What do you think?

After dumping a box of fall decorations on the fireplace hearth three weeks ago, I finally arranged them on the mantel.



These terrific mirrored sconces were purchased months ago. At just 7 bucks apiece, I couldn't pass them up, so I broke the decorating rule of knowing where you're going to put something when you buy it.

Oh, wait--there's this other rule of 'if you love it, you will always find a space for it, and it will always look fabulous with whatever...' Well, I'm here to tell you that is not always true but I digress.

So as I was saying. The price was right and I thought "what the heck" and brought them home. After deciding I liked them on the fireplace wall there was the dilemma of how to hang them. 'Cause, you know, making a hole in the brick is not like making a hole in the wall. Ya gotta know where you want the holes before you start, since there's no patching a wrong hole in a brick wall with toothpaste. (Don't tell Les but sometimes the patches on the plaster walls with toothpaste are numerous!) So then, I stuck the sconces in the cabinet and forgot about them! I went to Atwoods recently and found these neat brick hangers that just wedge in the mortar space. Voila--no holes and you can move them around whenever you change your mind! Neat, huh!





So what do you think about my mantel? Instead of buying yet more candles, I decided to put faux pumpkins on top of the candlesticks. (doesn't faux sound so much better and more sophisticated than plastic) And that cage thing on top of the tallest candlestick? It is the iron part of a light--possible the frame of a porch light--that I bought at a garage sale and 'fashioned' into an ultra-chic (or ultra-dorky) accessory. I'm really trying to sound like Country Living magazine here. Can you tell? Oh, but I forget, CL re-purposers go to tag sales, not garage sales.



And I can't leave without showing off my favorite corner for reading with my beautiful red leather chair and the table I made (OK, I designed it, started it, am inept with tools and Les built it) and the wonderful pashmina that Molly brought me from Budapest. I can't wait to light a fire and curl up here!