Chestnuts Roasting on a Fake Fire

     "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose...Yuletide carols being sung by a choir..."
     I wish.

     Our fire is fake, but at this stage of life I don't think I can do the bending and hauling and stoking and cleaning that a real fireplace demands, so I'll settle for my fake fire. We just light it for ambiance, because we learned a few years back when Nashvegas had a massive ice storm, and we lost power for five straight days that our fake fire does not put out many, if any, BTU's. Oh well, it still looks pretty good, or at least I think so when I am not wearing my glasses. And chestnuts? Give me a break. Martha Stewart and Ina Garten might know all about chestnuts, but I do not. I don't think I ever even saw a chestnut tree in the part of Florida where I grew up. Pecans. Now that's another matter. I know all about pecans. I even tried singing the carol using the words "Pecans roasting on an open fire..." but it just doesn't sound the same.
     And Jack Frost nipping at your nose. I guess your nose is supposed to turn cute and red, but that never seems to be the case around here. We either look like Rudolph when we get really cold or we turn nasty pasty white. Neither is attractive.
     And the part about Yuletide carols...we don't sing in my family, we make joyful noises. We try. But even the obligatory "Happy Birthday" is best hummed in my house.
     This is supposed to be a post about decorating mantels for Christmas. I guess I got a bit sidetracked. After you look at the picture of my mantel, you probably will be able to ascertain a few things about me:

• I like trees. I mean really like trees. I found the painting above the fireplace at an estate sale and fell in love with it. I even waited and went back the second day to see if I could get a better deal. I did. And it has been love ever since.  The painting used to be on my porch, but now is in my den where I look at it every single day. So I usually do a tree themed mantel to go with the painting.
• We have a big family. Those are all the stockings for my immediate family. My dear momma is the one who initiated the tradition of the needlepoint stockings, and all of my original stockings were designed by her and needlepointed by her. They are gorgeous. She would probably die if she knew that the in-law stockings came from Lands End, and the grandbaby stockings came from EBay. Oh well, what she doesn't know won't hurt her.
• I don't know the meaning of the word edit. I once had a decorator friend of mine come over. He rearranged the furniture, paintings and do-dads while The Husband and I were on a five-day trip. I think it nearly killed him. When we returned to our "new" home, he was kind enough to say, "You have lovely things, BUT...you need to learn to edit." Unfortunately, despite his sincere and well-intentioned advice, I have failed at this task. I do not know how to edit. I always get carried away with myself.
• I like clutter. It is my middle name. No explanation necessary.

    I guess there's not much else I can say. Merry Christmas, and here's the unedited and unPhotoshopped mantle and one more Christmas picture for you to enjoy: