Saturday, November 29, 2014

Crafted - our Christmas Mantle!!

I am so thankful for a crafty husband!!!  We admired and talked about the vintage cardboard fireplace kits..

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How could we get ourselves one of those - well, when the husband is crafty, all is not lost, we now have our own vintage style fireplace!


I am so excited to share this - he did a beautiful job on it and it looks so great surrounded with vintage Christmas!!!  He made it to fit perfectly around our little display shelf.


It took him about a week to complete it, I can tell you it was a very stressful project, at one time he was about ready to give up, he just couldn't get the facade figured out.  He started with cardboard boxes but that was quickly changed - it's constructed with a light metal/wood frame covered with thin wood panelling.  His first idea for the facade was brick wrapping paper - but two things going against that, it's too flimsy and you can't find that paper anymore!!  His next idea was brick design panelling - no good either - too expensive!  His next idea was with stencils made first from wood, then cardboard with spray paint  on the panel but that was no good at all - it looked terrible with the paint getting under the stencils.  This is about where he thought his great idea was all for nothing - he wondered how he had got himself into this mess!!  Finally, his brainwave was to use painters tape and after a couple of coats of white background, laid out the entire brick pattern by hand and then 2-3 coats of red brick paint - removed the tape and we had a fireplace!  We were amazed, it looked so good!!  It's totally modular so it can easily be disassembled and stored until next year.  He mounted two low wattage lights in the mantle section to give a great effect of the display case below.  His only regret is that he didn't make one for our children when Santa needed to get down that chimney, but we'll have this forever, so hopefully, some grandchildren will get the thrill of waiting for Santa to arrive from this magical fireplace!!


I just love the way these things look on top  - here they are from left to right!


I am so happy to finally have a real Shiny Brites box!!



We bought this big Santa blow mold at a yard sale this summer, we plugged it in, poor Santa looked like a monster, he had been painted over, he was so creepy.  He won't ever be plugged in but he looks great here!  This old truck belonged to Dad, this is my first year for that, I love it!!


The knee hugger music box tree is probably my favourite thrifted item from last year, who cares that the music box doesn't work!  I put some little red lights on it this year which adds some nice Christmas red.  This year I have a real box of Gurley candles too - which I have been wanting for a while too.  Isn't there always something we need to add to our collection?


I just put up my little memory tree this morning, it is all decorations that belonged to my mother and grandmother.  The corner shelf is all vintage as well.  I used to have all primitive type decorations, I've switched everything over to red and green - I like this so much better!


I think I'm way ahead on decorating, it must be because of the all the early snow we've had - Christmas is coming!!  I took this on Thursday, the trees have been laden with snow all week!











22 comments:

  1. This looks amazing!! Can we put in our order? :) Thanks for the inspiration!!! So glad we found you!

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  2. Wow! Gary did an awesome job on that fireplace!! All your vintage Christmas items look great on it!!

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  3. Love your fire place!! That is so neat and is perfectly built around your cabinet!! Your handy hubby did do a wonderful job! Love all your sweet vintage decorations on and around it too! Such a beautiful snow picture! We've had snow a couple times and then melted, I'm excited for it just to stay and look pretty! :) Wishing you a lovely weekend! xo Holly

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  4. Jill, you should Google & see if there are instructions on how to fix your music box! I did a quick search & there was a Youtube vid (on data, not gonna watch it).

    Your Christmas set up looks great (so far?). I think I may have found some Gurley's. They were in a grab bag with some 1980s ornaments. Not sure though. Gonna post on thd blog tonight.

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  5. Amazing! The fireplace looks great! Love the way you decorated it too. You're waaaaay ahead of me. I still have Thanksgiving decor out.

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  6. That turned out great! What an awesome job your hubby did! Reminds me of the cardboard fireplace we had while growing up. I like the memory tree idea, That last picture is so pretty, but it looks like a mid-January scene.

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  7. I read your post and then went right back up to the top to look at that fireplace again! WOW! He did a fabulous job...it looks better than the real thing! I love the bright red bricks and it's a perfect size. Fun to see your vintage decorations...so many of the things I have collected, too! Give that man a bunch of hugs for all of us! And take more pics! Hugs, Diane

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  8. Wow, what an AWESOME job your
    husband did.We had one of these
    in our basement play area when I
    was little.
    The snow picture is beautiful, I
    thought it was a card.

    M : )

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  9. Love it Jill, your DH did a great job, and he deserves extra praise for keeping on trying more methods when something didn't work. Your decorations are perfect for it.

    Wow, your snow photo is gorgeous!

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  10. Oh what a great idea! Your husband is very talented! Love all your vintage Christmas items!

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  11. I love it more & more! 🎅

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Lynne - I just sit there and stare at it - it's so pretty!!!

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  12. That looks great. You hubby is one clever and creative bloke. We have just begun decorating for Christmas.... It takes us three days as we have so much 'stuff'. I am sure it multiplies throughout the year

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    1. Thanks, Cherie - I think it looks pretty nice too!! I know what you mean - it takes days here too - too much stuff, I guess!!!

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  13. I love your little mantle filled with all those sweet vintage items. I haven't been near a thrift store in a while and I really don't need anything. It's fun to look though! That snowy scene is gorgeous!

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  14. Your hubby did a fantastic job on the mantel, what a Christmas gift !

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  15. it turned out so great! your husband did a wonderful job, i'm glad he didn't give up!
    and i can't believe that bottom photo! it doesn't snow much here in nashville, that looks like a different planet to me! never seen that much snow in person.

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  16. that photo is AMAZING! and how is it YOU have snow early and we didn't have any until Sunday?? In Alaska!! Love your 'fireplace' and I can't wait to see your blog hop post!! cheers!

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    1. That is hard to believe, no snow in Alaska! Crazy weather! We just have a dusting now as we had some mild weather, that's fine by me!

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  17. How beautiful and I'm so happy its sturdy enough to last many years :)

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  18. I am so jealous of your elf knee huggers. I have only been able to find one in the thrift shops and that was last year. They go crazy high on ebay

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