My mantle (& tales of working around a plasma TV & a tweetie woofie thingy!)

Okay, so I fight with my mantle holiday decor every year.

Problem #1 - the giant plasma TV hanging over the mantle

Problem #2 - the tweeter, woofer (it's one of those things I think) that MUST (according to hubby) sit on the mantle in the center to get the full effect of the surround sound that he paid a fortune for.

So, 2 weeks ago my mantle started out like this....

YAWN.... See what I'm dealing with here?  This arrangement just wasn't speaking to me.

So, here's what I threw together yesterday...

A little better.  I just don't think I'll get the look I'm imagining with that electronics eyesore.  I asked hubby if I could wrap it like a Christmas package.  He didn't think that was very funny!

My son, Pierce, asked me why the stocking hangers say "No EL".  What is "EL" and why don't we want any?  I laughed and explained it was really "NOEL" but thanks to Daddy's tweetie thingy, it looks a little strange.

So I work with what I have, and I drool over everyone else's gorgeous black eyesore-free mantles...

I cut evergreen branches off the trees in my front yard.  FREE!  I filled the tall containers with cranberries from the grocery store.  The pillar holders were on clearance for $2 a piece at Hancock's, and I spray painted them white.  Those are ornaments on top.

May re-do this one.  It looks like a big evergreen monster coming out of the firebox doesn't it?  Hubby won't let us burn fires in the fireplace because he's afraid we will melt his precious plasma TV (*sigh*)