I *Heart* My Mantel

I don't think I have a knack for decorating. Kind of like I don't have a knack for being originally 'creative' in general. My friends, I believe, would argue with me. But I pour over magazines and websites and walk through shops. And I copy. I subscribe to the CASE philosophy from my days of stamping - Copy And Share Everything!

With that in mind, I started into my magazine stacks of Country Living, Martha Stewart, etc. etc., looking for something unique, catchy, striking, yada yada, for my mantel to change up the barn star look. After weeks of pouring and pondering and being too lazy to cut and scrap and be dissatisfied, I returned to the shops and bought vs. make; and here's what I came up with :

I am particularly fond of the silhouettes - each of my little sweeties, captured in time (I did make these!!!). Perhaps the best part? Spray painted frames from Dollar Tree = $1 + change! Yay!

Tomorrow I am attending a papercrafting class at my favorite scrap store - my first time to take a class for myself in three years! WooHoo! It's a witch's hat --- and Monday I return to make a haunted house! I am thrilled! I'll show pictures when I return and add them to those little blank spots along the fireplace (I have a VERY oddly shaped mantel - if only The Nester could help me!)

In the meantime, if you decide to try silhouettes, let me assure you - you do not want to have your kids sit in front of a blank sheet of paper and a bright light while you try to draw an accurate pencil line around their chiseled shadowy noses. No, no, no. No. Instead, stand them in front of your garage door facing the wall, photograph your subject's profile, print the picture, then shrink and copy it on your printer in black and white. TaDa! I cut that image out, traced it on black cardstock and cut it out again. I know there are other instructions on-line. This worked for me. WAAAaay better than the giant, glaring, HOT shop light I aimed towards their heads while they fidgeted and cringed and eventually wailed, kicked, and melted down in the heat of the moment. Wait a minute. I was talking about them. Not me. (oops.)

For a little diversity, next year, I am SO gonna silhouette this one of Baby S!