Monday, January 11, 2010

January Renewal at Heart and Home

 I hope you had a fun and relaxing weekend! Hello to all of you, and a big thank you to all the new Heart and Home followers. I'm very honored and happy you chose to come along for the ride!  Welcome back for a look at January transformations,
aka the winter mantel-scape!



This weekend we finally got all the Christmas decorations boxed up and put back in the garage. The family and I worked together like a well oiled machine, and what took me almost four days to do took about 3 hours to undo! We put all eight million ornaments and nutcrackers and angels away in the blink of an eye! I always feel a sense of relief when we clear out the holiday stuff, I enjoy getting the house pared down, clean and fresh again, after living with an abundance of Christmas for the past month! I don't think the house feels really clean with all those pine needles dropping and scattering everywhere in the house! It took quite awhile for me to vacuum them all up, and they are still showing up in the weirdest places!


I thought I'd  start small, and tackle the living room mantel for my first New Year's redecorating project.  Here's a look at it over the past few months. During the summer:


In the Fall:  (for more go here)




The Christmas Mantel: ( you can see it up close here)



This is how it looked for a few days until I could muster the energy to think about redecorating for the rest of the winter. It was very refreshing to scale way back for a few days and let my mind and eyes rest a bit...



But this is way too scaled back for my taste!
I'm still searching for the perfect somethings for either side of the mirror -
right now I'm considering plates or some type of candle sconces. What do you think, any ideas?
In the meantime, I was excited to bring out my new glass cloche, which I picked up a few days ago with a gift card from my Mom-In-Law. (Thanks, N.!!)  It was calling my name as a wandered around my favorite shop!

I thought the birdies and their nests should come out of hiding for awhile.






Like many of you, I love to use a lot of white in January, as an antidote to the kaleidoscope of colors we just experienced over Christmas. White is calming and soothing, and wintry, too!





I found all of these little nests around here, some in our yard and others while out walking in the woods near our home. I found a giant one when we were up in our mountains,
hunting for our Christmas tree.
 I'll show it to you the next time, once I've found it a good spot!





That cute little blue bird was made for me by my youngest daughter. It's a sweet candle holder!



Up close these two don't look very happy. They both are grimacing at something - I wonder what?...




I'm done with this for now, on to the next thing!
What are you currently working on?  I'm so excited - I've got some big projects ahead, stay tuned for those! In the meantime, take some time to look around and visit for awhile. Keep those comments coming, and thanks for stopping by.  I'm so glad you're here!

Until next time,
XO
Heidi

and  the new party Tablescape Tuesday at Grits and Glamour.
 Thank you Kimba, Kimm, Tam, and Barb.
For Thursday: Transformation Thursday at the Shabby Chic Cottage
and Thrifty Treasures at Tales from Bloggeriteville - hi Gina and Leigh. Thank you!
Great women, wonderful blogs - Go see them !
And check out the Friday Mantel party, with Beth:

34 comments:

Jeanette said...

They are all lovely. You have such a good eye for color and balance.

Barb @ The Everyday Home said...

I think this is my fave of all your mantlescapes. but, I heart birds and birds nests. The cloche is the perfect way to display the nests. Love it! Thanks so much for joining in the very first Tabletop Tuesday. I look forward to seeing more posts from you soon. Blessings, Barb

Ceekay-THINKIN of HOME said...

That white plate caught my eye....it is absolutely gorgeous! Very pretty vignette!

Blondie's Journal said...

I just played with my mantel today after taking down the Christmas things. It is so much fun to 'shop the house'!!!

I love all your birds and nests. They are beautiful under cloches and in vignettes! :-)

xoxo
Janie

Melissa Miller said...

Gorgeous mantel! You have a beautiful home. :)

Lori E said...

I can never get my mantle looking the way I would like. Thanks for the inspiration.

vignette design said...

Heidi, I collect nests too! And I found them all also in my backyard. Of course they are displayed under glass! Beautiful vignettes. --Delores

Scooterblu's Whimsy~Rhonda said...

All of your seasonal vignettes are very pretty! The current one with all the birds and precious nests is my favorite! Love it! ~Rhonda :)

Kifus said...

Lovely mantels. Thanks for sharing!

Kathryn @ Bonafide Southern said...

Isn't it fun to play dress up with your mantel? All of your seasonal vignettes are beautiful. I especially adore your Chrismtas mantel with its draping silvers. The current mantel with birds and nests is just adorable. It makes me long for the early rise of spring! Thanks for sharing.

Leigh of Tales from Bloggeritaville said...

SO pretty! I collect birds and nest too!

Kathysue said...

It was fun to see all the seasonal changes and now I see a touch of Spring,it makes me smile, Kathysue

Happy To Be/ Gl♥ria said...

Very pretty girl...I love the birds and nests and all the whites just say winter to me...Hugs and smiles Gl♥ria

Glenda/MidSouth said...

Very Pretty! I love birds and nests also. I have not been very creative since I put the Christmas decor away, so need to get busy.

Poppy Cottage said...

Oh your mantlescape is just beautiful! I love the birds and your cloche. So pretty!

Angie Holden said...

I love the birds!! Thanks for sharing!

Chari at Happy To Design said...

Hello Heidi...

Ohhh...this was so much fun...getting to see your pretty fireplace mantel though the different seasons! I remember your Christmas mantelscape...it's gorgeous! Each season's decor brought so much beauty to that mantel but I must say that your new winter mantel is my very favorite!!! I love all the pretty glass paired with the white pretties and of course, I just adore birds!!! So beautifully done, my friend! Thank you so much for sharing this fabulous mantle vignette with us today...what a treat! You gave me some great ideas for my mantel as well!!!

Warmest winter wishes,
Chari @Happy To Design

Denise Marie said...

awesome job! Love that you collected those nests yourself. Birds are such a wonderment.

Cottage Rose said...

Hello Heidi; I really loved all your Mantel arrangements.. and the last one is so beautiful... great job.... have a great week.

Hugs;
Alaura

Christi @ A Southern Life said...

Love the little bird in the nest under the cloche. I love watching winter birds so that really appealed to me :)

Christi @ A Southern Life

Delightful Dwelling said...

So pretty, all your mantelscapes are gorgeous. I really like the mirror you have too.

Ribbonwood Cottage said...

HI Heidi! I love this look. Love the nests, the birds, eggs, etc. You have done a beautiful job decorating. Lovely home. I like all your arrangements and ideas!
Blessings,
Debbie

Anonymous said...

My mantel would be jealous of all the attention yours gets! :-) Yours is very pretty.

Diann @ The Thrifty Groove said...

Hi Heidi!

your choices for your manel are all so wonderful! It looks terrific!

Unknown said...

When I see these kinds of posts I always want a mantle so bad!

Happy thrifty thursday!

ImagineCozy said...

So many wonderful options!! I love how many creative ideas you have.
-Angela

Jan ~ BellaCasa said...

I just love the use of birds and nests for your mantel tabletop. Although I don't really collect them, I do have a few and love to mix them with other stuff when I'm doing my vignettes throught my house.

Jan
BellaCasa

Unknown said...

VERY pretty! I love the white and light colors beautiful for winter!

Beth@The Stories of A to Z said...

I'm glad you found your way over to my party! How fun to see all of the many mantels you have created over the past few months. Thanks for linking up.

Kathy @ Creative Home Expressions said...

I love what you wound up putting on your mantle! The birds and plates are beautiful.

Marianne said...

Birds, nest and a cloche! I love your mantel decorations! Lovely look for this 'I hope it will be spring soon' time of the year.

Bekki said...

I love all of your birds and nest together. Lovely.

Grace @ Ruby Moon Designs said...

I love all the peaceful white, the natural beauty of the nests/birds and the lovely glass elements. It is all very lovely!

Blessings, Grace

Chari at Happy To Design said...

Hi Heidi...

How are you doing, my friend! It has been awhile since we have visited. I hope that you and your sweet family are all doing well!

Well my dear, it sounds like you have been a busy little bee! So nice to have your family jump in and help with taking down all the Christmas. I seem to be in charge of putting all of mine up...and taking it down! Hmmm...and it's always so much more fun putting it up! Hehe! I loved getting a peek at your pretty mantel's seasonal decor! I loved your Christmas mantel...simply gorgeous! But...your new winter mantel is sooo beautiful! Of course, I love all sweet little birds so it was right up my alley! I just adore your cloche on the pedestal and the sweet bird and nest that you decorated it with. Your daughter's handcrafted bird is just precious! Ohhh...and I love that white plate...it's fabulous! I would love to have a set of those! Well dear lady, thank you so much for sharing more of your beautiful home with us...as well as your creative talents! So inspiring, my friend!

Warmest winter wishes,
Chari @Happy To Design