Joke's On Me!

This year, I wanted to keep our Christmas mantel simple.  Ha Ha ... *who* am I kidding?!
 

Meet our new buddy, "Buck."  He's the reason my thoughts of simplicity went right out the Christmas window!  He's a Virgo ... likes long walks through the snow covered forest ... annnd, if you stare at him long enough, you'll swear that he has winked at you!  The moment I spotted him at "New River Pottery" (an a-MAZING Christmas shop in Wilmington, NC), I knew I just had to have him as our holiday mantel guest of honor.

And, to properly welcome him to the family, I saw it only fitting to splash a few lights and ornaments to the wreath that came with him.  From there ... it only got worse!  Ornaments began to hang themselves from the top of the mantel:

A big, lush garland arrived on the scene ... only for me to add lots of ornaments, glittery garland and snowflakes:

Prelit topiary trees made their way to the mantel, too, but not before I placed them in cream urns I had on hand, along with *more* ornaments:

And, hmmmm ... where did Santa 1 and Santa 2 come from?  I must've purchased them while in one of my *Christmas comas* at HomeGoods!

And, after all of that I had to "believe" that I was done!

Needless to say ... somehow this ALLL came together to create this:

Not exactly *simple,* but we'll take it ...

And, while I know our sled would much rather be used to fly us down a snowy hill (that does NOT exist here in Myrtle Beach), I gave it no choice but to be dressed with winter greenery and faux skates and placed by the fireplace:

So much for a simple Christmas mantel, right?  I s'pose the only missing now is a warm fire ... next time!

So, please tell me ... do you always start out with one decorating plan and end up doing the exact opposite?
 

I'm joining up with:

Savvy Southern Style/Vignettes and Mantel Party
The Lettered Cottage/Christmas Mantel Party
52 Mantels/Christmas Link Party

Becca