Sequins & Sofas: Mantel Schmantel

After the winter holidays, I was thinking of changing up my mantel with some new decorations. Here's how it looked then (picture not so great...it's all I could find):

Then life happened and I forgot/had no time...so I left it.

A month or so ago, I was minding my own business relaxing on the couch with a snack and a blankie. Suddenly, my adventurous (you could also read this as naughty) kitty jumped right up there and knocked a bunch of stuff over. Garland strewn about, little paintings on easels crashing to the ground, kitties flying into neighboring rooms out of shock and fright. Luckily, the large glass vase filled with rocks & reeds and stuff remained and did not crash down into a million dagger-like shards upon the floor.

This did, however, get me thinking that it will only be a matter of time before that vase will fall victim to his little mischievous paws. The time for change was now.

I tried to choose some items that A) I was not sentimentally attached to, B) achieved some degree of mantel cuteness and C) wouldn't shatter or injure Mr. Mose should he get a little too curious:

I'm pretty satisfied for now with what's happening on this here mantel...we will see how it weathers the storm of feline investigation in the next few weeks.

Also, do any of you have a mantel? How do you like to jazz it up? Looking for more creative ideas for future mantel re-decs....sharing is caring:)

Also again, spelling the word 'mantel' is hard...I had to look it up on the internets to make sure it was right...true story.