p

  25. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. I can remember Kate telling Sara that if an ornament doesn’t hang right just trim the branches below it so it does. She got out a pair of garden snips and, you guessed it, cut right through the Christmas light Kate had just strung up on the tree.
    To Kate’s credit she didn’t kill her.
    Happy Leon to you!! Haha!

  26. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. I can remember Kate telling Sara that if an ornament doesn’t hang right just trim the branches below it so it does. She got out a pair of garden snips and, you guessed it, cut right through the Christmas light Kate had just strung up on the tree.
    To Kate’s credit she didn’t kill her.
    Happy Leon to you!! Haha!

  27. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. I can remember Kate telling Sara that if an ornament doesn’t hang right just trim the branches below it so it does. She got out a pair of garden snips and, you guessed it, cut right through the Christmas light Kate had just strung up on the tree.
    To Kate’s credit she didn’t kill her.
    Happy Leon to you!! Haha!

  28. I’m sorry about the garland. I think that is the sort of thing any of us can imagine happening to us. Now, about LEON, that’s so that Santa can read it in his rear view mirror, right? LOL!

  29. I’m sorry about the garland. I think that is the sort of thing any of us can imagine happening to us. Now, about LEON, that’s so that Santa can read it in his rear view mirror, right? LOL!

  30. I’m sorry about the garland. I think that is the sort of thing any of us can imagine happening to us. Now, about LEON, that’s so that Santa can read it in his rear view mirror, right? LOL!