A White Peony Mantel Inspired by Wonderful Friends

Oh how wonderful is a white peony – and a whole bunch of them on a white peony mantel is extra wonderful!

The Story of the White Peony Mantel

Several weeks ago, I got to meet up – safely – with four of my blogging buddies. We went to Arizona and the beautiful historic home of Mary Crozier, creator of Life at Bella Terra.

This is my third post about that trip. You can read about one of my teacup adventures HERE and our crowning tablescape glory HERE.

Our hostess has lots of mantels in her home, so one of our projects was to decorate a few of them for the holidays.

Inspiration #1

Chloe from Celebrate and Decorate was the first of us to start in on her mantel – in the living room. We were all kind of hanging with her at first, then started splitting up to do our own.

What inspired me most about her gorgeous mantel was the beautiful asymetrical drape of the garland.

I love experimenting, so I thought I’d see how I could put a little drapey-ness into my mantel.

Inspiration #2

After I left Chloe, I wandered into the library. Chas of Chas’ Crazy Creations and Andrea of Design Morsels were creating more magic! With a basic household item, no less!

Can you believe those glowing wintry blooms are – wait for it – …. coffee filters!?

(Mary wrote posts about all the mantels we did, and I’ll give you those links at the end, so you can get more details about both of these.)

Inspiration #3

Mary is a very talented artist, and has a lovely studio – with a lovely fireplace. So that’s where I headed next. It’s a sunny, cozy, inviting room with all her paints and brushes and canvases.

(She also has a beautiful day bed where, if I were her, I would sit back with a glass of something and watch my paintings dry!)

Anyway, on her easel was a painting in progress – some beautiful white flowers.

The minute I saw it, my three inspirations melded, and the idea for my white peony mantel revealed itself!

The White Peony Mantel in the Art Studio

I should tell you that unlike most of the rooms in Mary’s house, the art studio is diminutive. And the lovely mantel is sized appropriately, tucked into a little corner by the door.

The Mantelscape Process

The first thing I wanted to do was get that drape in the garland. Oddly, in all the time I’ve been decorating mantels, I’ve only used faux garland once before. I wasn’t sure how it was going to work, but it was actually really easy to use.

A couple Command hooks, and it pretty much did whatever I wanted it to! Not only did it drape, but I could bend it to stick out a little and give the mantel some extra dimension.

Peonies in the White Peony Mantel

Then the peonies themselves! Aren’t these gorgeous? They’re some of the prettiest faux peonies I’ve seen.

I stuck them into the garland in three main groups, then put a few singles in to lead the eye across!

There were a few little buds, so I tied them in some ribbon and attached them to the longer end of the garland.

(I had to make the other side of the garland a little shorter, because I didn’t want to interfere with Mary’s beautiful prayer bench there on the left.)

I love to leave some trailing ribbon – it’s so romantic!

The Ornaments

The next thing was the cluster of gold berries.

They and the middle peony cluster are pretty much in the middle of the garland. I put the berries a little higher just to keep that swoop going.

I love all white and gold and silver. But I saw these lovely blush pinecone ornaments, and thought they would add just the right little touch of color.

Continuing with the slightly asymetrical theme I stole from Chloe, I put three of the pinecones on one side, and just one on the other.

Because the one was on the side with the longer garland, it still felt full and balanced.

Final Touches to the White Peony Mantel

I wove a little ribbon in next, and then the candles for the final touch.

Because I hung the garland at the front of the mantel, the candles have lots of room back behind it. They look much closer to the garland than they really are.

But a safety tip: if you’re going to have lighted candles around greenery, be sure they have lots of space, and that you stay in the room!

I’m so glad I got to decorate this mantel, in this beautiful room, and inspired by my wonderful friends!

Thanks so much for sharing it with me!

Getting Ready for Christmas

Did you know Mantel and Table Academy has a new course about how to make gift giving super easy and – dare we say – fun!?

Click the banner below for all the details. I can’t wait to see you there!

Here’s what students are saying:

This course is fabulous! It’s jam packed with practical tips, ideas and suggestions. There are money saving tips too – so many that you’ll probably save at least what you’ve paid for this course. I learned so much about planning and preparing for buying the perfect gift. If you love making your friends and family happy then buy this course. You won’t regret it!

~Natasha Crowther

Oh, it’s awesome!! I watched all the videos and it was wonderful.  The printables are gorgeous and they look amazing.  I am so inspired to be the best gift giver ever!

-Shanda Smith

What fabulous ideas! Barbara provides beautiful printable materials and handy organization tools that will help keep my gift buying on track all year long. There are many stunning, yet easy gift-wrapping ideas and superb gift-giving strategies in this valuable course. The resource links alone are a treasure trove of help! I will never stress about buying gifts again — even for my hard-to-shop-for family members.”

The pace and tone are very calming and approachable. She’s welcoming and very friendly. I feel like a friend is talking to me to help me solve a problem in a very organized manner!

-Rani Hobgood

Shop the White Peony Mantel Post

Click on the pictures for links to pieces I used for this mantel. If the exact item isn’t available any more, I chose a similar option.

This post includes affiliate links for your shopping convenience. If you click on a link and end up buying anything from that site within 24 hours, I get a small commission with no extra cost to you. It’s a Win-Win, and helps cover the cost of publishing Mantel and Table. (You can read the whole disclosure policy here.) Thanks so much for shopping with me!

And remember, a portion of anything you buy from MANTELandTABLE.com goes to Habitat for Humanity and Proud Ground. With our purchases, we get to help people build homes for their own mantels and tables!

Pin the White Peony Mantel for Later

The Promised Links

Here’re the links to the posts Mary wrote about our mantel decorating. When you pop over to her blog, tell her I said Hi!

• Chloe’s
• Chas & Andrea’s + an extra bonus
• Mine

This Post Shared With

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