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Original Home Magazine

Holiday Special 2013

How to Decorate a Christmas Mantel - Even If You Don’t Actually Own One!

Table of ContentsOH!

EditorNgaire Genge

Acquisitions ManagerLorna Hamilton

AdvertisingElaine Sainsbury

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Holiday Editorial

A Christmas To DelightAll Your Senses!

A Scent-sational Fragrant ChristmasTraditional Orange-Clove Pomanders

A Contemporary Orange-Clove Garland

Naturally Fragrant Wreaths

A Joyful NoiseThe 12 Albums of Christmas

A Feast for the EyesA 100 Years of Collectible Vintage Ornaments

Decorating the Mantel - Even When

You Don’t Have One

Warming Winter NightsLet Ice Warm Your Home!

Ways to Warm Your Home This WinterFive Warm Winter Drinks

A Little Taste of ChristmasFestive Desserts to Share

• • • Tap any title to read! • • •

Our Cover this Issue:

Vintage Madonna & Child Ornament

MK74 - Dreamstime.com

Welcome TO

ORIGINAL HOMEMagazineThe song “I’ll be Home for Christmas,” remains

one of my favourites. When Bing Crosby first recorded it in 1943, it touched the heart of nations

in the depth of war, of those at home and of soldiers who could only dream of Christmas at the family home. More than two decades later, astronauts Frank Borman and Jim Lovall, aboard Gemini VII in December of 1965, asked the NASA ground crew to play it for them too. It remains the most-requested carol ever on college radio stations. “Home” is a feeling as much as it is a place. At no time is that more evident than at Christmas. “Home” comes in many guises. At various times, I’ve called graceful Victorians, the tiny third room in a student apartment, someone else’s basement, and even a borrowed travel trailer “home.” The grandeaur - or its lack - had little to do with the fondness with which I remember those spaces. I’ve felt safer with less, been left cold by more. That sense of relief and contentment that leaves you smiling on your way “home” - even from a great vacation in some exotic locale! - is, I think, universal. Christmas memories resonate with us for good reason, touching as they do on all our senses. The scent of a real tree, the stuffing made from a tattered recipe card, and the cinnamon in the apple pie instantly transport us to earlier times. The glimmer of Christmas lights, candles, and firelight - even if it’s the fireplace channel! - illuminate our holiday memories. Family ornaments, that tablecloth we only bring out for special

occasions, the feel of ribbons and bows, they all delight our fingers as well as our eyes. And, of course, the sound of carols, the laughter of children, and that squeal of delight when the door opens on another friend we haven’t seen in ages, that just makes the sensory scene complete. While the necessities of life, jobs,

education - and, yes, still more service overseas - means many families can’t be together at

“home” this year, we hope this edition can help bring a little “home” to you - or start

some new traditions wherever you may be. We’ve gathered together some

of our favourite scents, tastes, sights - even sounds! We have recipes for the whole bunch, or for just one special

cup sipped while slowly flipping through the old photo albums. You’ll find projects and ideas to

make your home more welcoming, more enjoyable. Whether your home is large enough to

accommodate the whole family at once, or as small as, well, a single stable stall, we’ll help you decorate them all, personally, economically, and memorably. We hope you enjoy this free issue, our gift to our readers, along with our most sincere hope that the season brings you peace and health and joy. Merry Christmas!

OH!

Ngaire GengeWe welcome your suggestions - drop us a line at OriginalHomeMagazine@gmail.com

If your home doesn’t have a twelve-foot ceiling and a convenient bay window to hold that dream Christmas

tree, or a mantel over a roaring holiday fire to hold up the Christmas stockings, well, you’re in the majority! That doesn’t mean you don’t have a spot somewhere in your home that could function as a mantel, or that you can’t hang your socks in style! What does a mantel do? Designer Greg LeMayne sums it up succinctly, “Lets you put more of the good stuff up without looking silly!” Oh, and hold the stockings. “A mantel is a display area,” says Greg. “Traditionally, you’ll find a really nice clock, your best candlesticks, some gorgeous objects of art, photos of great meaning to you. It’s a curated space, a thematic space, a place for the good stuff.” LeMayne loves Dawn Morhmann’s work (above and inset) in the “nowhere space” of an entryway.

“Here’s an example of all the things you would expect to find on a holiday mantel, in an otherwise wasted space,

and - tell me! - who wouldn’t think they were pretty special if they got to dangle their sock off those sweet little crystal drawer pulls? I sure would!” Breaking down the dresser-top-and-mirror tableaux, LeMayne points to some “key elements” that “can be replicated in a number of other spaces, and ways, in almost any home.” “First, there are your building blocks. A ‘mantel’ must have depth and the space above must have height. The mirror is really important here. Look at a traditional mantel and you have two things a horizontal space, and a vertical space above it. That vertical space is filled with either a prized piece of art - or? - a mirror!” At holiday time, it wasn’t unusual

for the Victorians to swap out their art for “an ambitious mirror.” A mirror with presence through size, or beveling

Dress Your Christmas Mantel - Even If You Don’t Have One!

A beautifully decoated mantel? No, not quite - but it certainly fulfills all the functions of a generously embellished display area!Step back a little, and you’ll realize this “mantel” has a “day job” as a delighftully painted vintage dresser and hall mirror!

Tap the icon for more beautiful decor projects by Dawn Morhmann!

Photos and Project by Dawn Mohrmann, owner of Hydrangea Home.

that gave extra sparkle, or a gilded frame. “This was a way to double the sumptuousness of holiday decorations without buying more stuff,” says LeMayne. “It also drew the eye up, which adds presence to a space. And, it was generously decorated itself!” He points to the swagged garland across Mohrmann’s pretty mirror. “This mirror, beautiful in itself, decorated in greenery, is very traditionally dressed, even though there is no fireplace below. So much so, you might have to look twice to realize that’s a dresser!” The dresser decorations also fulfill traditional roles. “You don’t have to go all glitzy to suggest ‘holiday,’” says Greg. “This is a very ‘wintery’ theme actually - great because it can be altered very slightly to last well beyond Christmas. It’s the elements that she’s encorporated that make it such a success. There’s light. There’s shimmer. There’s lush, dense decoration. There’s greenery. There’s old pieces that give that heritage-handed-down feel that goes with Christmas.” There’s unity of theme, as well. “The trees, the cones, the greenery, the swags... it is all parts of one piece.” If you can create a space with all those elements, says LeMayne, it shouldn’t be difficult to make a space that works like a traditional mantel. First, find a space! “Look around you. Do you have a window ledge that’s deep enough to add those holiday things? Candles. Treasured old keepsakes and ornaments. Can you lay a few bits of greenery atop it? Or swag some on the front edge? If you do, and you hang a beautiful wreath in the window that draws the eye up, that shimmers a little, or holds a light, well,

that could well be a ‘mantel’ space!” LeMayne likes console tables for this role too. “If you have one between the couch and the wall, pull it out for a week or so. Decorate it with your favourite

things, add a pile of votives for that bit of fire you might be missing this season without a fireplace, and hang a mirror, or wreath, or a collection of favourite family photos from some bright Christmas ribbon above it.” If you have a console table behind the couch in an open plan room, don’t even bother to move it, says Greg. “Decorate it in place, pop some gifts under it, and dangle some of your favourite ornaments from fine line or ribbon above it - and you’re done!”

A sideboard in the dining room is another great space to co-opt as your mantel for the season. “Leave room for your practicalities, like serving your

holiday meals, but, otherwise, go foolish with the part closest to the wall and, if you don’t have something beautiful above it now, put something there for the season!” If you haven’t mounted your TV on the wall, you likely have it sitting atop some sort of table, prime territory in LeMayne’s view. “The holidays are about being together, so, shove the TV in the bedroom for a week and steal that table for your family stocking spot. You can put a tabletop tree there, or a row of them - beautiful feather trees like Mohrmann used would be outstanding!

- and get some shelf-sitter ornaments to hold the stockings. Put up that mirror, or have the kids create art of their own to brighten the wall until the TV comes back in a day or two for the football.” Can’t find any place that looks like mantel potential? “Then make one!” “You know, a mantel doesn’t really take up much floor space,” says LeMayne. “You may not be able to put in a whole fireplace, of course, but, you can certainly have the look without the fire hazard easily enough - just buy a

Deck Your Mantel - Even If You Don’t Have One!

Okay, so you don’t have a mantle. Doesn’t mean you can’t have one.Eclectic stores like The Door Store in Toronto have lots of them!

They’re happy to help get one to you.

Stocking hangers like this one from Merry Stockings, are beautiful, personal, and happy to sit on a window ledge, shelf, or console table!

It’ll also save a real mantle from nail and tack holes!

mantel!” A bit extreme for a week at Christmas? “Well, yes, maybe,” he admits. “But, it really doesn’t take up that much space. It’s a beautiful piece of architecture. You can use it as display space year round, as a headboard if you don’t have one. It’s like adding crown molding to a room, instant character - and, if you’re renting, you can prop it temporarily and take it with you, unlike the crown molding.” If you wanted to go the extra step, he adds, “If you own, you can retrofit a gas or electric fire almost anywhere these days. If you’re in rental accommodation, an electric unit is also absolutely portable.” And if you don’t have the square footage, or the desire, to own a mantel? “Everyone can always use an extra shelf,” he says. “You can get a very economical floating shelf from the box store and build from there - you don’t even have to leave it up after the holiday if you don’t want to, or, you can move it to where you would actually like to have one.” He suggests two options for dressing up a plain shelf. “Back to the Victorians for a moment - they were great mantel decorators! - get a piece of sumptous fabric or a table runner with a bit of shimmer and let it dangle. They were called mantelpiece or fireplace cloths, or mantel scarves, if you’re up for a bit of a rummage for vintage ones.” Lovely modern examples in everything from lace to burlap ensure something to complement your decor. “Mantel scarves even come in Hallowe’en varieties that look like big spiders on a black lace web, and romantic heart patterns - so, you could decorate your mantel shelf year round, not just for Christmas.” The second option to give yourself a great base for a holiday shelf is to “give yourself a great base

- literally.” LeMayne says “legs” for your shelf can come from many sources, “as long as they add a little something

personal or creative to the shelf.” It’s not about cost, he notes, but, getting into the spirit of the occasion and the project. “You could drop a fantastic fabric right to the ground, but, if you want to use the new shelf year-round, you might want to consider nice legs - especially if you’ll be taking those classic pictures of people hanging up stockings. Architectural elements are wonderful, and often very affordable at reclaimation locations!” You can use ceramic garden seats, industrial workhorses in your modern loft, or a pair of shapely stools. With a solid shelf, deep window ledge, or dresser, it’s time to create the mantel experience. “The Victorians had guides for everything, even how to organize a deathbed,” says LeMayne. “Their ideas about appropriate mantel fare

have endured - because it works!” To indulge a little cultural nostalgia, you need “pretty much the same things they used then!” Specifically? “The natural touch is what gives you the right texture and scent as well as look,” says Greg. “Greens are traditional, but, bunches of dried herbs or fresh flowers do the trick - lush is lovely.” The shimmer comes from metal, glass, crystal, and light. “The candlesticks needn’t be the best house silver,” he laughs, “But, your favourite shiny baubles can all come out. A bowl of ornaments? More mirrors, smaller ones, behind candles. Your favourite string of beads. Glass vases, pretty crystal, the gilt edge on a vintage tea cup - whatever makes you happy,” he says. “Dust some glitter over shells collected from your days at the beach, if that makes you happy - and the socks!”

• Ngaire Genge

Deck Your Mantel - Even If You Don’t Have One!

Elegant mantel scarves like these, available from The Victorian Fireplace Shop, are a great base for

your holiday mantel - or shelf! - decorations.

For elegant “legs,” corbels, like these used by architect and designer Jerry Jacobs, come in an array of materials

- concrete, cast stone, terra cotta, plaster, or wood, sizes, and prices - $100 - $5,000 per pair, depending on

whether you like wood or Italian marble!

Project by Jerry Jacobs, INT'L AIA, CAM, ASID

Jacobs Design, Inc.