TheSaga of the Faux Fireplace Mantel --3rd Times the Charm!

This needs just a bit of background before I share the photos.  This is the room we call the sunroom, but it started out as a screened & enclosed patio.  We decided in 2007 to incorporate it into our home & The Man (my DH) did all the work himself.  Well, I helped.  We put in as many windows as possible & a huge sliding door to the backyard.  We had a very large mirror from another part of the house that was removed in another remodel project & thought we'd like to use that to make the room even brighter & appear larger. We have no fireplace in our home (we live in the desert southwest, for goodness sake), but The Man knew how much I missed having a mantel to decorate.  Soooo, he built one & mounted the mirror above it.  This thing is 6 1/2 feet long & 9 inches deep!  I can do some serious decorating!  This is also my plant room because the largest expanse of windows is east-facing, so ideal for most plants.  I even grow orchids -- yes, in the desert!  My dilemma sometimes is trying to decide how many or how  few items to display on this mantel.  My solution is to do a more spare look & usually with plants in the spring/summer & then really load it up in the fall/winter.

My first photo was how it looked yesterday morning.  I wasn't really feeling the love at this point.  The wreath I made using a grapevine wreath wrapped with a leaf & berry swag.  Then I tucked in a couple of little baskets that I've had for years.  The tealight pumpkins were from Michael's several years ago.  The 3 china pumpkins are from Kirkland's this year.  The plates in stands I got from Walmart & Kirklands at different times.

The next photos are what the mantel looked like last night.  Kept trying different camera settings to get some good shots, but once again the professional photographer was not available.  What can I say?  Anyway, after running an errand at Target & not being able to resist their bargain aisles, I came home with a couple more things & a new brainstorm for a different look.  Moved the Poinsettia (from last Christmas) off the mantel completely but left the African Violet.  Found the stacked fabric pumpkins & the reddish-colored charger all at Target & liked how things were starting to fill up the space.  I made the faux fruit topiary during the summer & it used to reside in my kitchen.  I like the added height it gives to the mix.  Also added in another Walmart plate.  Still not totally satisfied.  Do you see a trend going here?

Today brought another minor brainstorm & I added the witch (which I've had for about 15 years or more) in place of the African Violet.  Much better.  The witch had a great spot in my kitchen, so now there exists another dilemma.  I bet I'll think of something!

Hope you enjoyed or at least didn't pass out from boredom!  I just have to say again how much fun I'm having with this blog and sharing some of my craziness.  Woohoo to my sister bloggers!