I mentioned in this post what I was up to lately and how I decorated the fireplace mantle.  You might have remembered what our mantel looked like shortly after we moved in.  You can see it here.  After Christmas was over, our mantel has been a catch-all for kids shoes, movies, remotes, and one Christmas item that we forgot to put away (how can we have missed that?!).

One day the kids were off at their grandparents house and Jeremiah and I went to the local antique store to look around.  We ended up coming home with this brass bird cage for … drumroll… $4.00!  I had the urge to spray paint it, but Jeremiah wanted it to be left exactly like it was (after a good soap/water bath).  This bird cage started the wheels to turn on how we should decorate the living room.  But, this fireplace mantel decoration post was not inspired by the bird cage.  Nope, it was inspired over the fact that I needed to clean out the boxes in our closet and to get something in this bare empty space no matter how ugly the items really are.

Most of these items were given to us, or me, I should say through out my life.  I mean it’s not like anyone is going to give Jeremiah a vase, fake leaves and candle holders!  The three tall brown candle holders are a set I was given for purchasing a bright vibrant red bed spread in my single days.  The brown case that is holding the remotes actually had hosted a tall flower (forgot the name of it) Jeremiah got me one year.  I killed it within a week.  Whoops.  They’re hard to keep alive anyways, I followed the directions to a T and it still died.  The jars are empty pickle jars and the frame I picked up in Georgia along the coast.  I was there for a church retreat.  And the fake leaves?  That was from my mother’s country-decorating days.

But, it didn’t seem right.  The mantel that is.  It was missing something.  Other than color and poorly selected objects (had to work with what I had), it needed the height.  So I added the two vases with flowers that were in our old house.

…but that still didn’t work for me.  Two hours later, I decided to add this framed mirror from the bottom of our closet.  This mirror use to sit on a mantle back in my single days and in the first house Jeremiah and I rented together (we only rented one house).  I also wanted to show-off the bird cage some more.

…and this is how it sits now.  With pickle jars full of paint chips and fake rose pedals via oh lala.  I’ve meant to take down the pickle jars and remove the brown wired candle holders, but I haven’t got to it yet.

Check us out.  Back when were freshly married.  So young, so skinny.  Before baking babies turned my body into a punching bag.

Anyway, here it is.  A before and after.  I really need to work on my photo taking skills.  Check out how slanted this fireplace is.

I haven’t got around to removing the pickle jars because I really want to finish Chloe’s and Emme’s room.  After that I want to finish our bedroom.  It’s on my agenda to get the rooms done first for the girls, and then ours.  My office is in our bedroom and I’m wishing everyday that I had a nice, simple, organized place to do business.