Winter Mantel Mix: Fresh Cedar & Faux Pine
They say it’s better late than never, and I’m excited to finally share my outdoor mantel decorated with fresh cedar garland and faux pine garland.
Back Porch Living
Probably the thing I love most about our home is the back porch with fireplace and outdoor kitchen. When we built this house, it was the one thing that I just was adamant about and I’m so glad we did. It’s not perfect, it could be bigger. You never know what you want until you’ve lived with something for a while. But anyway, it is my happy place)))
I can never wait for it to turn cool enough in the fall to have that first fire. And on days, especially weekends, if the temperature is below 60, you’ll most likely find me on the back porch sitting in front of the fire. The only problem is, once the fire is going, I’m just mesmerized and useless as far as getting anything done. The TV above the fireplace will be on, or I’ll have my laptop and browsing around, or reading.
At first, I sort of felt guilty sitting there and not being productive. There is always something around the house that “needs” to be done. But if you sit there long enough that guilty feeling passes and I just enjoy myself. Sometimes I work on my website, edit images, or do some blogging with my feet to the fire. Now, if I was still working and not retired, it would be different for sure. But we’re retired…so I think it’s okay to relax when we want to)))
Fresh Garland
Back to the garland. I’ll have to confess, I had a head-start when it came to decorating my outdoor mantel this year.
Our grandson, AJ, and his fiancee Taaylor, got married in early December. The decorations were not Christmasy, but they did a lot of fresh green garland.
The day after the wedding, I helped dismantle the flowers and decorations. Rachel Wiygul, floral designer at Trendy Tree, did the flowers for the wedding and they were just beautiful. Anyway, the fresh garlands had to come down and normally would have been discarded. But, since I had a Sunday School brunch coming up in a week, I salvaged the garlands and several of fresh blooms to use for that event.
So, the fresh cedar garlands went to the Sunday School brunch, and after that, on to my house! There was enough garland to place on the rails on our deck and some for the outdoor mantel. Talk about repurposing!
The fresh garland was a mix of cedar, Leyland cypress, and spruce. All I did to use it on my mantel was to lay down a faux pine garland first, and then the fresh garland on top. I added a few red Nandina berries from David’s Mom’s house and some weaved in some tiny lights.
Faux Pine Garland
The faux pine garland gave some bulk to the display and especially added some height after the fresh garland went on top. This year I didn’t add any ribbon or bows. The fresh garland has held up well. This image was made yesterday and although the fresh garland has dried out a little, it’s still not dead dead.
I plan to take down my decorations this weekend, but I’ll leave the outdoor mantel like it is until it’s completely dried out. We live in Mississippi and don’t have the coldest winters, at least until February or March, so I’m really surprised that it has held up this long. This weekend will be four weeks!
Fresh Greenery
I have enjoyed this pre-made fresh garland so much this year, that I’m already thinking about next year))) Since we probably won’t be having another wedding in the family, next year I’ll have to purchase garland myself…lol. But look what I found on Sam’s website!
You can get 25 feet of fresh mixed pine and cedar garland for less than $50! Well, $49.98, but less than $50 sounds better))) Twenty-five feet of garland will go a long way, at our house anyway. It’s just a thought to keep in mind for next year. Plus, if you use fresh greenery in your decorations, when it comes time to take it down…..just throw it away! I like that part)))
Fireplace Memories
I grew up in a house that had one fireplace in the living room for heat. It’s no wonder that we slept under covers that were so heavy you could hardly move. We would jump out of bed in the mornings and run straight to the fireplace. If you were facing the fire you would get warm in the front but your backside was cold and vice versa))) It was so nice when we finally had a butane heater in the kitchen.
We did have a popcorn popper that you held over the fire, but I recollect that it wasn’t too good, a lot of it was burned))) I don’t remember any other cooking being done at the fireplace, but my grandmother would sometimes have a pot of something sitting on top of the coal heater to cook or stay warm. Be thankful for gas and electricity))
Before my Dad passed away, my brother would bring him to my house on Sundays to eat lunch and then take him back, until he went into the nursing home. And even after he was in the nursing home, we still brought him out on Sundays as long as we could. Then Covid stopped all that. Anyway, he would always go out on the back porch to smoke.
I don’t think he ever quite got the point of our having a fireplace on the back porch. He would say every time without fail “Jeannie Dale, you are losing all your heat up the chimney.” I didn’t dare tell him we had a gas log starter, he would have thought that was appalling and a waste for sure))))
I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!
