The other day,
I styled a mantel with a few of my favorites
Blush. Brass. And sprinkles of romance.
I gathered up a dozen (or so) vintage brass candlesticks,
wonky old slightly melted candles
and water goblets filled with flowers from a recent table styling…
and placed them all on the mantel in the living room.
This mantel was not any ordinary mantel styling.
This was a mantel styling filled with 3 things that
I am obsessed with.
Not obsessed in a creepy stalkerish way.
Not something that you will feel compelled to pull the covers up around you
turn on all the lights
and double check door locks and the alarm
because it is late and dark and you are
watching 48 Hours or Dateline
type of way.
Not that kind of obsession.
Though…
I have a serious love of all things metal right now- and seem to find them where ever I go.
And I might hoard soft blush flowers like they are going out of style when I find them at the market.
And… truth be told…
I did stalk vintage brass candlesticks at the thrift stores.
ahem… A lot.
A couple of them might know me by name at this point.
I have been scouring thrift stores
for months (okay, it was more like over a year)
looking for enough of those brass candlesticks to put together a mantel
styling I had in mind.
Not any brass candlesticks.
Not those 1980’s or 1990’s brass candlesticks.
But pretty little vintage brass candlesticks.
Thin and tall and simple- and that were slightly imperfect sure-
but that were exactly perfect for what I had in mind.
After months of searching through shelves of tchotchke’s
and arguing with myself about just bringing home those not so fabulous 1990’s brass pieces
several stops at thrift stores
yielded enough vintage dreamy yet very simple candlesticks
to style the mantel I had been thinking about.
It also bought those pink lemonade faded melted and wonky old candles
that were a total surprise find with some of the candlesticks
but whose color I am in love with.
But…another confession…
this is not actually ‘that’ styling that I had in mind.
This was an impromptu mantel that came from those pretty flowers from a table setting
and that serious crush on purples and brass together
and my obsession with brass and aubergine and blush for autumn.
Without any pumpkins.
It started with those candlesticks, blush flowers
and water goblet bouquets from this autumn table styling.
Yes, water goblets.
Filled with flowers and
marching down the center of the table for a dinner party.
Why. not.
I know I am not traditional with a lot of things
and I have learned to embrace that quality.
To me, water goblets are good for more than just water
or your favorite adult beverage at a dinner party.
They are ideal for bouquets.
And these bouquets with cafe au lait dahlias, roses, amaranth and eucalyptus
are some of my favorites all mixed together.
And I will be doing a post about this type of bouquet soon-
along with a video.
Yes, the videos are coming back.
🙂
I used these gorgeous amethyst goblets for these (affiliate link)
And you can create one simple bouquet
or several
depending on the look you love.
And don’t be afraid to mix bouquet sizes and heights.
I added in a brass sugar container with a couple flowers for interest as well.
And those pods that I have been almost as equally obsessed with this season,
are eucalyptus pods.
So this mantel…
yes, I suppose it is all about obsessions.
But it is in a good way.
🙂
Happy Monday everyone.
*See more of the table styling that fueled the obsession
sharing at SSS
The mantel is so pretty!! Love the candle holders.
It is beautiful!!
Ha, I get a bit creep out watching those series! I like the thin candlesticks and the mantel is dreamy.
Kathleen in Az
Wow your pictures are so beatiful. I'm so happy I found your blog.
I wish you a very lovely day <3
Love Lone
Your mantle is real pretty, but the repetitive adverts ruin the effect! I got 6 toilet adverts throughout???? Goodness only knows why!
So sorry about that! I emailed my ad network provider to see what's up- there shouldn't be more than 3 ads total.
It's so warm and pretty!
I've just been unpacking since we moved into a new house, and pulled out old brass candlesticks just like you describe! This gives me some great ideas for our new mantel, which is on a stone wall. Thanks, Courtney!
I LOVE this Courtney! I have a few brass candlesticks that I've luckily stumbled across up here. I have four but seem to have misplaced one of them. Pretty irresponsible considering my finds are legit treasures to be cherished up here in Narnia. SMH. I've been on the hunt for more, but I totally understand what you mean when saying the 80's and 90's.
I've seen you use Dahlias a few times now. They are starting to grow on me. I'm forgetting all about that mean girl named Dahlia that I once knew and am teetering on the verge of liking Dahlias know. Ha ha.
Where ever did you find the chunky blush pink candles? I like that they are symmetrical and chunky, not tapered. Of course that color is my favorite too.
I love your weekend looks back. These days I don't seem to have the time to go digging into blogs on a daily basis. I'm trying to become more focused on my blog and give it daily attention instead of random ins and outs. All thanks to encouraging comments from people I admire. 🙂
I'm pulling Christmas out this week too. No way am I fighting the lack of light we are going to have in a couple of weeks. If starting this early doesn't work out….. next year I will start in September. I don't mind since I love Christmas the most.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Look forward to what you share next week. <3