Fairy Tale Mantle

It’s been a while since I posted anything new, but not much has been happening on the cottage until recently. Things were busy with harvest in the vineyard, and Halloween season with my Etsy shop, and suddenly, the year is almost over. But I’m thrilled because yesterday we installed the mantle in my cottage.

I was very lucky to find a carved mantle and armoire set on Craigslist last year. The story was that an old sea captain brought them back from Bali, and when he sold his house on the coast, he left them behind. The new owners had to figure out what to do with them. There was a tall armoire, a short armoire, a six drawer vanity, and a mantle, all with beautiful carvings. The listed price was $1000 for all. My dad took me to look at them, and even though I was willing to pay full price, he offered $700. The man selling them said that if we took them all that day, we could have them for $500. I couldn’t pay him fast enough!

The mantle was beautiful, but very deep, so we cut part of it off so it wouldn’t extend into the room too much.

It was pretty, but scuffed in places, and I didn’t want a lot of dark wood in the room, so I decided to paint it. The surface was very shiny, so I primed it first.

Next I painted it with a homemade chalk paint. I made my own because I wanted to use a color from the Sherwin Williams line that coordinated with the walls, ceiling, and wainscotting. They are all on a gradient so they flow together beautifully.

I wanted to bring out the carving, so I used a limestone glaze. It shows a whitish color in the recesses, and makes the details stand out.

For some reason, the framers left a giant opening in the wall, and of course, the mantle wasn’t nearly tall enough to cover it. Dad built a beautiful tile hearth, but we were still several feet short.

I had a gorgeous mirror in a carved gold frame that had always been too heavy to hang up, but it wasn’t quite wide enough. I thought maybe we could build another frame around it and paint it to match the mantle. Dad suggested instead of a plain rectangle, we give it some style, so we cut a piece of plywood with a swoop on top like an onion dome.

I used clay and moulds (mostly from Iron Orchid Designs) to make borders, frame in the mirror, and generally cram as much decoration on as I could.

I added oak leaves and acorns, Fleur de Lis and curleques, even some bees. My favorite part is the rabbit jumping under the full moon. The very top has a tiny crown, because after all, this is a Royal House of Whimsy (the name of my Etsy shop). I used some carved wooden appliques on the sides, but they coordinate well with my homemade pieces.