Mantel decoration...

Still cleaning, and one thing just leads to another and another and another.  

Today it was time to dust the mantel.  I hadn't changed the decorations on it in a long time, so thought I'd change that up too.  

I was wanting to use the mirror that has been sitting on my bedroom floor forever.  I thought a random collection of silver containers might make an interesting arrangement with it.  Of course that meant I had to polish silver.  Since the mirror has a sort of patina finish though, I left some of the tarnish on the silver too...you know...artistically.  ;)

I wanted something vaguely end of summer, but not too Fall-ish, as we don't have Fall weather yet.  When I was at Michael's yesterday looking through their on-sale floral stems, I saw stems of cotton bolls.  The end of summer is cotton-harvest time where I grew up, so I picked up a couple of stems to add to an arrangement.  

I may play with it a bit more.  I know it looks asymmetrical, but since the television is on the wall just to the left, I don't like the left side to look too heavy or closed off.

Tomorrow I am having someone come to do some of the heavier chores.  And she starts early, so I'd better not stay up too late.  I will continue to declutter and organize while she is working.

I'm tired of moppin' this damn moose!  :)

Kiss me, I'm Irish!...

I love St. Patrick's Day.  It was always celebrated at our house...because it was my mother's birthday.  :)  I loved finding something shamrock related to gift to her.  Since she collected tea cups, I was ecstatic when I found this Staffordshire cup and saucer...so delicate.

Happy birthday, Mom.  Today would have been her 99th!

And Happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone!

Mirror, mirror on the wall...

V from Stick Horse Cowgirls asked me about the mirrors I have hanging over my floating books shelf. I love those mirrors. They are all vintage. One is inherited. Right after it came to my house to stay, I saw one at an estate sale. I loved its cute shape, and thought it needed to come home with me too. Then I thought they would be really great hanging on the wall together. But, you know, it's always more harmonious to display collections of odd numbers, so I kept my eyes open at auctions, estate sales, and Ebay. You know how that goes. The collection grew and grew, as they are wont to do. There are actually a few in a drawer somewhere that I should probably add to the grouping.

V also wanted to know how I hung them. I'm pretty proud of the method I devised for that. I didn't want to do anything that might mar the bakelite.

I took cut lengths of ribbon and a split key ring (the kind you break your thumbnail on when trying to add or remove a key). Fold the ribbon in half, slide the key ring onto the folded end, then place the two loose ends of ribbon through the fold and pull the fold down tight against the key ring. Tie the ribbon in a bow around the handle, making sure that the key ring was on the back side of the mirror. Also, be absolutely sure that the ribbon is tied tightly and securely, and that the handle widens above the tie, so that the weight of the mirror won't allow the mirror to slip out of the ribbon and fall to the floor, because that would make you really sad (not to mention unlucky for the next seven years).

I laid the mirrors out on the floor first to determine an arrangement that I liked. Then when hanging the mirrors on the wall, I placed the nails in the wall at an angle so that the rings wouldn't slip off.

And there you have it.