Merry alternative Christmas

After many years of doing the traditional Christmas tree and all the trimmings - I decided a couple of years ago to simplify, yet also up-grade my seasonal decorating. I was inspired by a lovely Christmas swag that I'd seen on Pinterest. We have a beautiful black marble fireplace with a gilt over-mantle mirror that could look amazing if done right.

I assembled all the tools and bits that I thought I'd need to recreate the look - these included some twisty branches from Ikea, a glue gun, some tiny cable ties, a string of Christmas lights and a picture wire.

I started by breaking the branches and twisting them into the kind of shape I wanted - I needed a slight overhang at each side and a bit of a build up at the centre. I used the cable ties for the most part and the glue gun on some other bits.

When I got the shape right, I then twisted the lights round and round.

I then found some glass icicles to hang randomly along (I used the tiny bulbs to hang the decorations on). I also found some pretty outrageous crystal hanging decorations and also some gold baubles that finished the look.