After the Tree

Okay, I admit it.  After I took all the ornaments off the tree and packed them away in their tissues and pretty boxes, I fell into a deep funk.  For the past month, the evening view from my favorite spot on the couch had been this:

  

With the tree gone, the room felt bare.  No, not just bare--blank.  I'm guessing maybe you've had that feeling before, too.  I think I feel it more right now because we're living in an apartment and can't paint the walls or hang loads of paintings.  I like white and clean, simple lines without a lot of clutter, so I'm okay with that, but magpie that I am, suddenly I was really, really missing the sparkle.  

So I decided to put a bit back.  

I grabbed a string of white lights with a white cord and tied on lots of tulle bows to soften it.

Then, using a couple of map pins on one side and my old apple ladder on the other, I hung the lights over the little red stove.  It's not a forever kind of decoration, but a fun-for-January kind of twinkly bit of cheer.  

The little red stove leads me to one more note about light and sparkle.  I crave light all year long, but especially during the winter months.  One of my favorite ways to get it during the winter is from a fireplace.  Alas, the apartment has no fireplace.  What was a poor magpie to do?  I bought a very reasonably priced electric one just before Christmas.  I don't usually like the look of electric fireplaces.  They often seem fake and flimsy to me, but I found this one online at Plow & Hearth, and I love it.  I swear they're not paying me a commission, but maybe they should, since everyone who comes into my living room now wants this stove.  My mother and sister both bought one after seeing mine, and I know a few other people who are planning to buy them as well.  You can run the flames with or without heat,  and this little stove that could cheers up the entire room.  Best of all, the surface is always cool to the touch, so I can use the top to display a wooden bowl of pine cones--or whatever my magpie heart desires.  

I just thought I'd share this info in case anyone else would love a fireplace but can't have one where they are living.  If you have an old mantle, that would look fabulous with this stove, too.  I'm keeping my eyes peeled for the perfect one.  In the meantime, the tulle-dressed lights add a little whimsy, warmth, and shimmer to these cold January nights.