My un-mantle

 We have a fireplace, but I hate it.

 It's U.G.L.Y. - like Ford Pinto ugly.

So I ignore it until we can figure out what to do with it.

 Even though I hate my fireplace, I envy those lovely bloggers

who do a fabulous job decorating theirs.

No fretting though - because I have a long, skinny sideboard.

You don't have to have a fireplace

 to decorate mantle style.

I was so inspired by Lindsay at That Village House,

that I went and found some branches to paint.

It wasn't really hard, since this is right outside my backdoor!

For diversity, I sprayed some black and some silver

(in other words, I had a little black paint and a little silver to use up),

then let them dry.

Working them like a puzzle, I tucked them into a variety of vases that I already had, and presto!

A new un-mantle for zero dinero. Gotsta love that!

Just another classic case of

fake it 'til you make it!