I had a chance to hang out with my friend (and fellow Auburn Tiger fan!), Amanda, a couple months back…
I had so much fun talking a mile a minute about a million different things with her!
We went to a flea market and shared a cone full of the best pecans EVER, and we saw tons of neat, old stuff as we walked around, too…
And check out the field of cotton we met up at near Amanda’s house, in northern Alabama…
That’s Amanda in the photo above- shooting a pic of the cotton field with her cell phone so she could “instagram” it…
We talked about getting together and decorating her mantel for Christmas, but I haven’t had a chance to catch my breath get up that way again since then, so I thought I’d put together a presto change-o for her in honor of the Holiday Home mantel link party Rhoda’s hosting today!
Move your cursor on and off of the photo below to see what I had fun dreaming up for Kevin and Amanda’s mantel…
(PS- Google Readers will have to click over to our site to view this one in action!)
(Note: My drawing is for inspirational purposes only, and the ideas shown in it are just that. Spontaneous, totally flexible, just-for-fun, ideas. And since this is a just-for-fun photo consultation, and not an actual-and-perfectly-to-scale virtual consultation, I have no idea if any of the ideas or accessories I popped in my drawing would actually work in this room. Boom.)
Here are the still images in case you couldn’t view the interactive ones above…
Kevin and Amanda’s fireplace photo:
My presto change-o pic:
And here are some of the things I plucked from around the web to create my inspiration photo…
(Clockwise from top left: Grainsack Stocking, Red Letter Words Canvas Art, Star Mirrors, Joyeux Noel print, I can’t remember where I found the “g” stocking photo (email me if it’s yours!), but here’s a link to some similar burlap stockings, bookcase photo, Star Mirrors and Mantel Accessories, Living Room Photo)
And just for fun, if K & A reeeeally wanted to go wild, they could also do something like this…
(There’s a great (permanent) how-to: HERE, but maybe there’s a vinyl version available, too?)
We’re shooting some more footage for our HGTV pilot here starting in the next few days, so we probably won’t get a chance to decorate much for Christmas this year- but I look very forward to seeing all the fabulous Christmas decorating posts linked up over at Rhoda’s blog today, and then over at Kate and Sarah’s next week!
___________________________________________________
Join us on Pinterest, Twitter and Facebook!
___________________________________________________________
Need design inspiration? Need help arranging your furniture?
Check out my e-books!
Get My Free E-book: 15 Common Decorating Mistakes And How You Can Avoid Them
Enter your email to download my free e-book instantly! 🙂
Layla! I love it!!!!! If you get up this way, maybe we three could meet up!!! 🙂 Miss you girl!! xoxo
I love the way you arrange elements on mantels. It makes it so interesting on the eye and gives you something to enjoy from every angle! Such a gorgeous job! 🙂
I don’t believe it! I read all of this and love every photo and idea that you have….the only thing that I can think of right now is that you’re all Auburn fans…like us….War Eagle!
Debbie
What flea market is that?
Nashville! 😀
Once again Layla- you rock it with the presto chango!!! Seriously awesome!! And I totally vote for them to stencil their wall-WOW what an impact!
I REALLY like this. Classic, festive, but not overdone – love it!
I love the SunDrop crate! My husband and I shared a SunDrop soda right after we got married… I still have the bottle 🙂 I think I NEED that crate!!!!
Just saw that the flea market is in Nashville… I’ll be there for New Years. Hmmm. I wonder if the flea market will be open then. Where exactly is the flea market located?
Holy cotton! I’ve never seen anything like that in person so someday I hope to! It looks so cool! I wish I knew how to use photoshop! I love all the presto things you do 🙂 Looks great. Good luck with your hgtv thing 🙂 Hoping it all works out!
Thanks so much for the link back to our stenciled wall. I love all the ideas you’ve posted. Everything is so pretty!
Love our cotton fields in north Alabama, so pretty in the fall. We live right close to a cotton gin so it’s fun to watch all the cotton as it’s brought in for processing. I love the mantel ideas, especially the grainsack stocking!
I love Amanda and her blog! Her recipes are crazy delicious! And her photography is amazing!
Totally crushing on all of those antique boxes!!!
How beautiful, Layla! I love it! And I already have a lot of the pieces to actually pull this off 🙂 You have totally inspired me with these simple, completely doable ideas!! Can’t wait to go shopping and do some redecorating. Had so much fun shopping at the flea with you — you know you are welcome up here any time! Thank you so much for the fabulous Mantle Makeover!! xoxo
Lov eit! But the link for the “g” stocking isn’t working. I would LOVE to find a source for those. Thanks!
Oops! Sorry about that! I can’t remember where I found it- but I added a link to some similar ones! 😀
Oehh those wooden crats are so nice <3 pretty bad that they dont sell them in my country 🙁
Love cotton fields- ours are all harvested- but they make for great photos.
Thanks for sharing.
The flea market looks like so much fun! I am glad to hear that it is in Nashville and just up the road from Huntsville. I will have to go!
Love the cotton field and love your ideas for the room. But, Layla dear, you’ve got to be kidding……….Auburn? Say it ain’t so. Okay, I’m gonna have to say it, please don’t be mad……………..Roll Tide.
WAR EAGLE, Michelle- LOL! 😉
Good luck Layla to you and Kevin with your pilot this week.
The spirit of Christmas is in our hearts and souls really. You
both carry Christmas with you all year long with the spirit of sharing your lives with us all.
Merry Merry everything!
Geri.
Gotta love a good those old boxes.. They just speak to me.. I love the Christmas mantel.. once again I enjoyed it all .
I didn’t know you were an Auburn fan…WAR EAGLE! Just wanted to let you know I found a fabulous new place in Opelika last weekend called Resurrect Antiques next to Angels Flea Market…the owner was so friendly and said she’d be happy for me to come again and take photos for my blog (we were on our way to Calloway Gardens and hubby didn’t want to wait for me to snap away)….have you heard of Resurrect Antiques?
Ya’ll stay warm!
Judy
Love your instant presto changes, very fun. One thing I do when I see that gold trim on glass fireplace screens is to paint them black with bbq spray paint. Takes the dated look right outta the room. Of course, if I just over for dinner I usually don’t get out the spray paint!
Great idea, Jeanette! 😀
…you are too cute!!
War Eagle!